Phonics vs Whole Language
As an educator and a compulsive planner, I started investigating reading-readiness programs while Froggy was still a tadpole. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to use a phonics program. The only question was which one. I looked at many many different programs over months and months before picking one, all before she turned one. Since it was clearly not needed for a long time, it got shelved and forgotten. Meanwhile as suggested, we purchased and played with letter puzzles and magnetic letters and an amazing toy, Fridge Phonics, which quickly became a favorite.
So time passed and Froggy turned 2. She knows her letters and the sound they make. She suddenly and unexpectedly (to me at least) starts filling in the words when I am slow completing a page in the book we are reading. So periodically, with some larger print books, I start pointing at the words as I read and deliberately pausing for her to "read" certain words.
She desperately wants to read and just because I have not explained thoroughly how phonics works and how the sounds go together does not mean she is going to wait. I did not intend to use a whole language approach or teach "sight" words (other than her name) but Froggy had other ideas and we will be using a combination of approaches.
I guess this is really what they mean by child-led learning.
So time passed and Froggy turned 2. She knows her letters and the sound they make. She suddenly and unexpectedly (to me at least) starts filling in the words when I am slow completing a page in the book we are reading. So periodically, with some larger print books, I start pointing at the words as I read and deliberately pausing for her to "read" certain words.
She desperately wants to read and just because I have not explained thoroughly how phonics works and how the sounds go together does not mean she is going to wait. I did not intend to use a whole language approach or teach "sight" words (other than her name) but Froggy had other ideas and we will be using a combination of approaches.
I guess this is really what they mean by child-led learning.
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