This is why I’ve found it works best to let my Kindergartner do phonics by herself…
She will often create little stories and go off on tangents while in the middle of the page. Today, she decided it would be fun to choose different letters and spell new things. The whale was a whole, whalee, shole… you get the idea. Then she wanted to be funny so she added in her own letters for the thin guy. She circled F a t instead. Then she drew a flat guy and added an L. The silly kid had us all laughing.
So, I’ve found that it works best for me to let her go about her phonics on her own. When I have tried to sit with her, I can get a little frustrated because of all her tangents. Sometimes she runs off pretending to be something and comes back a few minutes later. I know these tangents can be a good thing, but with homeschooling 3 grades my time is limited. She likes doing phonics this way and at this point she is my only kid who has liked phonics. It might take her five times as long to do 2 pages, but she is having fun in the process. I’m good and she’s good so I guess that is that.
We love Explode the Code! And, my son (who is in the first book) will do the same thing! He’ll purposely circle the wrong letters and read his silly made-up word. It’s annoying but cute.