The phonics books - as opposed to non-pc animal attractions.
I just want to check if DD and I are doing it right, and how long it takes to make a difference.
DD is 6 in Y1. She's been slow to get to grips with reading, only recently moved up to yellow books at my instigation. School say phonics is at the heart of what they do, however I think they use mixed methods (every time I talk to them about DDs reading difficulties they give me sheets of hfw for her to memorise). DD's phonics haven't moved on since reception so she's basically early phase 3.
I do think she may have some sld and school teaching approach doesn't help so i will continue to work on them, in the meantime I thought i'd see if I could consolidate her phonics using dancing bears - so questions -
We've been doing it for a little over 2 weeks and manage a bit less than a page a day. This seems ok i think.
What does learn a sound a day mean? Because if its that letters 'ar' on flashcard make sound 'ah' thats taken 2 weeks. And now i've introduced 'er' she's confused again - can't tell them apart on flashcard, a little better in words i think.
She hates the cursor. I think she really needs it as most of her reading strategies are some form of guessing
We passed the first mastery test but only just as she has problems with speed. She insists on sounding out every word before saying it, even the very familiar or non-phonetic ('the') which obviously slows her down.
Is this all par for the course as its a new way of learning for her? Will it click into place and she'll start recognising words and graphemes without the obvious effort she's having to put in at the moment?
Just intrested in how it may have worked for others.