What Next After Reading Eggs for Rising 1st Grader?

[displace]

DS is in K and is 5 y/o.  He has mostly been behind in reading in class but is *almost* up to level now.  I have been having him do reading eggs one lesson every day recently.  He grumbles but doesn't hate it, and his reading has skyrocketed (due to the program or just maturing I don't know).  He is still very resistant to reading early readers, and I think a lot has to do with frustration on not being able to perform quickly and his need to work at it.  He still sounds out almost every word.

 

I think we'll be done with all lessons if he continues in 2-3 months.  Any recommendations after reading eggs?  Should we just continue with reading eggspress?  If it's similar to reading eggs I see that as more a supplemental vs an actual reading program.  I'd like to do enrichment over the summer so he doesn't fall behind again and progresses.  I have considered maybe 2-3 months of K12.com, explode the code, dancing bears?  I really don't know.  I'm not sure if after reading eggs there's still more phonics to learn, or if we should start on spelling or something else. 

 

I'm open to most things, but "packaged" or open and go are easier for me than anything else.  I also have AAR 1 which we originally got for a short homeschooling stint (shorter than I anticipated!).  We never ended up using it because once school started it seemed like too much, and reading eggs was easy for me to monitor with a toddler at home and life in general.  As a summer enrichment not during the school year I could try an AAR program if that's what is recommended.  In general, computer things tend to be easier for us, but he will need practice with writing as well over the summer, and maybe doing a reading/writing program would be better than two separate ones.

 

What do you experienced teachers/parents recommend?

 

BTW, any recs of letting him just try to read some and me read aloud over the summer I would be uncomfortable with unless he really starts independent reading in the next 2 months.  We've been playing catch up the whole year and I do not want to fall behind over the summer and feel pressured to keep on something academic through the summer.  I also read aloud 2-3 books per day every day (usually picture books, occ a few chapters from books similar to Magic Tree House or more literature based, such as Charlie and Chocolate Factory, etc).

 

Thanks, everyone!

[Uff Da!]

nm

[beishan]

My son started Reading eggs in mid first grade while his guided reading level was C. By the time he finished RE, his guided reading level was still only level D/E and his decoding skills were not automatic. RE helped on his reading confidence but not on the fluency. Therefore, we went back to traditional way of learning to read. We did Dancing Bear fast track, guided reading and I SEE SAM. We also reviewed vowel teams using O-G method. We did try eggpress and my son does not like it much so we just dropped it.

[displace]

Displace,

 

Where does finishing reading eggs put him?  I know a lot of people like that program but I've never used it and I would guess there are others in this room that might have suggestions but are not familiar with it as well.  Also, you can cross post in the general section as it gets more traffic.

 

We did Bob books, parts of Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading, and a bunch of different readers that a retired reading specialist gave us (think the Dick and Jane series and so forth).  OPGTR, some of the Bob books and some of the readers we were gifted are available through our library and perhaps yours as well.  The only computer program we used that had a reading component was more.starfall.com and I do think it's nice but not enough for what you want.  Starfall does have reading library that highlights words and sentences as they are read.  We also did and sometimes still do spelling using Scrabble tiles.  

 

Is there anything that sparks a light in him?  In another room "The Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi" was suggested for precious readers and it is well loved here.  Every chapter is a story in and of itself and it would work well for a parent and child reading together.

 

I wish I could be of more help to you.  There hasn't been a golden ticket here- just a lot of different things that seem to spark enthusiasm.

 

Well, the reading eggs program does teach phonics, but I don't know if it's complete or not as my memory of phonics is pretty... old.  The website just lists what is taught (which vowel sounds, vowel combos, sight words, etc).  It doesn't state which level it should place a child.  IMO I feel it's fairly cursory and doesn't really have enough review of the concepts, though it does drill some sight words.  Thanks for the reading recommendation.  I'm having difficulty finding something he's interested in that he's able to read.  Frankly, I think his skills need to improve more before he's able to read anything interesting. 

[displace]

My son started Reading eggs in mid first grade while his guided reading level was C. By the time he finished RE, his guided reading level was still only level D/E and his decoding skills were not automatic. RE helped on his reading confidence but not on the fluency. Therefore, we went back to traditional way of learning to read. We did Dancing Bear fast track, guided reading and I SEE SAM. We also reviewed vowel teams using O-G method. We did try eggpress and my son does not like it much so we just dropped it.

 

Thanks for this personal insight.  I think DS's reading is about level C with "encouragement", and we're about halfway through all the lessons.  I think reading eggs is more of a supplement for us and think I'll look into another phonics program once it's completed (unless he's much more fluent at the end).  I'll have to look up what vowel teams are and O-G method. 

[The Way of My People]

My son does a reading/phonics program called "i-ready" on the computer.  His school has a subscription, which we use at home.  I don't know if it's available to the general public (I spent a tiny amount of time looking at their main website for you, but couldn't find the info easily), but I think it's a pretty decent program.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

I wrote a blog post on the difference between Reading Eggs and Reading Express. They really need an in between. http://sceleratusclassicalacademy.blogspot.com/2013/06/going-from-reading-eggs-to-reading.html

[displace]

My son does a reading/phonics program called "i-ready" on the computer.  His school has a subscription, which we use at home.  I don't know if it's available to the general public (I spent a tiny amount of time looking at their main website for you, but couldn't find the info easily), but I think it's a pretty decent program.

