Advance Phonic -Reading-Stage-2

Step 6: Rhyme Time

I am fit and I am strong;
I workout all day long.

I run, I jump, and I skip.
More, more, more!

I lift a barbell and I lift a dumbbell;
Sit ups, pushups, I do it all.

Step 7a: Story

Winter is here.
I wear a red jacket.
It keeps me warm in the winter.
I wear a green hat, and green mittens.
My hands are warm in my green mittens.

Step 7b: Comprehension Checks
o What color is the jacket?
o What else does the boy wear to keep warm in
winter?

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Lesson 14: Unvoiced "th"

In the first lesson of this book, we had taught the voiced 'th'
sound, and also explained the difference between voiced and
unvoiced sounds. That's included here again for reference:

Voiced sounds are made by the vibrations in your throat.
Put your fingers on your throat, and make a voiced sound,
such as /b/, /d/, or voiced /th/. You will feel your throat
vibrate.
Unvoiced sounds are made without any vibrations in
your throat, and are made simply by "pushing" air
through the mouth. For example, /p/, /t/, /f/, /s/.
With the unvoiced /th/ sound here, only air passes through the
mouth. For example, words such as "think" or "with" contain
the unvoiced /th/ sound. This sound is made with the very tip
of the tongue coming through a slight spacing between the
upper and lower teeth, except instead of making a sound with
the vocal cords, only air is pushed through.
Step 1: Teach the ‘th’ spelling as the unvoiced /th/ sound.

Step 2: Words: bath, both, math, path, with
Step 3: Words: fifth, sixth, seventh, cloth
Step 4: Words: thin, thing, think, thank, thick

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Step 5: Sentences

• Beth excels at math.
• Thank you for helping me with my math.
• I think I need a bath.
• Follow the path.
• I'm thinking about that thing.

Step 6a: Story

My family just finished dinner.
The dishes are dirty, and need to be washed.
I will help mommy wash the dirty dishes.
We fill the sink with water.
Mommy washes the dishes, and I put the dishes
away.

Step 6b: Comprehension Checks
• What meal did the family just finish?
• What is the child helping mommy do after dinner?

• Describe how they wash the dishes together.

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Lesson 15: oo

This is another complex lesson, where we learn two sounds
represented by one single spelling ('oo') – the long and short ‘oo’
sounds (/o͝o/ and /o͞o/). When 'oo' is short it makes the /o͝o/
sound as in ‘wood’ and ‘stood’. When 'oo' is long, it makes the
/o͞o/ (woo) sound as in ‘food’ and ‘moon’. Here are some more
examples:

Two sounds of 'oo' (long and short):

1. short 'oo' - /o͝o/
• cook
• book
• foot
• wood

2. long 'oo' - /o͞o/ /woo/
• soon
• mood
• stool
• root

The key to teaching these spellings and sounds is that
there isn't a steadfast rule - none that I know of - which tells
you when each spelling should sound a certain way. The way I
go about teaching this, is that I explain to my students that
'oo' makes two different sounds, and the way to know which
sound 'oo' makes in a word is to try one sound first, and if it

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does not sound right, then try the other sound. Let's use the
word "mood" as an example:

• if we tried the short /oo/ sound (as in "cook") to say
/mood/, it would not sound right at all

• if we tried the long /woo/ sound, then it sounds like
/mood/

Step 1a: Teach the short /oo/ sound.
Step 1b: Teach short /oo/ words

• good, hood, wood, stood, foot
• book, cook, look, hook, took, shook

Step 2a: Teach the long /oo/ sound - /woo/
Step 2b: Teach long /oo/ words

• food, mood, moon, school, stool
• soon, boots, room, broom, mushroom

Step 3: Long and short /oo/ sentences

• I stood on the moon.
• There is a broom in your room.
• Hang the boots on the hook.
• That is a good cookbook.
• I am in a very good mood.
• She stood on the stool.

