| Author | |
Kristin
Forum Pro
Joined: April 03 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 317
|
| Posted: June 13 2007 at 11:45am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
I'm enjoying the threads on reading readiness and early reading but haven't seen any mention of these two books. Does anyone here have any experience with either Reading Reflex or Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons? TIA for your insights! 
__________________
Bunch 'o Honey to my Honey Bunch and Mama to five - Noah 10y  , Rose 8y  , Dominic 2.5 y  , Oliver 16m 
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
mariB
Forum All-Star
Joined: Dec 20 2006
Location: Vermont
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3815
|
| Posted: June 13 2007 at 12:20pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I love Teach You Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Three of my children learned to read with that book. It was the best twenty dollars I have spent.
I didn't do the writing portion of it nor did I have them do the readings twice as the book suggests. I made flash cards of the sounds introduced. One time I went to the craft store and bought little wooden square tiles and put the phonograms on those and we played with them. Lots of times we did just a half of a lesson. With my third child we didn't even finish the book and she went immediately to easy readers.
I have started it with my three year old only because she wants to read. We are taking it really SLOWLY. We have spent lots of time on "m" and "s" and just started "a". When she loses interest, then we shall stop until she is ready again.
The only negative with this book is if you followed their suggested schedule. Take this book slowly and enjoy.
__________________
marib-Mother to 22ds,21ds,18ds,15dd,11dd and wife to an amazing man for 23 years
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Donna
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 25 2005
Location: Pennsylvania
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1151
|
| Posted: June 13 2007 at 1:55pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
mariB wrote:
| I love Teach You Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. |
|
|
I do, too. I taught my two youngest to read with 100 Easy Lessons.
__________________
Donna
DH, Keven
Jason, Stevie, Marie, Jackson, Clara, and Aaron
Jacob, Sam, and Regina with God
Grandbabies Leigha and Elsie
Moments Like These
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
denise3578
Forum Newbie
Joined: June 30 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 33
|
| Posted: June 13 2007 at 5:29pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I am working on teaching my fourth child with Reading Reflex. I love it. It (to me) is so much simpler than straight phonics, with all the "word families", rules, exceptions etc.
"Phonics begins by teaching children the sounds for all the letters. This orientation from letter to sound, from which ponics comes, is wrong. This is not a matter of opinion. This is fact. The sounds in our language existed long begore the letters. The written symbols of our language were invented to represent the sounds we had been speaking for centuries. Phonics instruction is driven from the letter fo the sound, as if the sounds exist to suit the letters. This direction of instruction fails to allow the child to use what he already possesses, the sounds. By age five, when somebody starts to teach him to read, he is a master of sounds. He is completely intimate with his language. It is native to him. For him to learn to read, he needs instructional activities which encourage him to learn the symbols that wre invented to represent the sounds that, as we've pointed out, he already know. This knowledge is like a magical key to written language. But phonics throws the key away and starts from scratch, teaching him the sounds as if they were something new. "
Reading Relex, p. 11
RR has an excellent intro chapter that explains everything much better than I can. My book is an older version, so a website is not listed - but I believe they have one.
My first three children are all very different learners, and it worked with all of them. My current 5yo is just starting and is pretty much following the same path. Also, the older ones 13, 11 and 8 are all very good spellers, and they do have a spelling program that works in conjunction with their method.
Hope that helps,
Denise in VA
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Elena
Forum All-Star
Joined: Aug 13 2006
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 592
|
| Posted: June 13 2007 at 7:00pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
100 Easy lessons worked with three of my children well, one of my children kinda, and another one not at all. That said, of the three that were successful, they were not able to go into 2nd grade reading material as the book suggests, but they did start at the beginning of the Pathway readers and did well. I hope that helps.
__________________
Elena
Wife to Peter, mom of many!
My Domestic Church
One Day at a Time
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Rachel May
Forum All-Star
Joined: June 24 2005
Location: Kansas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2057
|
| Posted: June 13 2007 at 8:10pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Before I bought 100 Easy Lessons, I borrowed it from the public library and tried it for a lesson or two. I have a friend who by the end of the first day said she and her kid were both screaming with boredom. We loved it.
100 Easy Lessons doesn't introduce all the sounds for each letter; instead it introduces 1 sound when it introduces a letter and uses only words that have the letter making that sound. It introduces long vowel markings with vowels so that it is easy to differentiate which sound is to be read.
It deals with sight words awkwardly, I think. The word "the", for example, is sounded out "thee" and then said correctly "the". We had a hard time with that.
We went slowly, putting it down from time to time, and did not do the writing exercises. In Mother of Divine Grace, she doesn't recommend finishing the book necessarily. Instead she says to move on to easy readers when you feel like the child is ready. We did finish the book, but we probably didn't need to.
