Phonics....

...yes, i do think it's important in the development of learning the skill of reading. i've been toying with two methods for awhile now. since i come from an education background, i have to say i'm not scared of the whole thing. but becoming a homeschooling parent, i've started to view other methods other than the one 'traditional' education has promoted/used.

reading didn't come easy for me as a child. i loathed phonics. mainly because it didn't make a lot of sense to me. my memory of phonics from 1st and 2nd grade was a blue workbook in which my teacher made use do pages as homework. i vaguely remember my mother going over it with me. whatever was going on in that classroom during phonics time, i can't say it registers to me now. as i teacher, i hesitate to say that there wasn't anything useful going on. but in my child-mind's view, i was totally lost!

i've kept that workbook, all these years, (there are a lot of read marks in that book) and for what? i guess to save until a time where this stuff actually makes sense. in learning to teach and actually having to teach phonics to my students i FINALLY understood what teachers from days long ago were trying to teach me. it finally rated. if only it could have been then....

so, i've debated which way i'd teach my own children so as not to confuse them or overwhelm them. i'd like to to make some sense to them.

i've been holding a Saxon Phonics Kit for several years now. A former co-worker had several kits and blessed me with a kit for each of the levels (K-2nd). i've actually taught from the 2nd grade level and liked it...for the most part. it is rather 'scripty' (i know, that's not a real word) so i'd read over their script and then teach the lesson using the resources suggested/given. i've also been reading through the method Jessie Wise has in her book The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. I like this one as well, as she walks you through each letter and has a neat little poem for learning all the sounds.

i've been going back and forth trying to make up my mind...and all along jaya is begging me to teach her to read. now that kari is 4, she now interested in reading as well. so i said, what the heck, let me jump into something and see what happens.

i've decided to use the Saxon Phonics kit. i'll be starting it with the girls in the morning. i'm laying out all the necessary supplies--the kit provides them! we'll see how they take to this method. i'm going to start them together since this is our 1st formal lesson of phonics. i may have to open the next kit so jaya doesn't get bored. we'll see....