Do you have questions or concerns regarding phonics reading for your child?  Many of your phonics-related questions may be answered here.  If you have a concern about phonics for your child that is not satisfied below, contact us.

I have an 8-year-old son who is having a hard time reading.  He is in the second grade and reads on a first-grade level.  How soon can I expect to see change in his reading after he starts a phonics program?

It’s hard to say for sure, as I am unfamiliar with his background and previous reading experience.  However, in my four-year-old classroom, I begin with some early phonics lessons the second week of school in September, and by the middle of October I have a large percentage of my 24 children reading.  I am a firm believer that phonics programs can teach children to read and can improve and child’s reading abilities.  It’s fun for the child, very doable for the parents, and the results are tremendous.  Good luck!

We purchased a phonics program, including the accompanying coaching program, back in October–my son had just turned four.  He LOVED the lessons, right up until I tried to get him to blend the letters.  He is extremely resistant to even try it.  He won’t even sound them out with me.  He says that he “doesn’t want to learn to read.”  He is VERY  bright–all of his preschool teachers, friends, etc. rave about his verbal skills and abilities, but he seems almost afraid to try to blend the letters.

He wants to keep going on the lessons, and I did for a while.  We’re almost through all the regular letters, but I’m hesitant to keep going when he still won’t even try to blend.  It’s almost like he’s afraid that if he learns to read that I’ll make him read all of the time and I won’t read for him anymore or something.  It’s very strange.  Everything else we do together, he is SO enthusiastic and will try anything.

I haven’t ever called the coaching program or anything.  To be honest, we quit doing the lessons several weeks ago.  I thought maybe a break would help.  Besides answering the questions about blending, how also do you suggest we get back into it after a long break?  Thanks very much for any input you can give.

Blending can be a bit of a tricky spot for some children.  It seems like he is very bright, but maybe just not quite ready yet.  I have kids like this in my class, and here is what I do with them.  First of all, I back way off.  If they think I am pressuring them, or if they feel pressure from their parents, they won’t do it.  They get defensive and frustrated.  So make sure that there is not pressure coming from you about his abilities to read.  After all, he’s just four years old.  He has many more years to figure this language code out, so there’s no need to push yet.

I back way up, and make sure that everything we’re doing stays way fun.  I also cut way back on the time that we work on it.  If you’re working 20-30 minutes and pushing for results, they’ll push back by not wanting to “play” anymore.  I keep my lesson/game times to about 10 minutes.  No more.  Here are a few ideas that might help.  I like to think of as many blending games as I can by using a set of cards that have the letters that they know on them.  I hold them in my hand let them pick three cards and lay them out.  Then we sound out what they picked.  Sometimes they are nonsense words, but they get the idea that I want them to read what they picked.  Then I reverse it and I pick three cards.  We play this game back and forth several times and they hear and see me read what I picked.  Seeing me do it often helps them understand what I’m trying to get them to do.

Another blending trick I use that often helps them hear the difference between sounding out each letter and blending them into words is to read a very familiar book to them (or at least a page of it) sounding out each letter as I go.  This has to be a very familiar book that they know and can instantly recognize that this is not how the book should be read.  They can hear the difference between sounding out each letter and blending those letters into words.

Repetition is the key here.  Playing and inventing lots of blending games will help.  Keeping it fun will make him want to “play” again.  When you feel that he is ready to try again, just start over with the lessons–he’ll remember some of them.  And when he recognizes some of them, just for fun, have him teach them to you!  This solidifies the idea in his mind, and it’s super cool to be the “teacher” and teach mom or dad what the letter “D” says.  Good luck in your progress–write anytime, we’ll all be happy to help.

I was so excited when I purchased a phonics program, I couldn’t wait to start. When we began with the lesson plan, my daughter was fine until she was asked to repeat the letter sound. She would refuse to continue. I didn’t know what to do. So, I continued with the rest of the lesson and would later refer the letter sound. But still she refused. I don’t want her to lose interest. She enjoys the CD, coloring the worksheets and the letter searching game and LOVES to be read to. But she will not sound out the letters for me. We have been on the letter “M” for weeks now, and still she will not sound out the letter. I don’t know how to get her over this hump. HELP! I’m getting to a point where I’m frustrated.

Thanks for writing. It sounds to me like your daughter is a very typical 3 year old. You mentioned that she is interested in the music, the letter games, and coloring, loves to be read to, but is not interested in repeating or drilling on any specific letter. That’s pretty normal behavior for a 3 year old. Quite often the interest to make the association between the letter and the sound it makes comes more when they are 4 to 4 ½ years old. Her lack of interest in repeating things to you could be just that—lack of interest.