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Lesson 16: ew

In this lesson, we learn the ‘ew’ spelling, and this spelling also
represents two different sounds – the long ‘oo’ /o͞o/ sound, and
also the /yoo/ sound.
Here are the two sounds of 'ew':

1. /ew/ - /woo/ - same as long /oo/ in previous lesson.
• crew
• grew
• chew

2. /ew/ as in "few" and "skew" - /yoo/.
• few
• nephew

As you can see from lesson #15 and #16, both 'oo' and 'ew'
spellings make two sounds each, and at the same time, 'oo' and
'ew' also share the same long ‘oo’, /woo/, sound.

Similar to the ‘oo’ spelling, there isn’t a rule to tell you
when ‘ew’ should make the /woo/ sound or the /yoo/ sound. So,
when unsure which sound 'ew' makes, try both. As children
become better readers and decoders with a more developed
vocabulary, they will generally have no problems at figuring
out the different sounds of 'oo' and 'ew'.

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Step 1a: Teach the 1st /ew/ sound - /woo/ - long ‘oo’
Step 1b: Teach words

o flew, threw, grew, chew
o blew, crew, screw, new

Step 2a: Teach the 2nd /ew/ sound - /yoo/
Step 2b: Teach words

o new, few, fewer, hew, askew, curfew

Note: You’ll notice that the word ‘new’ appears in both steps 1b
and 2b for both sounds. This is a word where both sounds can
work. Some people will pronounce ‘new’ as /nyoo/ and others
will also pronounce it as /noo/. So both sounds work.

Step 3: sentences

• Chew your food quickly.
• The birds flew south for the winter.
• Our school has a new swimming pool.
• He threw his boots into the bin.
• Don’t chew on the screw.
• My nephew has a 9 o’clock curfew.

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Step 4a: Story

School is starting soon.
Sam went to school to meet his teacher.
She will teach him a lot of new things.
Sam got a new brown backpack for school.
In it, he put books and pens.
Sam puts on his backpack and he is ready for
school.

Step 4b: Comprehension Checks
• Who did Sam meet at school?
• What color is Sam's new backpack?
• What did he put in his new backpack?

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Lesson 17: ai

If you look back to the phonics sound and spelling chart, you'll
see that the /ay/ sound has eight different spellings:

• -a -ai -ay -ae -a_e -ey -eigh -ea
The three more common spellings of the /ay/ sound are 'ai', 'ay',
and 'a_e', where we are working with the "silent e". In this
lesson, we teach the 'ai' spelling, and we will teach the "silent
e" later on.
Step 1: Teach the ‘ai’ spelling as the /ay/ sound.

Step 2: Words: aid, paid, maid, wait, waist.
Step 3: Words: rain, pain, main, daily
Step 4: Words: sail, mail, pail, tail

Step 5: Sentences

• No pain, no gain.
• I’m afraid of the dark.
• Catch the rain with a pail.
• The mailman brings the daily mail.

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Step 6a: Story

Bobby is on a quest.
He plans to plant many trees.
But Bobby needs help.
So he requested help from Tom.
Tom and Bobby planted many trees.

Step 6b: Comprehension Checks
o What does Bobby want to do?
o Why does Bobby need help?
o Who helped Bobby plant the trees?

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Lesson 18: ay

Step 1: Teach the ‘ay’ spelling as the /ay/ sound.

Step 2: Words: may, bay, day, hay, pay
Step 3: Words: say, stay, away, tray, clay
Step 4: Words: play, display, subway

Step 5: Sentences

• You may stay here longer.
• Let’s go to the subway.
• Stay away from the hay.
• Today is a big payday!

Step 6a: Rhyme Time

Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill,
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down, and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Jack got up,
And cried in pain;
And Jill said:
I'll never climb that hill again!

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Step 6b: Comprehension Checks
• Who went up the hill?
• Why did they go up the hill?
• Who fell down first?
• Do you think they will climb the hill again?

