Guest okimama Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Best secular phonics/how-to-read program...........GO! :001_smile: (ok, a little background...It's for my 5yo. He recognizes the letters and knows their sounds for the most part. We are starting Moving Beyond the Page 5-7 in a couple weeks, so I need something to supplement that for learning to read. Thank you!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 The one you will use consistently :) We use AlphaPhonics (adapted by mama to incorporate ideas from Reading Key). We supplement with numerous things including Reading Eggs and Ready2Read. We have all three Letter/Word Factory videos to watch occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BugsMama Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Logic of English! The essentials level *can* be adapted down (which is what I have been using with my 6 year old, and his reading has taken off) , but they are beta testing a K level (learn to read) right now that looks WONDERFUL (we've only done the first two lessons, but it's awesome- using it with the 4 for learn to read, and the 6 for review and learning cursive). That won't come out until early next year- but the process of using phonograms to glue/unglue sounds is wonderful to start to read, and you can do this with just a deck of the phonogram cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 We use AlphaPhonics but incorporate the markings from WRTR. I do this because my ds is not ready to write yet so we can't do the handwriting or spelling notebook from WRTR. I think basically any program with phonograms will get great results- the different programs just cater to different types of learning and teaching styles. if you chose AlphaPhonics, http://donpotter.net/ has some great tools to use along with it. They even have some free phonogram cards to use with the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thundersweet Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Logic of English! The essentials level *can* be adapted down (which is what I have been using with my 6 year old, and his reading has taken off) , but they are beta testing a K level (learn to read) right now that looks WONDERFUL (we've only done the first two lessons, but it's awesome- using it with the 4 for learn to read, and the 6 for review and learning cursive). That won't come out until early next year- but the process of using phonograms to glue/unglue sounds is wonderful to start to read, and you can do this with just a deck of the phonogram cards. I love LOE! I am using it with my 8yo. I wish I would have signed up for the beta though for my youngest. I really wanted to try using it with my 2 1/2 yo. I just wasn't sure if they would allow such a young tester. I never heard back from my email to them before they sold out. He knows his letters and sounds from leapfrog, and very interested in letters and numbers in general. He is the first of my 3 like this. I have no idea what would have been involved though. Probably just not appropriate for that age. I am definitely looking forward to getting the hard copy when it's released next year. He'll definitely be ready by then. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommie_Jen Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 You're going to get a ton of different opinions! It depends on you and your child, really. We tried OPG after hearing how wonderful it was. It failed miserably. It did give me instruction on how to teach phonics, for which I am thankful, but DS hated it.m what's working for us is ETC and BOB books currently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoife Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 LOE but it has to be adapted for younger students as it is written for 8 year olds up for remediation. LOE is also brand new so hard to find used unfortunately. She is releasing a learn to read program though next spring that is currently in beta testing :D Saxon Phonics!! We loved this program and it is very complete and open and go!! http://cathyduffyreviews.com/phonics_reading/saxon-phonics-k.htm it is another O-G method which IMHO is the best method to teach a child to read! Saxon has been around for a while so is easier to find used. It is very complete in that it gives you everything you need in the kit with no need to make or add on anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoife Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 You're going to get a ton of different opinions! It depends on you and your child, really. We tried OPG after hearing how wonderful it was. It failed miserably. It did give me instruction on how to teach phonics, for which I am thankful, but DS hated it.m what's working for us is ETC and BOB books currently. We HATED and quickly sold OPGTR it was way too bland and just didn't click. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom-ninja. Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 You will get a lot of opinions. There are a lot of good programs. I finally settled on Reading Reflex. I actually used ABeCeDarian workbooks because it's basically Reading Reflex already planned out. Oh, and welcome to TWTM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Saxon Phonics!! We loved this program and it is very complete and open and go!! http://cathyduffyreviews.com/phonics_reading/saxon-phonics-k.htm it is another O-G method which IMHO is the best method to teach a child to read! Saxon has been around for a while so is easier to find used. It is very complete in that it gives you everything you need in the kit with no need to make or add on anything. This! It was used for my younger three siblings and gave them an excellent foundation with great reading skills, great spelling skills, and the ability to figure out new words easily. Two of those kids were also dyslexic. I have also used it with all three of my kids and both my boys flourished on it, for my daughter I had to flower it up and make it more colorful, but that wasn't really difficult to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyerin Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 We are using Phonics Pathways and Explode the Code. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 You will get a lot of opinions. There are a lot of good programs. I finally settled on Reading Reflex. I actually used ABeCeDarian workbooks because it's basically Reading Reflex already planned out. Oh, and welcome to TWTM! :iagree: The best program is the one that you can implement easily and works for your budget and your kid. I also used Reading Reflex for both boys and loved it. I didn't know about ABeCeDarian when I used it, but would have like to have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Spalding. It's infinitely tweakable for each child; it's a complete English/literacy course: teaches children to read by teaching them to spell, which it does by teaching them to write (handwriting), and includes capitalization and punctuation and simple composition--all in one fell swoop. You just need the manual (WRTR--any edition) and a set of phonogram cards (you can make your own, but they're not that expensive, and your time is valuable); there are some add-ons, but they are optional, especially for a 5yo. Instead of readers, you'll use good trade books (books you'd find at the library). :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I agree, whatever you can use consistently will work ... but that said, we've hopped around quite a bit before we found THE THING that we can do consistently. We've tried combinations of the following: OPGTR, ETC, AAR 1 (returned), Alphaphonics, CLE LTR (returned without using), BOB books..... What's sticking for us? Every day, DD does a Click N Read Phonics lesson (sometimes we repeat lessons) and Starfall. We also play a phonics game (Happy phonics) every day. Then we alternate days that we read for fluency (Let's Read readers) or do a page of ETC. Is it rigorous, all-inclusive & perfectly progressive? Doubt it. But she's learning and we aren't having to fight to get it done. Works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
didadeewiththree Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I like Saxon Phonics because it's scripted, but I also bring out my copy of The Writing Road to Reading to teach phonograms daily for both my 1st grader and my 3rd grader. It's incremental, thorough, and intensive phonics that I think is essential to learning how to read. It really explains the "why" of reading and less sight word stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest okimama Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Thank you so much for all the input! I understand that opinions vary a LOT!! :) It helps me so much to hear what people like about the various programs. All of the programs sound lovely from the marketing material :) but that is not real life!! I have a lot of investigating to do! I like the idea of something being "scripted" as opposed to a book that explains to me the concepts and then leaves it up to me to teach it. But it has to be fun...my son is very..umm...active. haha. And we have a 2yo running around distracting us :/ Thanks again! And thank you for the welcome :) We are kind of eclectic, and I actually sort of like the unschooling approach while my husband wants to be extremely "rigorous"...so we are trying to find the middle road of that :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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