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ann@home
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| Posted: April 29 2007 at 1:39am | IP Logged
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I feel like I missed the boat somehow with my first child and don't want to make the same mistakes twice! I wanted to make reading fun with my son (now 8) and mainly used the Nora Gaydos Now I'm Reading series to get started and then used some Abeka readers for a while. I also used the ETC workbooks mainly because he seemed to respond well to them. We are just starting book 6.
Well, he's definitely not "at grade level" and struggles to read sight words and anything that doesn't fit the phonics rules. I know it's not important for him to be at a certain level but I don't want him to be so frustrated either since he WANTS to read more.
I'm not sure how to help him other than continue to read to him a lot and he reads either silently and dictates back to me or reads aloud to me each day (easy readers-mostly Step 1 type and some Step 2).
So this is a long way to ask what some of the "tried and true" reading programs are out there as I begin to teach my DD to read. I know she will pick it up faster as she is already reading some of the first BOB bks just on her own with no lessons at all (just lots of reading aloud by me).
I feel like I want a more complete program than what we did the first time around. I don't want totally scripted like Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading but I want more than a Homestart in Reading by Ruth Beechick-make sense?
If you made it this far-THANK YOU for your patience!
Ann
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Ann, Full-time Mama of a 10yr old Lego master, 7yr old DIVA, 4yr old King of the Mountain and one more in June '09!
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florasita
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| Posted: April 29 2007 at 11:29am | IP Logged
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I don't really like rograms anymore  . we use 100 ez lessons for a bit , read lots , copy work lots , ETC and now pathway beginning to read wkbk I like even better .
We are loving the pathway readers and sonlight reader selections . Thats about it . No program seems to work best with us . Much Lov , Rox
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Taffy
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| Posted: April 29 2007 at 3:57pm | IP Logged
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YMMW but I've used Phonics Pathways with all my children, and all have successfully learned to read with it. Well, the youngest has just turned 4 and he's just starting to read.
It's a pretty boring book but easy to manipulate into funner activities and very thorough. We rarely use the actual book, generally, I make flashcards with the lesson words (I have strange kids - they LIKE flashcards) or write things out on the large white board that we have, erasing each word as it is read successfully. We also read a lot of beginner books together and once they're doing well reading beginner books on their own, I generally do away with the reading program, preferring to keep reading "real" books together.
Hope this helps. 
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extremeknitter
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| Posted: April 29 2007 at 4:34pm | IP Logged
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FWiW, I loved Sound Beginnigs for my 3 girls, used it to help my dyslexic son & plan to use it with our John-Paul. That & loads of reading really worked well for us.
*ETA: forgot to say that i know nothing of "Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading" so I can't compare. There are daily "lesson plans" that we followed, but modified to suit us.
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helene
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| Posted: April 29 2007 at 7:36pm | IP Logged
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I like any plan which relies pretty heavily on phonics and teaches the vowel's SHORT sounds first. They then read regular 3 letter words for a while and then LONG sounds later when they learn the old "when 2 vowels go walking the first one does the talking" rule. Learning all the vowel sounds at once and learning all sorts of crutch symbols for each letter of the alphabet is exhausting and takes the joy out of learning to read for my children and I. We keep it as simple as possible to get that sense of accomplishment and success early on.
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BrendaPeter
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| Posted: April 29 2007 at 8:05pm | IP Logged
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Taffy wrote:
| YMMW but I've used Phonics Pathways with all my children, and all have successfully learned to read with it. Well, the youngest has just turned 4 and he's just starting to read. |
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Same here. You can use it with 4-year-olds as it starts out very slow but eventually covers all the phonics rules. Most libraries carry a copy.
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teachingmyown
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| Posted: April 29 2007 at 8:06pm | IP Logged
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My favorite is Alpha-Phonics. Very CM, sit on the couch and read the pages aloud together. Very simple and effective.
That said, my last three used Explode the Code with equal success. My ds 9 wanted workbooks and didn't like Alpha-Phonics, so we tried Explode the Code. He picked it up quickly and thoroughly, I believe. His two younger sisters, 7 and 5, have both taught themselves to read with the workbooks.