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Lesson 19: oi

In lesson #19 and #20, we teach two related spellings of ‘oi’ and
‘oy’. Both make the same /oy/ sound, as in “oyster”.
Step 1: Teach the ‘oi’ spelling and the /oy/ sound to your child.
Step 2: Teach ‘oi’ words:

• oil, soil, coil, boil,
• toil, spoil, toilet, avoid
• coin, join, joint, point

Step 3: Teach ‘oi’ sentences.

• The food is spoiled.
• He scored a point.
• I dropped a coin in the toilet.
• Grandma has joint pain.

Step 4a: Story

Zack the wizard has strong magic.
Zack turns the lizard into a dog.
Zack turns the zebra into a duck.
Zack the wizard turns himself into a frog.

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Step 4b: Comprehension Checks
• Who is Zack?
• What can Zack do?
• What did Zack turn himself into?

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Lesson 20: oy

Step 1: Teach the ‘oy’ spelling to your child.
Step 2: Teach ‘oy’ words:

• boy, soy, joy, toy
• annoy, oyster, toilet
• employ, joystick, cowboy

Step 3: Teach ‘oy’ sentences.

• That is an annoying oyster.
• Jack is a cowboy.
• That boy is a bundle of joy.
• I am drinking soy milk.

Step 4: Rhyme Time

Happy happy, joy joy;
I just got myself a new toy.
All year long, I've been a good boy;
And Santa is going to bring me a new toy!

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Lesson 21: aw

Both "aw" and "au" make the same "awe" sound. For example,
/aw/ as in "awful", "awesome", "awkward", and /au/ as in
"august", "auction", and "author".
Step 1: Teach the ‘aw’ spelling and the /aw/ sound to your child.
Step 2: Teach ‘aw’ words:

• saw, jaw, law, claw, flaw
• draw, straw, yawn, dawn, prawn
• hawk, outlaw, seesaw

Step 3: Teach ‘aw’ sentences.

• I can draw a hawk.
• He just yawned.
• I saw an outlaw on the run.
• There is a prawn on the lawn.
• A claw and straw played on the seesaw.

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Lesson 22: au

Step 1: Teach the ‘au’ spelling to your child.
Step 2: Teach ‘au’ words:

• taut, haunt, fraud
• cause, pause, auburn, august
• autumn, applaud, launch

Step 3: Teach ‘au’ sentences.

• It is now august.
• Pause the cartoon please.
• We will launch the rocket now.
• Stay away from the haunted house.

Step 4a: Rhyme Time

Look, look, there's a straw man in the farm;
He keeps all the wheat away from harm.
Look, look, here comes Buster the bird;
He eats all the wheat on August third!

One month pass, and it's September third;
Look, look, again comes Buster the bird!
Straw man, straw man, do your job;
Chase far away that awful bird!

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Step 4b: Comprehension Checks

• What does the straw man do on the farm? Can you find it

in the picture?
• What did Buster the bird do on August 3rd? Can you spot

him in the picture?
• Did Buster the bird come back again? When?

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Silent "e"

In English, silent "e" is a writing convention where an "e" at
the end of the word often indicates a specific pronunciation of
the preceding vowel. The silent "e" at the end of the word
makes the preceding vowels long to sound like their letter
names. For example:

• Bike (the silent "e" here makes the vowel "i" sound like
"eye")

• Plate (the silent "e" makes the vowel "a" sound like "ay")

Our goal here is to teach your child this concept, and teach
them to recognize that the silent "e" at the end of words make
the preceding vowel sound a certain way.

Vowel A - The silent "e" makes the vowel "a" sound like
"ay".

Vowel E - The silent "e" makes the vowel "e" sound like
"yee".

Vowel I - The silent "e" makes the vowel "i" sound like
"eye".

Vowel O - The silent "e" makes the vowel "o" sound like
"oh".

Vowel U - The silent "e" makes the vowel "u" sound like
"you".

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One thing parents are likely to notice initially is that it may
take children several tries before they start recognizing the
silent 'e' in words, where they will still say the short vowel
sound even though the word ends with a silent 'e'. For example:

• "SAME" - the child will very likely say "SAM"
initially.

