A friend asked the other day what phonics program we use. My answer: none. We tried a few, but always end up doing phonics in a more natural way.
It works something like this:
A child writes a story, a letter or a blog post. Anything that is leaving the house takes at least 2 steps: a rough draft and a final version. Often there is another step or two, but that's the minimum. The child brings me her first version, and we go over it. I point out a word that is misspelled and give her the correct spelling. If this is a new sort of word for her (or if she's very new to this, and everything is new for her) then we talk about other words that are spelled that way:
"Would is spelled with ould, like could and should. "
"Talk is spelled with the same pattern as walk."
"Heard is spelled with ear in the middle. It doesn't seem like it needs the a, but learn, earth and early are also spelled that way. Hey, can anybody think of other examples for her?"
A younger child might ask for help spelling even on her first draft. I rarely give just the spelling that she is asking for. Instead, I answer with a rule.
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