 

Thanks, I'll look into it.

[displace]

I wrote a blog post on the difference between Reading Eggs and Reading Express. They really need an in between. http://sceleratusclassicalacademy.blogspot.com/2013/06/going-from-reading-eggs-to-reading.html

 

Thanks for the good insight. 

[nd293]

If it were me, I'd just focus on reading. DS was also very reluctant to to transition to actual books after using Reading Eggs, as he hates to do things he's not already good at. I went to the local library and identified several series of phonics readers (actually very hard to find, the majority of readers are not strictly phonics based). I found the lists of titles online, and then he worked through in order, interleafing three series from the library, and the Bob Books which I owned. This way he got in a lot of reading practice as we made incremental changes in difficulty level. The next step was moving onto easy chapter books. For chapter books we used the "Aussie Nibbles" and "Aussie Bites" series which appears under different names elsewhere. The first level of chapter books were really the same as the most difficult phonics readers, and we had no problems making the transition. The second level of chapter books overwhelmed him by their length, and we switched to the Brain Quest reading cards. These are wonderful - short, succinct stories with comprehension and grammar questions. We're now back onto chapter books, and he is finally confident in his ability, if not exactly enthusiastic.

[MistyMountain]

Since you have AAR you can try that. It is a good method. I was using that for a while with my son. I use the throw a bunch of things at them until something sticks method I guess lol. So I used AAR and ds got a little from it but certain aspects about it weren't working so I switched up and went with spelling through Phonics Pathways which he likes better but still hasn't led to fluency in reading. I am hoping to get through a certain level with him in PP then we will slowly and laboriously go through more readers.

 

If you want something computer based Reading Bear is decent if you pair it with something like Blend Phonics readers or other readers. Both Reading Bear and Blend Phonics are free and it was a good supplement for my dd. Once she got to a simple reading level the multi syllable pyramids in Reading Pathways really helped her with bigger words and then after that she made rapid progress.

[shawthorne44]

Have you looked at the games in Reading Reflex?  Or Reading Reflex in general.  

The WTM book recommends it for remedial work.  It also has some games you can do for more practice.  

[Jennifer N.]

I have used Logic of English's Foundations A and B with my daughter as an afterschooler.  This program does require the teacher to sit down with the child for the whole lesson.  Lots of games though, kids love it.  Your son will learn phonograms, how to write the letters, reading, spelling.  I have also been using Diane McGuinness's Sound Steps to Reading for the past month instead of Foundations.  Not really sure why, except my professional focus is early reading instruction and I like to try out new to me things so I can better help my students when I return to the classroom.  It's great too.  But not all the fun games and active movement of Foundations.  Plus Foundations laid the groundwork of phonemic awareness for my daughter and awareness of how we make sounds physically.  She can tell you why a vowel is a vowel (the sounds we sing, we make with our mouth open) and a consonant a consonant (sounds made that get blocked by some part of the mouth).  Diane McG teaches the code opposite from Orton Gillingham (the method on which Foundations is based) -- she teaches a basic code (ie simple phonics), then sound to spelling.  So she will teach all the spellings for one sound at a time.  She is the mother of one of the authors of Reading Reflex.  I think her son and his wife were grad students of hers so their approaches are very similar.

 

But I have also been trying to find on the other boards a program I can recommend to parents who don't want to "afterschool" -- just want to work a little bit with their children and have some independent work too.  I think Explode the Code might fit the bill but I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy.  It looks like it teaches phonograms and spelling patterns too.

[Atilla the Mom]

I liked Bob Books.  My youngest had a bit of a speech impediment and I used phonic faces http://www.elementory.com/ with them. I also used First Reader  http://www.amazon.com/First-Reader-Phyllis-Schlafly/dp/0934640246 .  Once the kid has a handle on sounding out words, sight word memorization is important for fluency, and besides the old fashioned Dick and Janes, I like the first through third grade Mennonite Pathway readers for that because they really pound the first 1000 words in the Dolch list while still being interesting stories http://cathyduffyreviews.com/phonics_reading/pathway-readers.htm (The 4-8 grade readers are not worth buying imho.)

 

[Jennifer N.]

I liked Bob Books.  My youngest had a bit of a speech impediment and I used phonic faces http://www.elementory.com/ with them. I also used First Reader  http://www.amazon.com/First-Reader-Phyllis-Schlafly/dp/0934640246 .  Once the kid has a handle on sounding out words, sight word memorization is important for fluency, and besides the old fashioned Dick and Janes, I like the first through third grade Mennonite Pathway readers for that because they really pound the first 1000 words in the Dolch list while still being interesting stories http://cathyduffyreviews.com/phonics_reading/pathway-readers.htm (The 4-8 grade readers are not worth buying imho.)

 

I am always on the lookout for good programs to recommend to parents, especially parents who have never heard of the word afterschool.  So I went to look at First Reader.  At first, I thought it was only available used on Amazon or other websites for a pretty high price.  And I was only googling the book by its name with the ISBN which brought up lots of used copies selling for a pretty high price.  But guess what?  There is a website that tells you all about First Reader AND there is a program for older students too (geared towards 3rd grade and up struggling readers).  Here is the website:  http://www.firstreader.com/

 

Thank you for pointing out this resource!