Below is how I remind my students about the silent 'e':

• Using "SAME" as the word example again.
• Using one index finger, I point to the "A", and with

my other index finger, I point to the ending 'silent
e', and I say:

o "Look here. What's this?"
o "Silent E."
o "Right! So what does this E do?" Pointing now

to the preceding "A" vowel.
o "It makes A make the /ay/ sound."

Teach Word Pairs

Below I have some word pairs to illustrate how the silent "e"
changes words:

bit - bite tap - tape
cap – cape rip - ripe
cod - code mad - made
her - here sit - site

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fin - fine hop - hope
rid - ride grip - gripe
dim - dime strip - stripe
slim - slime not - note

To teach these word pairs, I first write the list of the words
without the ending silent “e” on the board, and I ask my
students to read each word – bit, cod, sit, tap, and so on. After
my students have read each of the words with short vowel
sounds, I go back to the first word. Starting with “bit”, I write
an “e” at the end of the word to make “bite”.

• “Let’s put the silent ‘e’ here, and let’s see what we have
now…”

• “What does the silent ‘e’ do?”
• “Yes correct! It jumps over one letter, and makes the ‘i'

say /eye/! So now we have ‘bite’!”

Do the same with all the remaining words on the board.

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Lesson 23: a_e

Step 1: Teach the long A sound /ay/ and the a_e spelling.

Step 2: a_e word pairs
• at – ate
• fat – fate
• lat – late
• stat – state

Step 3: Teach a_e words

• ate, fate, late, plate, state
• ape, grape, safe, game, bake
• base, lake, fake, snake, shake

Step 4: Teach a_e sentences

• Mom baked a cake.
• Let’s go swim in the lake.
• Joy ate some grapes.
• That is a fake snake.

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Lesson 24: e_e

Step 1: Teach the long E sound /yee/ and the e_e spelling.

Step 2: Teach e_e words

• here, eve, evening, these, theme
• compete, complete, concrete
• extreme, interfere, athlete

Step 3: Teach e_e sentences

• It is evening here.
• My work is complete!
• He enjoys extreme sports.
• What is the theme of the day?
• These athletes will compete here.

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Lesson 25: i_e

Step 1: Teach the long I sound and the i_e spelling.
Step 2: i_e word pairs

• rid – ride
• fin – fine
• win – wine
• shin – shine
• kit – kite
• dim – dime
• slim – slime
Step 3: Teach i_e words:

• bike, like, ride, side, wide
• time, fine, mine, wine, shine
• kite, dime, slime, life, fire

Step 4: Teach i_e sentences:

• I like to ride a bike.
• It is time to drink wine.
• That kite is mine.
• The left side is wide.

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Lesson 26: o_e

Step 1: Teach the long O sound and the o_e spelling.
Step 2: o_e word pairs

• not – note
• glob – globe
• cod – code
• hop – hope
• con - cone
Step 3: Teach o_e words:

• note, globe, code, joke, home
• bone, stone, smoke, broke
• hope, rope, cone, rose, nose, those

Step 4: Teach o_e sentences:

• Don’t smoke.
• He likes to make jokes.
• His nose is in the rose.
• I gave the dog a bone.

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Lesson 27: u_e

The u_e spelling gets a little bit more complicated where the
letter U actually makes two different sounds! So we will teach
both sounds.

• The first sound of u_e is the long U sound, which sounds
just like the name of letter U - /you/. (i.e. cube)

• The second sound of u_e is the long OO sound, which we
learned in lesson #14 - /woo/. (i.e. tube)

Step 1: We will start with long U words first:

• cube, fume, use,
• cute, mute, cure
• pure, commute, confuse

Step 2: Now teach the long OO words:

• tube, duke, nuke
• tune, rude, resume
• flute, June

Step 3: Teach u_e sentences:

• Don’t be rude to the duke.
• He seems confused.
• That’s a cute tune you played on the flute.
• He has to commute to work in June.
• The cube is stuck in the tube.