__________________
Rachel
Thomas and Anthony (10), Maria (8), Charles (6), Cecilia (5), James (3), and Joseph (1)
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: June 14 2007 at 2:56am | IP Logged
|
|
|
100 EZ lessons seems to be a very popular approach with homeschoolers. Not as many people seem to be familiar with Reading Reflex, but I personally think it is a great approach and have used it with my younger two. Both books have been discussed on the boards in the past, though maybe not in this partiuclar forum. If you do an archive search you can find quite a few thoughts on these books. Here are a few threads where they are mentioned and reviewed.
Next step for reading prep?
Please help with kindergarten reading
Teaching a 15-year old non reader
Teaching Reading -your favorite programs?
Teaching a five year to read
I always thought 100 EZ lessons looked strange since it does not look like what one would really see when reading. But it is very structured and each lesson is outlined very specifically - many people like that about the book. Reading Reflex involves a little more parent prep and isn't laid out the same with specific daily lessons.
I know you mentioned in the other thread your 4 year old knows sounds and letters. The Reading Reflex approach (phenomic awareness) is really based on sounds and the pictures that represent each sound - it avoids letter names (because their names don't make sense when trying to figure out sounds and can confuse especially with early spelling). I really wish my "bad speller" had learned to read with the phonemic approach. He was in "real" school at the time.
The book Why Our Children Can't Read was what got me first interested in the phonemic approach. Have you been to Celeste Thomas' talks at the conferences? This is the theory she promotes. It makes so much sense. She's giving the talk again this year. Also, you can borrow my copy of Reading Reflex if you'd like to look at it, if you haven't already.
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Kristin
Forum Pro
Joined: April 03 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 317
|
| Posted: June 14 2007 at 9:39am | IP Logged
|
|
|
Thanks, everyone! I was hoping to launch forward with 100 Easy Lessons but now I'm in a process of taking a closer look at some of the other options out there.
God bless!
Kristin
__________________
Bunch 'o Honey to my Honey Bunch and Mama to five - Noah 10y , Rose 8y , Dominic 2.5 y , Oliver 16m
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mary Chris
Forum All-Star
Joined: Jan 27 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2175
|
| Posted: June 14 2007 at 2:01pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Kristin,
I am using Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading by Jesse Wise Bauer (SOTW) with my youngest, just to throw another option out there. I like how it is laid out. Teach your child in 100ez lessons looked like it would not work for me.
Denise, I may have to find out where in Virginia you are and have you teach me how to use Reading Reflex. I have the book and the tutor pack. My dd used a Reading Reflex tutor back when she was in 2nd grade and she helped her tremendously. I think the teacher prep for Reading Reflex just overwhelmed me back then and it still scares me. I do think it is one of the best programs out there.
__________________
Blessings, Mary Chris Beardsley
mom to MacKenzie3/95, Carter 12/97 Ronan 3/00 and wife to Jim since 1/92
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
|
| Posted: June 14 2007 at 3:30pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Kristin,
I confess I was a little cowardly to post this  but I'm probably the only person out there who didn't care for 100 Easy Lessons...I found it boring, and I'm guessing my kids picked up on that. I tried it with 2 of my kids, mostly because I kept reading that everyone else liked it sooooo much. I'm a dense soul, but I eventually put it on a shelf, and won't pick it up again. Just not my teaching style, and in retrospect, not my kids learning style.
I guess my purpose here is just to suggest that if you can borrow a copy of the book from the library or another family, it would be worthwhile to look at anything first before you buy.
__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Kristin
Forum Pro
Joined: April 03 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 317
|
| Posted: June 14 2007 at 3:31pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
It seems that I heard somewhere that there are support materials available for Reading Reflex. Do you anything about this?
__________________
Bunch 'o Honey to my Honey Bunch and Mama to five - Noah 10y , Rose 8y , Dominic 2.5 y , Oliver 16m
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
MaryM
Board Moderator
Joined: Feb 11 2005
Location: Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 13104
|
| Posted: June 14 2007 at 3:38pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Read America (the Reading Reflex website) has lots of materials.
__________________
Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Kristin
Forum Pro
Joined: April 03 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 317
|
| Posted: June 14 2007 at 5:47pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I remembered that Celeste Thomas recommended Reading Reflex but I've been shying away from it because I've heard that it is not straightforward and requires a good deal of preparation. Any thoughts from those of you who have used it?
