Explode The Code - Dyslexia?

[Mom2OandE]

Has anyone used this for Dyslexia? I'd love to know how it went.

 

WE bought Barton but ds is already recieving therapy services with a similar program as well as Seeing Stars. He is rebelling a bit at Barton because it's not what he does at therapy. I'm wondering if Explode the Code may be different enough for us to use on non therapy days in addition to reviewing what he does at therapy.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

[simplyme99]

One of my DDs therapist mentioned Explode the Code, but my DD was already being tutored by an O-G therapist. Since Barton is O-G based, I wouldn't do both ETC and Barton.

[Shellers]

Explode the Code online? I got it for my dyslexic son and he couldn't stand it. We never tried the workbooks. I think Reading Eggs is better, it's far more interesting.

 

He's using Plaid Phonics. He's also used Dancing Bears (and Bear Necessities), which is what got him reading.

[Lecka]

If he likes it and you are coordinating it in some way with his therapy -- I don't think it is a bad thing to try.

 

If you do lessons to re-inforce therapy or as targeted review, something like that.

 

I don't think it is automatically going to be time better spent than other options -- even playing games or reading books and pointing out words and phrases he could sound out.

 

But if he liked to do it and it seemed to be good review/re-inforcement and didn't take away any goodwill towards doing things the OG tutor might recommend -- I think it could be a good thing to try.

 

ETC was way over my son's head, I am not sure he could do it even now. But at the same time I have an interest in it and I have looked at Book 4 as a possible thing to get for multisyllable words.

 

My son did ETC in Kindergarten (at public school) and while he could do some things from it, some things were over his head, without enough scaffolding for him, and also moving too fast.

 

But I think it also hit my son right at his weaknesses.

 

If your goal is more to have him do some writing or work on his writing, I am not sure ETC is the best choice for that. If it is a good level for him, then it is a good choice. But it is something I would semi-plan to do all or mostly orally with my son.... writing is something to work on, but it is counter-productive for him to write in the cause of learning. It is not currently an activity that will help him to learn or retain information or that will help him make connections. I do have him underline things though (like in Abecedarian -- it is very simple, just underlining things with a pen or pencil sometimes). If it seemed like something he was more into I would have him highlighting things in different colors or coloring on the pages. Just as an idea, b/c it was not something I thought of at first, but if you can have a simple book he likes, and have him find the patterns he is working on in OG, that is something that was meaningful for my son (not that we did OG past phonemic awareness, but to coordinate with our more formal program).

 

I personally would be very careful about introducing any new material, also. My son has had no problem with a few things in reading (things that only make one sound instead of muliple sounds; adding e to the end of a word). The rest of the time he has needed to be introduced to things pretty slowly and steadily. He is one who doesn't need to be asked to learn too much new material in any two-week period of time, but instead needs some different ways to practice that material. He is an extreme mastery learner for reading. But I think that is something that could be different for another child, so it might not be that way for him.

[RamonaQ]

If he likes it and you are coordinating it in some way with his therapy -- I don't think it is a bad thing to try.

 

If you do lessons to re-inforce therapy or as targeted review, something like that.

 

I don't think it is automatically going to be time better spent than other options -- even playing games or reading books and pointing out words and phrases he could sound out.

 

But if he liked to do it and it seemed to be good review/re-inforcement and didn't take away any goodwill towards doing things the OG tutor might recommend -- I think it could be a good thing to try.

 

ETC was way over my son's head, I am not sure he could do it even now. But at the same time I have an interest in it and I have looked at Book 4 as a possible thing to get for multisyllable words.

 

My son did ETC in Kindergarten (at public school) and while he could do some things from it, some things were over his head, without enough scaffolding for him, and also moving too fast.

 

But I think it also hit my son right at his weaknesses.

 

If your goal is more to have him do some writing or work on his writing, I am not sure ETC is the best choice for that. If it is a good level for him, then it is a good choice. But it is something I would semi-plan to do all or mostly orally with my son.... writing is something to work on, but it is counter-productive for him to write in the cause of learning. It is not currently an activity that will help him to learn or retain information or that will help him make connections. I do have him underline things though (like in Abecedarian -- it is very simple, just underlining things with a pen or pencil sometimes). If it seemed like something he was more into I would have him highlighting things in different colors or coloring on the pages. Just as an idea, b/c it was not something I thought of at first, but if you can have a simple book he likes, and have him find the patterns he is working on in OG, that is something that was meaningful for my son (not that we did OG past phonemic awareness, but to coordinate with our more formal program).

 

I personally would be very careful about introducing any new material, also. My son has had no problem with a few things in reading (things that only make one sound instead of muliple sounds; adding e to the end of a word). The rest of the time he has needed to be introduced to things pretty slowly and steadily. He is one who doesn't need to be asked to learn too much new material in any two-week period of time, but instead needs some different ways to practice that material. He is an extreme mastery learner for reading. But I think that is something that could be different for another child, so it might not be that way for him.

 

:iagree: So much wisdom there.

 

If it was me, I would review what was going on in therapy. Perhaps ask your providers for homework. I don't like the idea of introducing another "system" that may not be directly re-inforcing what is being learned in therapy.

 

I really think audiobooks would be great. Both listening and reading along with audio are really, really important. Choral and repeated reading may also be something you could do (using text at his level).

 

If you want to work on writing, I would probably use words that match the phoneme/ graphemes that he is learning in tutoring, and then move them into the sentences. There are some terrific books by Dan Morgan that have words/ sentences split up by graphemes.

[merry gardens]

No experience with Explode the Code. If he's already doing something similar to Barton plus Seeing Stars in therapy, I'd suggest you ask the person providing therapy what to compliment those programs. You might specifically ask about some of the Seeing Stars workbooks. We did part of Lindamood Bell's LiPs before Barton, then when we did Barton. In addition, we also used pieces from Lindamood Bell's Seeing Stars, so I'm somewhat familiar with the types of things your son is learning right now. There should be a way to do something with the materials he's already using.

I don't think adding another program would do more for your son--except perhaps cause confusion by introducing too much too soon.

[Mom-ninja.]

My ds didn't get ETC at all. It was a total waste of time for him.

[KathyBC]

My dyslexic kiddo hated ETC workbooks. Well, the first kindergarten Get Ready, Get Set, Go books, which introduce the consonant sounds, were fine. But by the time we hit book 3 and silent-e, it was too fast, too much. We tried book 3 1/2 and finally abandoned the series for him. (ETA: This was in partnership with Reading Reflex, but neither was what he needed at that point.)

[momto3innc]

My dyslexic son uses them and it is decently helpful. He did receive O-G tutoring for a year (did not use them that year) but starting last year and now this year, I received O-G certification and do the tutoring myself. While ETC does not usually line up with what we're doing, it's a good, simple review of things we've done and he can do it on his own while I help one of my other two. Then we review it together during our reading time together. For us, it has been helpful.