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Step 4a: Story

Mike and Jake are good friends.
They ride their bikes to the park.
At the park, they like to play baseball.
Mike is at bat, and Jake is the pitcher.
Jake threw the ball. Strike one!
Jake threw the ball again. Strike two!
Jake threw the ball a third time. Strike three!
"You're out Mike! My turn to bat." Said Jake.
After playing baseball, Mike and Jake ride their
bikes home.

Step 4b: Comprehension Checks
o Where are Mike and Jake going?
o How are they getting to the park?
o What are they doing at the park?
o Who was the batter and who was the pitcher?
o Where did Mike and Jake go after playing baseball?

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Lesson 28: soft "c", /s/, ce, ci

In this lesson, we teach the concept that when letter C is
combined together with "E" or "I" - 'ce' and 'ci' - it becomes “soft”
and makes the /s/ sound instead of the hard /k/ sound. The C is
soft also when it is combined with "Y" - 'cy', but in this lesson,
we just focus on 'ce' and 'ci'. This lesson ties in with the
previous learning unit where we learned the silent 'e', and the
same vowel 'e' here is taught as the ‘bossy e' because it now
performs two functions in words such as "race", "dice", and
"place". The 'e' is "bossy" because:

1. It works as a silent "e" to make the preceding vowel long
to sound like its name.

2. It makes the letter 'c' soft, to make the /s/ sound instead
of the /k/ sound.

Note On Soft 'g':

Similar to soft 'c', the letter 'g' becomes 'soft' when it is
followed by a 'e', 'i', or 'y', and it will make a /j/ sound, but not
all the time. However, soft 'g' is not in our lessons mainly due
to the many exceptions found to this rule. For example:

• "gem" vs. "get"
• "gentle" vs. " gecko "
• "gin" vs. "begin"
• "forge" vs. "forget"
• "ginger" vs. " burger "

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• "integer" vs. " booger"
There are many exceptions to the rule for soft 'g’. Here are
some more examples:

• gill
• gift
• give
• gizmo
• giddy
• gimmick
• giggle
Step 1: Teach “ce” words:

• ace, face, race, lace
• place, sincere, chance, dance
• advance, prance

Step 2: Teach “ci” words:

• city, cigar, cinch
• cinder, circus, citrus
• circle, pacific, excite

Step 3: Sentences

• Cindy lives in a big city.
• I am so excited to get another chance.
• He took a chance and got an ace.

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• We are a long distance from the moon.
• It is a race to the finish.
• Cinderella likes to dance and prance.

Step 4: Rhyme Time

Cinderella, Cinderella;
Do the dishes, mop the floor;
Feed the cat, and wipe the door.

Stepmother, stepsister;
They are evil, they are mean;
They want to be the princess and queen.

To the ball, to the ball;
The prince is having a party!
Cinderella is locked in her room;
The stepmother is playing dirty!

Magic, magic;
It's the fairy godmother.
Cinderella has a glass slipper,
Given to her by the fairy godmother.

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To the ball, to the ball;
Cinderella meets the prince.
They dance and they prance;
They fall in love, and oh, what a romance.

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Lesson 29: igh

Step 1: In this lesson, we teach your child the three letter
combination of "igh", and it should be read as in words such as:
light, sight, and right.

Step 2: Words: high, sigh, sight, might

Step 3: Words: light, fight, flight, thigh

Step 4: Words: night, tonight, right, bright

Step 5: Sentences

• Cats have good sight at night.
• My big brother is in high school.
• Please turn on the light.
• This night light is way too bright.
• Daddy has a flight tonight.
• That shirt might be too tight.

Step 6a: Story

Robert is a bright boy.
He is a high school student.
He always finishes his homework every night.
Today is Friday, and Robert is not studying
tonight.
There is no school on Saturday.

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Step 6b: Comprehension Checks
o What type of school does Robert attend?
o Is he a good student? Explain.
o Why is Robert not studying tonight?