Don’t push her—let her learn at her own pace. I would put the lessons away for a while, listen to the music, let her play letter games around the house—always associating a sound with a letter. When she is curious about the letters in her name, how to spell her name, how to spell your name—that’s a pretty good sign that she’s ready to make the connection between the letter and the sound and how they fit together in a word.

Meanwhile, don’t get discouraged. Keep it light and simple and fun, and when she’s ready, she’ll get it. Keep up the good work and enjoy working with your child.

I just started using phonics. Do I teach both of my children at the same time or should I have separate lessons?  Now my son is 5 years old and my daughter is 3 years old. So far I have been teaching them both at the same time and it seems to be working but I thought it might be better separate them. What do you think?

I’m so impressed with what you’re doing! There is no problem with teaching them together. If your 3-year-old is interested and willing to sit through a lesson, then great, let her stay. A few concepts she might not get, but she’s being exposed to the ideas and when she is ready to hear them, they will sound familiar to her. I think it’s super if she’s interested. I would keep them together until she shows a lack of interest. If she gets bored and wanders off during the lesson, that’s OK, let her go. She’ll have other times to learn the information so don’t worry about pushing her.

The only reason I would separate them is if the 3-year-old started to pass the 5-year-old, making him feel uncomfortable. Then I would teach them at different times so that they can experience their own success in learning and not feel a sense of competition or sibling pressure. Keep up the good work and enjoy the process of working with your children.

Our 3 year old is hyperlexic and is already beginning to read by sight. I think teaching him phonics would be helpful, because he is obsessed with letters and numbers. He knows every letter (upper and lower case) by sight (and has since he was 2). I did the first lesson online with him about the letter “M” and he caught on very fast. How often do you recommend using the program? How long does it take to complete? I’m very excited about this!

I’m a pre-school teacher and have used phonics lessons for the past five years with great success. We teach a letter a day (we have school 3 days a week), so we’re introducing a new letter about every other day. The lessons only take 15 minutes or so to complete, and then we encourage the parents to talk about the letter while they’re at home on their off days from school. If you chose to do it everyday, you could obviously complete the entire program more quickly, but beware of burnout. Keeping it short and sweet will keep it fun.

How hard is it to start a phonics program, and how expensive is it?

Phonics programs are extremely easy to use. I use one everyday in my preschool and have tremendous success teaching 4-year-olds how to read. There are many well-thought-out and well-guided programs that enables you to teach your child the fundamentals of reading. I have been so pleased with my program layout and the program results. Check out this LINK for all the different Phonics lessons available.

I need more information about the phonics program. I have 3 children who need to use it. There are two 7-year-old twins and one 4 year old. Help me please!

I’m a preschool teacher at a private preschool in my area and have taught children reading for many years. The phonics program I use starts by teaching the alphabet letters and sounds with a fun song. Almost all kids like to sing, or at least listen to you while you sing along. I suggest that you play it while your child is playing with his toys, while driving in the car, while taking a bath, anytime and anywhere. Becoming familiar with the letters and sounds is the first step to reading success. In my school class, it is almost background music so that it quickly becomes second nature to them. You can find phonics programs that use music on our Commercial Phonics Programs page.

The blending concepts taught are wonderful. Many phonics programs teach the letters and sounds and then jump right to reading, leaving out the important step of blending. This is something I have found important when teaching my preschoolers. I believe that teaching phonics in the beginning and building on that solid foundation is the key to reading success. There are some great phonics programs out there, and some good help for parents who are home schooling or tutoring on their own. Good luck and enjoy the process of working with your children.

What is the main importance of teaching reading through Phonics?

Thanks for writing. That’s a fairly loaded question. You could ask 27 first grade teachers that question and get 25 different answers. So here a few words about phonics vs. sight word programs. It is an ongoing debate in education, and probably always will be. Obviously, phonics is a phonetic based program, I use it, see the results and am a huge proponent of phonics-based programs and introductory phonetic reading. Understanding phonetics helps a child have the ability and confidence to attack an unknown word and sound it out. Sight based reading uses memorization techniques to memorize words in our language and then recall them to be able to read them. Now in English, there are several exceptions to rules as you no doubt know, but there are rules first, and exceptions second. Phonetic based programs teach the rules, give the child the skills to reason out a word, and then allow for exceptions, instead of asking the child to memorize every word in our language.

Proponents of each program could argue their points eloquently and endlessly, and have many good and solid ideas on each side. I have learned a few other languages in my scholastic career, and I find it interesting that when you go to learn another language, you always start with a phonetic understanding of how the alphabet goes together in that language. I think the principals hold true as we give our children the tools and skills to figure out our written language. Hope that helps a bit–Good luck to you.