Suzanne, a home school mom from California, posted this information on our discussion board.
I asked her for permission to reprint these ideas in our newsletter.

    I'm using Phonics Pathways with my almost 5-year-old daughter.  The first thing I did was read the introduction pages and then up to about page 10. Then, I made 5 copies of the vowel card game (p. xiv) on card stock. I also copied the vowel bookmark (p. xiii), and the "bed" card (p. 26), all on cardstock.
    There are different games you can play with the vowel cards (explained in the text), just to get your child familiar with the short vowel sounds. My daughter got bored with this pretty quickly, but some kids love it. We just went on with the exercises, using the vowel bookmark.  We love the bookmark!  She holds onto it like a security blanket.  I encourage her to use it whenever she needs to.  It allows her to think through the exercise, without guessing.  We're on page 35 now and she hardly ever uses her bookmark. She still likes to hold it, though.
    Starting on page 9 (if you have the 8th edition), you start blending sounds. I like Phonics Pathways because it teaches the child to blend from left to right, just as they will when they start reading longer words.  I just sit down with my daughter on the couch (we like to snuggle when we read). I hold the book on a pillow on our laps and point to each sound as she says them (the instructions on page 8 are very thorough). I don't say much (I think using too many words distracts her). If she says the sound correctly, I just move on to the next sound. If she says it incorrectly, I simply move my finger over the letters once, like I'm erasing them. She then looks at her vowel bookmark to figure out what the sound is supposed to be.
    Sometimes she'll do two or more pages at a time. Sometimes she's "tired" after only a few lines. I always stop when she's had enough. Then, we pick up where she left off the next day. When she passes a landmark (like page 25, the last "ladder" page), I get up and do a silly dance! We all laugh and cheer and really whoop it up.)
    For variety, we read from our Horizons readers (from Alpha Omega), or we play games. I've written some detailed descriptions of the games we play below (I got some of these game ideas from Ruth Beechick's book A Home Start in Reading):

BINGO
    My daughter loves to play BINGO. You can make a BINGO game using poster board. Cut little rectangles (1" X 2") and write CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words on them (you will need about 40 words). Cut out larger rectangles (7" x 10") for game boards and draw the 5x5 BINGO grid on them. Write some of the same CVC words on each game board (You don't need to write B-I-N-G-O across the top. It won't mean anything in this game).
    If you want, you can make each column of words rhyme. Or, they can all start with the same letter. It helps to write each column in a different color. Write the corresponding word cards in the same color. It's easier (and more fun) for the child to find the words if she doesn't have to read her entire card every time.
    Find something to use for markers (beans, pennies, post-it notes, whatever). At first, have your childpick the word cards and you read them to her, to teach her how the game works. Soon, you will be able to sound the words out together. Before you know it, she'll be reading all the words to you. Our whole family loves this game.

DICE WORDS
    You can also make a game by writing letters on tape-covered dice. Make one vowel die (with two a's) and two consonant dice (using sounds she knows). Roll the dice and see if she can build words out of the letters she rolls.

TILES
    Letter tiles are fun too. I got a large jar of them at Staples Office Supply store. Color the back of the vowel tiles with washable marker. Then, turn them, along with the consonants she knows, upside down. Let her pick three tiles and build words from the letters she picks. It won't take her long to figure out that she needs at least one colored (vowel) tile to make a word.

Go

to the July 2001 issue page, or go

to the Well-Trained Mind Newsletter page

from Peace Hill Farm

18101 The Glebe Lane

Charles City, VA 23030