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Lesson 30: oa

In lessons #30, #31, and #32, we teach the three spellings of
'oa', 'ow', and 'ol'. Both ‘oa’ and ‘ow’ make the same long O, /oh/,
sound; however, with the ‘ol’ spelling, it is a slightly different
“oh” sound. Because of the “dark L’, it is a heavier sound. With
‘oa’ and ‘ow’, the mouth is in a fairly neutral position. However,
with ‘ol’, your mouth is more rounded, and your tongue drops,
and is pulled back in, towards the back of the mouth. To keep
things simplified, it is not necessary to get overly technical,
and grouping 'ol' with 'oa' and 'ow' has worked quite well based
on my experience.
Some examples:

• 'ol' as in cold, bold, pistol, and wolf.
• 'oa' as in boat, soap, and goal.
• 'ow' as in row, throw, and snow.

Let’s start with the ‘oa’ spelling.
Step 1: Teach the ‘oa’ spelling.

Step 2: Words: oat, boat, coat, soap, goat
Step 3: Words: foam, load, road, toad, throat
Step 4: Words: soak, hoax, roast, coach

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Step 5: Teach ‘oa’ sentences

• Wash the coat with soap.
• He roasted a toad for dinner.
• The goat ran down the road.
• My coat is soaked from the rain.
• The soap made a lot of foam.

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Lesson 31: ow

Earlier in this book, the 'ow' spelling has already been taught
to your child as the /ow/ sound. For example, 'cow', 'how', and
'now'. In this lesson, we teach ‘ow’ also as the long O, /oh/,
sound.

Step 1: Teach the ‘ow’ spelling.

Step 2: Words: own, row, show, snow, pillow
Step 3: Words: tow, low, flow, blow, slow
Step 4: Words: throw, grow, elbow, shadow, yellow

Step 5: Teach ‘ow’ sentences

• Slowdown on the road.
• Blow the snow away.
• Show me your elbow.
• Row, row, row your boat.
• Don’t throw the pillow in the snow.

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Lesson 32: ol

Step 1: Teach the ‘ol’ spelling.

Step 2: Words: old, cold, bold, gold, sold
Step 3: Words: told, fold, bolt, enroll, roller
Step 4: Words: wolf, folder, colder, collect

Step 5: Teach ‘ol’ sentences

• The wolf ate the sheep.
• He sold the old house.
• I like to roller skate.
• Look, a bolt of lightning!
• Daddy sold the old boat

Step 6a: Story

Once upon a time, there was a boy.
He watched over a herd of goats.
One day, the goat boy was bored, and he cried
"wolf, wolf!"
Others came to help, but there was no wolf.
Next day, the goat boy again yelled "wolf, wolf!"
Others came to help, but there was no wolf.
On the third day, there really was a big bad wolf.

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The goat boy ran down the road crying "wolf,
wolf!"
But this time, no one came to help the boy who
cried wolf.

Step 6b: Comprehension Checks
• What job did the boy have?
• Why did the goat boy cry wolf?
• Was there a wolf when others came to help the first time?
• On the third day when there really was a wolf, did
anyone come to help? Why not?

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Lesson 33: ph

Step 1: In the final lesson of our program, the consonant
digraph "ph" is taught to your child. The "ph" spelling makes
the same /f/ sound as the letter "f", as in phone, photo, and
phonics.

Step 2: Words: photo, graph, graphic, elephant

Step 3: Words: phew, nephew, phonics, typhoon

Step 4: Words: gopher, phone, telephone, photograph

Step 5: Sentences

• Ralph is Sophie's nephew.
• Phew, that typhoon just passed by.
• There is an elephant in the room.
• Learning to read with phonics.
• That's a photo of Joseph.
• The gopher chewed down the telephone

pole.

Step 6a: Story

Sophie is taking her nephew Ralph to the zoo.
At the zoo, they see big elephants.
Ralph got to ride on an elephant. He had a lot of
fun.

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Sophie then took Ralph to see the dolphins.
The Dolphins were swimming and playing in the
pool.
Ralph waited for his turn to swim with the
dolphins.
Sophie took many photos for Ralph.