I found 100 EZ lessons to be confusing, I think because it took a different approach than I was used to.
Good luck!
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teachingmom
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| Posted: April 29 2007 at 11:19pm | IP Logged
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I have used 100 Easy Lessons (the first half of the book) with some Alphaphonics thrown in for my more struggling readers. We use Explode the Code too, but not so much to learn to read as for phonics reinforcement while improving reading skills.
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cvbmom
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| Posted: April 30 2007 at 7:11am | IP Logged
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Reading Made Easy is our favorite. It's kind of like 100 Easy Lessons, but we like it SO much better.
God bless,
Christine
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MichelleW
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| Posted: April 30 2007 at 10:32am | IP Logged
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No one has mentioned my fav, so here it is: Teach a Child to Read with Children's Books by Mark Thogmartin I used it with all mine and I LOVE it.
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Michelle
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TracyQ
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We've used with much success Reading Made Easy, and 100 Easy Lessons. Reading Made Easy by Valerie Bendt is a bit more complete in my opinion than 100 Easy Lessons. Both are scripted however.
With our second two, we also used Explode the Code series because I felt it completed a phonics program, and they were all set. Well, that with a lot of reading to me, etc.
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Cay Gibson
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Little Stories for Little Folks from CHC.
It's easy enough for them and easy enough for me . 
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CKwasniewski
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Ann,
I am sorry if this sounds opinionated, and offends others but I have spent so much money on reading programs that didn't work!
1. 100 EZ lessons --total waste of time, counter productive even
2. Phonics Pathways--okay, good games, but no retention
3. Sound beginnings--dull and dreary and confusing even to me!! Ds did like doing the worksheets a bit.
I got the flashcards for Ordinary Parents Guide... I looked at the book.. I thought it had the same problems that Phonics Pathways did.
We are now using TATRAS (Teach America to read and spell)which involves drill, so that the words go way down into the long-term memory!
We also used a variety of readers: Bob books, Usborne young reading series, Nature readers, etc.
I am finally seeing consistent progress that sticks and with very short drills (even 1 or 2 minutes), there is not much complaining. I would never recommend anything else.
When it comes to reading, know your child, how they learn--that is your main clue--and DON'T PUSH too fast. They should not always be reading at their maximum level.
my loud 2 cents
CK
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SuzC
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We have had great success with 100 EZ Lessons followed by Little Stories for Little Folks by CHC and BOB books throughout.
I let ds convince me that we didn't need to follow all the steps in 100 EZ and I can see gaps in his ability to sound out words. I love the way this program teaches a child to sound out a word by connecting the sounds as opposed to isolating each sound and then trying to make it into a word. (if that makes any sense  )
Blessings ~
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Nina Murphy
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I have used 100 EZ Lessons (with additional Bob books) successfully with two children,
Primary Phonics with two childen very successfully (one very remedial),
Combo of MCP Phonics (Plaid series) workbooks and simple Beginner's Books I had at the time, mostly Dr. Seuss and that genre for oldest two children (thank you, God, that it was that easy!)
and Kumon workbooks (+ all of these collected and assorted Readers that I have, mostly Bob and Primary Phonics Readers) for my current learner.
But I must say that I think with www.starfall.com she really taught herself to read (and with the help of the LeapFrog videos). My four-year old is on his way with NO instruction, except these two aforementioned resources and read-alouds. So glad I was led to them by a friend!
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~~Nina
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and 2 yet-to-be-met
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Meredith
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Little Stories for Little folks has taught all mine so far (with my help of course ) got two more to go!!
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Meredith
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ann@home
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| Posted: May 04 2007 at 4:52pm | IP Logged
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I just wanted to thank everyone for their reviews and input. It's all very valuable information. I have a few things from the library now that I'm looking at and trying a few samples with my daughter.
Thanks so nuch!
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Ann, Full-time Mama of a 10yr old Lego master, 7yr old DIVA, 4yr old King of the Mountain and one more in June '09!
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Teaching Reading-your favorite programs?
