Explode the Code and English curriculum questions

[Guest Vashti]

My dd is 6 yo. I consider her a kinder/1st grader. She's using some materials at a kinder level and some at 1st. Anyway, in reading TWTM, I found that the Explode the Code books are recommended for Kinders, but it doesn't look like they're continued in 1st.

 

Currently for language arts, she's using:

 

Explode the Code book 1 (she went through all the pre-code books in what I considered her preschool-kinder year)

The ordinary parents guide to teaching reading - we're on lesson 56 today, not half way through the book

First Language lessons FTWTM

She does about 2 lessons from Draw Write Now per week

We have a "note" book, and I write notes to her daily, and she replies - no corrections, just free writing to each other.

She writes a short "letter" to a family member or friend at least once a week (more for birthdays and thank you notes).

 

I just got Spelling workout A, but have not started it because TWTM recommends that she be farther along in TOPGTTR.

 

My question is, am I overdoing it on her English work? Am I missing something? Should we discontinue Explode the Code, as it's not mention in 1st grade work in The Well-Trained Mind?

 

While I understand that I'm bound to get the usual "just do what's right for her, and if she's thriving continue" posts, that's not really what I'm looking for here. I'd really like to know if there are holes in her English education at this age, given my current curriculum choices, and if continuing to utilize Explode the Code will be redundant somehow. Thank you!

[Guest Vashti]

Excellent response, Plum. Thank you. I was worried that I was continuing something that I should have discontinued. She does enjoy it, and I'm glad to keep going!

[Farrar]

Honestly, I think that recommendation is all backwards. ETC has a lot of writing. It also teaches the phonics rules slowly, making it not a great initial teaching program. I would say that it's too much for some K'ers - not all, certainly, but it's not a great K program in my opinion. But it's a great program to go back over all those phonics rules and make sure a child got them all. We used it all the way through and finished it - after a few breaks - early in 3rd grade.

[Guest Vashti]

We're currently doing three pages per day. You are absolutely right that it's a lot of writing. She gets tired of it, and has started sighing when I bring the book out. It's the roughest part of our day, honestly. I'll have to look into some alternative phonics curriculum. Perhaps there is something she'd do better with.

[Farrar]

 

We skip the writing in ETC, I guess using it more like OPG. :confused1: I save writing practice for copywork, AAS spelling tests and other work. We do about 2-4 pages a day. I would love a faster moving phonics program! We started out only using OPG, then added ETC to use simultaneously, then dropped OPG. Dd preferred OPG, while ds liked ETC. She's been moving along at the same rate as ds, but needs more review. I've been thinking of adding OPG back in and pick up where we left off. Adding in more review and hopefully move along faster.

 

I see people say this all the time and I wonder then why they're doing ETC. The writing is part of the philosophy of ETC. I also always think it seems like it would be a practical annoyance - in the later volumes especially as it turns to things like crossword puzzles and so forth, it seems like it would be especially difficult. Obviously, everyone should feel free to alter things and use them however works best for them, I just find it surprising that so many people seem to use ETC and then try to eliminate this essential component of the program - why not just go with something else entirely?

[Tawlas]

 

 

I see people say this all the time and I wonder then why they're doing ETC. The writing is part of the philosophy of ETC. I also always think it seems like it would be a practical annoyance - in the later volumes especially as it turns to things like crossword puzzles and so forth, it seems like it would be especially difficult. Obviously, everyone should feel free to alter things and use them however works best for them, I just find it surprising that so many people seem to use ETC and then try to eliminate this essential component of the program - why not just go with something else entirely?

 

 

Like what? Just curious.

[Farrar]

Like what? Just curious.

 

 

Well, Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, Reading Reflex, Blend Phonics and Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons are all guidebooks that use various approaches but break down the phonics rules through direct lessons.

 

Or programs like All About Reading or Hooked on Phonics give kids little activities and games and readers all in one.

 

Or just following a sequence with readers like the BOB books or Progressive Phonics's methods is another way.

 

Or using online teaching tools like Starfall or Reading Eggs.

 

Of all the reading teaching methods I know of, ETC is the program that is most heavy on writing. And it was developed to be used by children in 1st through 3rd or even 4th grade. Don't get me wrong - we really liked ETC. But my ds used it primarily from 1st to 2nd grade. And it worked much better for my ds who learned to read another way. It helped solidify his phonics knowledge and was a mostly independent thing for him. It was a mixed bag with my ds who struggled more with phonics - it helped him some, but it has been other teaching that has made more of a difference for him.

[Tawlas]

Gotcha. I was wondering if that's what you meant. thanks for clarifying.

 

I guess I don't see ETC as a complete phonics program - I use it as part of what I do with my son. Based on that, if we skip some of the writing and do it orally, or he dictates the sounds/letters for me to write, it's not a lot lost for me (imho!). If ETC made up the bulk of our phonics program, I could see why it may not be beneficial to do this.

[Sleep-Deprived]

I'm working through ETC for the fourth time (fourth child) and have loved it. I had my oldest son complete through book 6, but I decided to stop after Book 5 with my next two sons. At that point it seemed like overkill. My first son completed Book 3 in kindergarten (following on the heels of the pre books). Afterwards I thought maybe I had pushed him too much, so I slowed the pace for my other boys when they went through it. But I think it just worked for my first son to move more quickly. He's in SWO-G now in 5th grade. (I transitioned to SWO B after book 6 for my first son and to SWO A after book 5 for my next two sons). After SWO A & B I slow the SWO pace to 1 book per year. As an aside, I don't do a separate handwriting program until we get to cursive in 3rd grade.

 

I tried OPG with my oldest, but I preferred ETC. To some extent you have to find what works well for you (as the teacher) as much as what works well for the child. If OPG feels like a good fit, stick with that and drop ETC...but you need one of those much more than SWO at this point. As for SWO - I don't think it teaches phonics like ETC or OPG, but it does eventually reinforce what they have learned in a phonics program and gives them a place to apply what they have learned.

 

We only spend about 15 minutes per day in ETC.

[Wheres Toto]

With my son I had him do the writing if it just involved circling or X-ing a word or box, but didn't make him do the pages where he had to write out entire words, those we would do orally. Almost from the beginning it was a review of things he already knew and we did it to make sure we didn't miss any phonics rules. He hated all the guidebook phonics programs and mainly taught himself to read so ETC was our only phonics program but wasn't actually teaching it new. We did ETC through Book 5 and did AAS as well.

 

My youngest is currently about to start ETC2. It is mainly review but we're only at Lesson 42 in OPG so it's not as far behind where she's actually reading as it was for my son. I do it the same way I did for my son - she does all the circling or x-ing but we do the spelling/write out the whole word orally.

[Guest Hwox]

We are currently using both OPG and ETC. my pre-kinder - ( an old 5) is about to finish book 3. I have had to push her a little to complete more than one page, but now that she knows what is expected on each page, it's become an independent workbook. She actually prefers the writing part, and we do the reading pages together. FYI, we're on lesson 90 in OPG. But will stop with ETC once book 3 is complete until we finish OPG. Looking ahead to the last 4 books, they jump around a lot when compared to the order in OPG. Also, as someone pointed out, the latter books get more writing intense and have smaller lines. I plan on using the last 4 books as review of phonics. I feel like ETC has helped my DD cement some of the phonics rules.