Step 6b: Comprehension Checks
• Who is taking Ralph to the zoo? How are they related?
• What did Ralph get to do when they went to see the
elephants?
• After elephants, where did Ralph and Sophie go?
• What did Ralph get to do with the dolphins?

Step 7: Rhyme Time

Little gopher Drew,
Don’t chew on the pole.
Water is leaking,
And your house has a hole.

There's water in your house,
And mud on your bed.

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Donny the dolphin swims by,
And you went to play instead!
Little gopher Drew,
Your home is flooded.
Chuck the duck quacked on the roof,
And on the roof, he got stranded.
Little gopher Drew,
It's too late to patch up the hole.
Your house floated away,
And you're still chewing on the pole!

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We are Done!

Congratulations on completing our step-by-step phonics
program, and having the patience, care, and consistency to
teach your child to read. It's no simple task to raise children,
and taking the initiative to teach your children to read is an
exceptionally rewarding experience for both the parent and the
child.

By now, your child should have developed an exceptional
ability to read and decode printed text. Even as your child's
teacher, I'm sure that at times, you have been amazed at your
child's ability to read, and at your child's capacity for learning
to read. I know I certainly have been many times in my own
journey of teaching my children and students to read. There
are nights when I as a parent should be reading bedtime
stories to my children, end up being read to by my three or
four year old kids. They pick up their favorite bedtime story
books, and start reading. I sit there listening, and make simple
correction and provide guidance when needed. Other times, I
sit there smiling ear to ear, amazed at what young children are
able to read.

I sincerely hope that after completing our program, you
will share the same joys and jubilations as we have in teaching
your own children to read at a young age, and watch them
grow and flourish and truly explore the wonderful world of

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reading. You have provided your child with one of the most
wonderful and priceless gifts - the gift of reading.

What's Next?

After completing our program with your child, I'm sure that
you are keenly aware of the fact that English is not a simple
language, and that printed text does not all neatly fit into
certain specific rules of decoding. There are other complexities
which are not covered in our program, and there are always
exceptions and irregular words that simply do not fit into any
specific rule of decoding. However, after completing our
program, not only have you successfully taught your child to
read, you have become an accomplished teacher with a keen
understanding of the written English language. I have full
confidence that as occasions arise where your child encounters
new reading challenges that you will have the knowledge to
guide and teach your child.

You may have noticed that throughout our entire
program, very little emphasis is placed on phonics rules for
reading. After all, rules are just that - rules. I hardly think
that inundating your child with phonics rules will help them
become better readers. Throughout our program, the emphasis
has always been on helping your child develop phonemic
awareness, and helping them develop the quick reflex of
decoding printed text. Stage 1 (Phonics Foundations) has
already discussed at length this initial need to repeatedly

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sound out words, and it is through repeated exposure to words
students can decode that they slowly develop automatic word
recognition skills leading to reading speed and fluency. By now,
your child is able to decode words, sentences, and stories, and
comprehend what he or she is reading. Your child now has an
innate ability and a clear understanding that letters combine
to form words with meaning, and words combine together to
form sentences that convey messages.

The progression of our phonics program is built upon
slowly increasing reading volume starting with simple words,
progressing on to more complex words, to short sentences, to
longer sentences, and eventually to short stories and rhymes;
however, the choice of words and vocabulary is matched to
compliment our learning units, and children will need to
engage in more reading outside of our program to develop their
vocabulary, and to come across more complex decoding
patterns and irregular words otherwise not seen in our reading
lessons. Many mistakenly think that reading challenging texts
will help improve children’s reading, enhance their vocabulary,
and increase their knowledge. While this is true to some extent,
it is likely that only the already "good readers" will benefit
from this, and the poor readers will be further put off by the
stress and frustration caused by reading texts far above their
current reading level. For early readers, it is important to keep
in mind to not over stress them with texts that are far above
their reading level – this will not achieve the desired result,