__________________
Bunch 'o Honey to my Honey Bunch and Mama to five - Noah 10y , Rose 8y , Dominic 2.5 y , Oliver 16m
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
denise3578
Forum Newbie
Joined: June 30 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 33
|
| Posted: June 14 2007 at 7:33pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I really have nothing to compare it to, as it's the only program I've used. That being said, it's very "basic" no bells and whistles. In the very beginning, I photocopied the page with the sounds we were working on. The page had the words CAT, FAT, SAT, MAP, COP, POT and some others. There is a line drawing of each word ( for ex. a drawing of a pot for POT) Each of the letters is then cut apart, as well as the little picture. I then drew lines on a page like this
____________ ______________ ______________ __________
I put the picture on the first line, then said each sound and put the letter down as I was saying it. As you progress you can mix up the letters, leave out the picture. There is also sound bingo, which the kids liked. All the while I kept thinking - this makes so much sense. And I think the kids felt that way too. As you progress to the sounds that are made of more then one letter, for ex. /e/ as in MEET, you just have to learn the combinations for that sound. For ex. the most common ways to show the /e/ sound as in MEET are EE, EA, EY, and others listed in the book. The kids understood what the concept was - the sound - all we were doing was learning the ways it could look. I think they use an example somewhere in the book of a tree - people understand the concept of a tree - whether it looks like an oak, or a maple or a evergreen - they still know it's a tree.
Sorry for my long explanation -
Denise in VA
Marychris - it would be great if we were near eachother. I'm in the Va. Beach area
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Karen T
Forum All-Star
Joined: Feb 16 2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 927
|
| Posted: June 14 2007 at 9:41pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Mackfam wrote:
Kristin,
I confess I was a little cowardly to post this but I'm probably the only person out there who didn't care for 100 Easy Lessons...I found it boring, and I'm guessing my kids picked up on that. I tried it with 2 of my kids, mostly because I kept reading that everyone else liked it sooooo much. I'm a dense soul, but I eventually put it on a shelf, and won't pick it up again. Just not my teaching style, and in retrospect, not my kids learning style.
|
|
|
I didn't care for it either. I so wanted to like it, b/c I know a lot of people who have loved it, but ds had a lot of trouble with the fact that the letters look different than normal print b/c of the phonemic marks (not sure what you call them, but the line for long vowel, the half circle for short vowel, etc.)
We gave up on it and turned to Phonics Pathways, which has worked better for us. But, in retrospect, maybe 100 EZ lessons would have worked just fine if I'd waited a little while and tried it again. Bottom line, there are different approaches b/c different things work better for different kids.
Karen T
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Ouiz
Forum Pro
Joined: July 10 2006
Location: South Carolina
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 109
|
| Posted: June 17 2007 at 7:55pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
A bit late on this one, but I wanted to say that I have used 100 Easy Lessons for all of my kids so far (3 have learned to read, and my 5 and 3 yr old are in the process now) and we love it!
I do NOT follow the script in the book. We just go for the sounds and words and have fun with it.
About the reading "helps" -- that is, the funny marks -- they disappear slowly as the lessons progress, so by the end of the book ALL the helps are gone, and the children are reading words just as they would see them in a regular book.
Around lesson 50 or so, I introduce them to the phonograms used in the WRITING ROAD TO READING. That has also helped us tremendously! They learn very quickly that there are very few true "strange/rule breaker" words out there. For example, 100 EASY LESSONS introduces WAS as one of those "weird words" that you just gotta know. Once my kids have learned the phonograms, however, I just tell them to use the "3rd sound of A and the 2nd sound of S," and they read it correctly immediately.
For what it's worth....
__________________
Ouiz
Blessed to be married to the man of my dreams and mom to 8 wonderful children here on earth
B-17, G-16, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, G-7, B-4
Chez Ouiz
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Joelle
Forum Rookie
Joined: July 19 2006
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 90
|
| Posted: June 22 2007 at 3:00pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
I have taught 2 to read with 100ez and it appeared to work fine. However, my first (now 6th grade) is not a good speller at all. I am wondering if how he learned to read had anything to do with that. My 2nd is just finishing 1st grade and spells ok, for a first grader. I now have a dd entering K in the fall and am struggling between 100EZ, Reading Reflex and I also have the Ordinary parent's guide -- I have not used the 2nd two though. I think if not for the spelling issue with my ds over the years, I would just use 100EZ since the other 2 learned to read just fine with it.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
saintintraining
Forum Newbie
Joined: July 08 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4
|
| Posted: July 09 2007 at 11:17pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Hi, I'm new here so this is my first post. I have used 100 EZ Lessons with 3 kids successfully. I quit around lesson 70-80, when they transition over to regular looking letters. I didn't know what to use after though. Most phonics programs would have required me to start at the beginning, and I didn't think that was necessary.
So, after some research, I decided to follow up with Reading Reflex. I read the book and did a quick review of it with my child. Then, we jump in where we need to. One of the things I like about RR is that if you learn this method, you shouldn't need to use a spelling program. As a matter of fact, they recommend you don't because the normal spelling rules would just confuse the child.
So, I just wanted to recommend these books together. I think they complement each other well.
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Reading Reflex / 100 Easy Lessons?
