Tips from an Expert on Using Phonics

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SPELLING, WRITING & READING BREAKTHROUGHS

My child is having trouble with a lot of the words that cannot be sounded out like "who,” "their," etc. What can I do? Also, my child spells phonetically, but many of his spellings are wrong. For example, he spells "daug" for dog and "burd" for bird. What can I do? Thanks in advance for your help.

Frontline Phonics Reading Program

The two problems you mentioned are very common as children learn how to read. Some words in our English language can't be sounded out, they just have to be memorized and retained. These are called sight words. I didn't catch the age of your child, so if he's a relatively new reader it's just a matter of continually increasing his vocabulary until he's familiar with the many sight words that he'll need to read. But since he already seems to have a phonetic based idea of reading, he'll be much farther ahead on the words that he can sound out. Great job, be patient and the sight words will come. When he comes across one in a book, help him by saying the word and then letting him move on with the story. He'll begin to remember and retain these sight words. The other problem, phonetic spelling, is a good sign of phonetic learning. He's applying what he's learned in his spelling about how our language should sound. Unfortunately for the beginning speller, it doesn't always work that way. Again, time and an increased vocabulary usually takes care of this problem. But be patient, many children are phonetic spellers up through fourth grade, even beyond. They eventually remember what words follow the rules and what words don't. It sounds like he's got a great start, and time and exposure to words will help him solve these two problems. Keep up the great work, and enjoy the process of learning and working with your child.

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I have a child who could not read very well, however now his reading has improved a lot but his spelling is just awful. I've tried almost every thing and still the results aren't pleasing. I believe he has a problem when there are two vowels together, also he adds “e” to the end of every word and he doesn't know when to use “y” or “i,” it's just endless. What can I do?

I didn't catch the age of your son, and some of his spelling problems might be age related. It sounds like he has focused so hard on reading (a great step there) that he hasn't paid much attention to his spelling. That may solve itself as he becomes more comfortable with his reading skills and starts focusing on other language skills, but here are a few suggestions about spelling.

The Two Vowel Rule (once he learns or re-learns this rule, it may help with adding e's to end of everything):

“When two vowels go walking”-- as in bean or as in gate (the two vowels are walking together in the same word), “the first one does the talking and says his own name”—ask him what the name of the first vowel is (bean—it’s “e” so that's the sound that the vowels are going to make in this word—long e). “The second goes to sleep” (b e a n –have him literally cross out the second vowel here with an x or something. Also kids love it if you make snoring noise when the second vowel goes to sleep).

Then when he spells something with an e on the end of it—you can remind him of this little rule. Say he spells the word cat with an e; cate. You say the rule, have him apply the rule and ask him if we pronounce the word cat with a long a—cate? He can apply this rule to his spelling and start to see the difference that two vowels make in a word as opposed to just one. (Careful of exceptions here. Expose him to words that follow this rule, most of them do, but we're learning English and there are many exceptions.) That might help on the ending “e” issue.

Spelling is tough, and takes lots and lots of practice. Even if he has tough spelling lists at school, you can have simpler additional ones at home with words that back up a bit and give him some confidence that he can spell and can master this skill. Back up to simpler words, shorter lists, maybe five a week and give lots of praise for words spelled correctly. Another great spelling help is just exposing them words, words, words. Reading is the key to that, and as his reading improves and he sees how words are spelled over and over again—hopefully, his spelling will improve.

Also, expose him to a dictionary. There are many great children's versions out there. Show him how they work. Let him see you use one. That might give him some hope that not everybody, even mom, knows how to spell every word in our language. Good luck and enjoy the process of working with your child. It sounds like you're doing a great job.

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My son is in the first grade. He is having a very difficult time with spelling. It seems that some days he is right on what it is he is suppose to be doing. Then there are more of the days that he is at a total loss. We have him in special reading class where it is one-on-one, but his frustration level is heartbreaking and nerve racking at the same time. We work everyday on his homework, which is spelling. So when his test comes on Fridays, I wish him luck and encouragement. I can tell he works hard at trying to sound it out, but this last test was the worst one of all. On top of this, he was not allowed to have a friend stay the night because of his test grade, now that time has passed and we discussed what happened, he really believed that he did well on the test he said. He told me of his disappointment when he got his paper back, I felt terrible about his punishment. I don't know what to do. He thinks that he can't do it. I know that he can. I try to keep my composure with him during homework, it seems that he is easily distracted with noise, which is very hard to go around when I have a 5 yr old and a 4 month old. What do you recommend?

These are is latest spelling words and how he spelled them.

1. now (naoow)
2. need (nob)
3. think (heks)
4. like (liek)
5. want (wont)
6. here (hoer)
7. what (wat)
8. you (you)
9. come (come)
10. will (wil)

Verbally, two nights before the test he was able to spell half of them right. What is going on? His teacher called to tell us that he was even participating more in class and reading for the class as well. I appreciate you taking time to read this and am looking forward to your response.