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and will likely have opposite and detrimental effects. To
become good readers, along with reading fluency, young
students must slowly build up their READING STAMINA. To
borrow a quote from our Stage 1 manual:

Students must be given ample opportunities to read texts
that are appropriate for their current reading level, and
this has several benefits:

• builds fluency and speed through repeated practice
and exposure

• builds reading stamina without getting overly
taxed by reading material that is too difficult

• smooth and fluent reading at the appropriate level
helps build reading confidence

By the time parents complete both stages of our program,
their children will have developed exceptional decoding and
reading skills, although some may not have yet achieved fully
fluent reading. Children are not expected to achieve perfect
fluency upon the completion of our program – some children
will be able to read quite fluently, while others will still need
to sound out and decode for just awhile longer. How quickly
children develop the automaticity in reading will depend on
factors such as their age, cognitive abilities, and more
importantly, how much reading practice they receive at school
and at home. Generally speaking, older, more mature students
will achieve reading fluency quicker than younger students.

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After completing our program, it typically takes several more
weeks or months of consistent reading practice for many
children to achieve excellent reading fluency. With additional
time and practice, parents will really see their children soar in
their reading and spelling skills. This leads back to all the
research that I have presented in Stage 1, where studies have
found that the benefits of synthetic phonics last well beyond
the initial training period, leading to gains in reading skills
year after year.

To further enhance your child's reading, I suggest having
plenty of children's books around the house. One of our
favorites are "Step Into Reading" books, which is a series of
children's books that are categorized according to reading
levels, or "steps".

The Step Into Reading books are categorized into five
steps. Step one books are designed for preschool to
kindergarten; step two books are for up to grade 1; step three
is for grades 1 to 3; step four is for grades 2 to 3; and step five
is for up to grade 4. One thing to keep in mind when picking
books for your child is the complexity of the words used in the
books. Often times, we find that authors of children's books
use rather complex words in their stories – sometimes, even in
very "basic" step one books. What you end up noticing is that
the author might use very short sentences – perhaps 2 or 3
word sentences – but use overly complicated words that make
it difficult for a beginning reader to decipher and decode. I

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think some authors neglect to consider the fact that "short
sentences" does not necessarily equate to "simple reading".
When a beginning reader has difficulties reading and
progressing through books, frustration will set in, and the
child gets turned off from reading. On the other hand, there
are many well written books that contain easy to decode words
that provide a smooth reading experience for beginning
readers. Undoubtedly, your child will come across many
unfamiliar words as they venture into a whole new world of
reading, and therefore, it would behoove you and your child
that you spend a little time with your child each day to enjoy
some guided reading time together. By now, you are an
accomplished teacher in decoding and reading, and have a
keen knowledge and understanding of phonemes and phonetics.
By looking at the text in a storybook, you will know right away
whether it is appropriate for your child's current reading skill.
You will know which passages your child will have difficulties
with, and you can be proactive and smoothly guide your child
through these; you will know which passages will be
appropriate for your child's reading level, and let your child
work through these on their own. As you spend just 10 to 15
minutes each day, you will slowly see the amazing, continued
progress and transformation in your child's reading skills.
Soon enough, you will notice that your child may begin to
intuit certain complex word decoding patterns on their own
without your assistance; you may notice that your child is
gathering unfamiliar word meanings in the context they

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appear in; and with consistent practice, you will see that your
child is developing into a fast, accurate, and fluent reader.

I sincerely hope that you and your child have benefited
from our step-by-step reading program, and I would love to
hear your stories.
You can email me at: [email protected]
Thank you!

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Children Learning Reading

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References:

1. The Cognitive Foundations of Learning to Read:
AFRAMEWORK
SOUTHWEST EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LABORATORY
2. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the
National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the
scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction (NIH
Publication No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
3. Effects of Long-Term Vocabulary Instruction on Lexical Access and Reading
Comprehension.
Beck, Isabel L.; And Others 1982
Journal of Educational Psychology, v74 n4 p506-21 Aug 1982

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