Strengths & Weaknesses of Using Saxon Phonics to Teach Reading
Should I Use Saxon Phonics to Teach My Child to Read?
Many homeschooling families are familiar with the name “Saxon” but they may bot be sure what the Saxon phonics program entails. Here you’ll find a very brief synopsis of what I think are the strengths and weaknesses of Saxon Phonics.
Strengths:
· Can easily be used with other phonics and reading programs.
· Relies on frequent review and builds upon prior knowledge.
· Provides lesson scripts for teachers and parents to use when teaching the material.
· Integrates spelling into the phonics program and even has spelling tests.
Weaknesses:
· Doesn’t test the phonics, but does give assessments.
· Lessons are rather long, about 45 minutes.
· Handwriting is included in the phonics time, which detracts from the phonics instruction.
· Many sight words compared to other phonics programs.
· Some terminology is confusing.
· Complicated vowel/syllable rules, with littler sound repetition built into the program.
So, can a child learn to read using the Saxon phonics system? YES, but she might have better success with a program with a systematic learning system that gives better instructions. In my opinion, Saxon phonics seems to be more of a complicated linguistic study rather than a simple phonics tool. Personally, I prefer the A Beka Book theory of phonics, look for a future article on their method of phonics instruction.