Your little boy is obviously feeling a lot of pressure with reading and spelling. It’s time to make it fun! I don’t know how he is being taught in his reading class—but the very best way to learn to read and spell is by learning phonics. The way phonics is presented is also important. I recommend taking him back through all the basics so that he can pick up on whatever he missed before. Once he has that solid foundation he should be able to really move forward rapidly. I have seen many children become successful. Just let me tell you about one. Danny was in second grade and could not read or spell well. He really had a mental block concerning it. His mom started Frontline Phonics and in just 3-4 months he was above grade level. Now he loves school. Don’t wait–problems like these tend to get worse. Be positive as you work together. Use rewards as much as possible. For a systematic approach to take him through all the steps to reading, I suggest getting Frontline Phonics complete program. They also have a coaching program that you may find helpful. Good luck. I know you can help him.

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My son will be 4 this year and to me, he is very bright. He’s constantly asking questions, making up stories, etc. Although I do not often compare him to other children his age, I do find that he is not interested in learning letters of the alphabet nor is he really interested in numbers. He is more willing to play games with numbers and can count very well, however does not want to write the numbers. I am not particularly worried at this stage as I know how quickly they can sap up information, but I wonder whether I should still persevere with the written formats as I do not want to make it into a chore. I have noticed that if he has his cousin Libby around the house (who can write and string together words) he does tend to try to write the first letter of his name to show me what he can do. He goes to private nursery four days a week, which is Ofstead registered and has an Investors in People award who seem to have a structured day for learning by play. Any suggestions for helping his writing as he seems frustrated that he cannot read words from books and gets quite upset until I read them.

Thanks for writing—it was good to hear from you and your email made me smile at the end. I love hearing how you are so willing to work with your child, and I'm glad to hear you say that you think he's bright. Every mother should think that they're child is just brilliant (as they all are, in one area or another)!

Anyway, to your questions. I wouldn't be alarmed at his lack of interest. Everybody develops his or her language skills at very different times. Allowing him his own timetable will save you both a lot of frustration. Girls traditionally mature quicker than boys, and your son is not yet 4. I teach a 4-5 preschool class and many of my boys aren't interested yet that this squiggle is “s,” they just want to play with their trucks! They all eventually get there by the end of the school year.

In your case, I bet you'll start to see a lot more curiosity and ability as he matures during this coming 4-year-old year. His writing will drastically improve as the fine little muscles in his hands begin to be better developed and stronger. Get him some scissors and let him cut to his heart’s content. That will help his hands develop strength and skill.

Reading to him is wonderful! That is a great help for pre-readers. When he starts to exhibit curiosity in his name, how to write it, what letters are in it, what letters are in your name, daddy's name, on the cereal box, etc., then that's a pretty good sign that he's ready to start putting the letters and sounds together. It sounds like you're doing a terrific job. Keep up the good work and enjoy the process of working and learning with your child.

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I have noticed that when spelling something out, or pointing to different letters on a page, he goes right to left. Is this normal, or should I have him see a professional? I encourage him to go the over way, but his is stubborn in 'his way'.

Writing backwards is a very common problem in my 4-year-old class. Almost every one of my children do it sometime during the school year—perfectly formed letters, perfectly spelled words, and perfectly backwards. Names included, even if they've been writing them correctly before. Most experts agree that this is common among children as old as eight, so at 5 years old, it's nothing to worry about. If after second grade your child is still confused as to where our English point of reference is, then some special attention is in order.

Writing left to right is how English is written, but other languages are written from right to left or up and down. It's just a matter of teaching "point of reference." Right now he's excited about putting all this together and focusing on how it all fits. As he sits down to write, where he starts on the page is probably one of the last things he's focusing on.

So it's usually just a matter of reminding him where we start. Making a mark on the left hand side of the paper is a good reminder. Sometimes I'll highlight the entire left side and remind my kids that this is where we always want to start. When he writes things backwards, compliment him on his writing, the formation of the letters and the spelling, and on the attempt. What a great effort. Then gently tell him that we need to start on this side (the left side) and ask him to do it again, using lots of praise and recognition for his efforts. It's also fun to hold his backwards things in the mirror and see how they read correctly.

Just a reminder as to "where we start" should be enough to cure the backwards problem. Don't be too frustrated, some kids need lots of reminders--sometimes most of the school year, but they get it figured out eventually and remember that we go from left to right. Good luck and enjoy the process of working with your child. It sounds like you're doing a great job!

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Online “Ask a Coach” replies of www.frontlinephonics.com should be used for general advice purposes only. Information given by our coaches is not intended to provide a basis for action in particular circumstances without consideration by a competent professional.