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Would ETC be beneficial for a kid who already reads?


vaquitita
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Sorry for all the questions. I'm trying to finish up my planning for next year. :D

 

I'm trying to decide what to do for writing with my 1st grader next year. Background: He is a good reader, often able to read multi syllable words that he doesn't understand. He picked up reading very quickly, mostly with BOB books. I did go thru AAR 1&2 with him, but he already knew it by the time we got to the lesson so I can't say he learned to read with AAR. I dropped it after level 2.

 

I'm trying to decide whether to use explode the code to make sure all phonics were covered while getting in writing practice OR not worry about phonics and just have him do copy work this year before starting R&S spelling in 2nd?

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I don't know, honestly. I've had my similar sounding second grader work through ETC 4-6 this past year, but he enjoys them. I also use AAS with him which I figure does help some. I think if my son had been very opposed to the workbooks, I wouldn't have pushed it. He reads (constantly!) at a sixth grade level so I think he's going to be fine . . . ?

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I'm torn on this question and about ETC in general. I used it with both my ds in grades 1-2. I now think it was an utter waste of time with my kid who struggled. He didn't even really struggle that much. But he was not quick to read and he had some issues. I don't think it did any good. I should have dived right into All About Reading/Spelling for him or some other more intensive O-G program. But, hey, hindsight.

 

For my ds who was much more like you describe, I can't decide if it did him any good or not. He was also relatively quick to pick up reading. And while he wasn't one of those kids who went from BOB books to Harry Potter overnight, he was comfortably reading Frog and Toad sorts of books pretty quickly and dove into Magic Treehouse not too long after that. He did ALL of ETC. And I think it helped his sense of spelling and helped solidify that phonics knowledge. Later on, when I got AAS for his struggling speller brother, he flew through much of it at top speed. But was that just innate? Did ETC actually do anything or was it just him? At the time when we were using it, it seemed perfect for "sweeping up" all that phonics stuff that we had skipped to some extent in just working with him with real books. On the other hand, maybe he just learned it all by osmosis and ETC did nothing. I genuinely can't decide.

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I have only used ETC through 3.  I did that with 3 kids.  One struggles with spelling.  I realized although she learned phonics with ETC, none of it stuck.  So, I remediated last year in 6th with Apples &Pears and Dancing Bears.  Maybe it was her age, but oh, man.  She has jumped leaps and bounds with fluency and spelling this year!  So, I am starting with heavy phonics instruction with my 1st grader.  I am not bothering with ETC.  Just my opinion.

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I'm leaning towards trying ETC, starting with book 3 and let this be his handwriting practice as well. Then he's at least getting that even if nothing else. I was going to get hwot but he does know how to form his letters. So ETC can be both. I found some more samples and I think he'll like the silly sentences and things.

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I didn't like ETC. I couldn't figure out the pictures. Was it a pot or a lid or a hat, who knows! I ordered a huge stack when I first began homeschooling, suffered through a few books, and then ditched them.

 

I'd say it'd be a waste for a reading child unless you only want it for spelling or handwriting practice. For a non-reader, it's hard because at least the reader has a little help figuring out the pictures. 

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I purchased level 4, 7, and 8 along with the TG for my rising 2nd grader. I'm not 100% sure I want to completely drop phonics yet because, although my son is a good reader, he does still need some work on multisyllabic words. Hopefully, ETC will be helpful and not very time consuming.

 

So, maybe pick two or three levels. I definitely don't think it would hurt.

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I own the entire series and used it with my emergent readers as soon as they were able to decode CVC and words with blends and digraphs.  I found that the combination of writing and reading enabled my readers to reach fluency more readily.  I didn't just go through the books in order.  I would take pages from a few different books and assign them randomly...one a day (both sides).  Of course, I'd only choose from material we'd covered. (I began my youngest readers with HOP, and switched them to Progressive Phonics, which is free for printing online, usually after the 3rd HOP book).  

 

As we covered more material in Progressive Phonics, I'd add pages from higher level books.  I do this through 2nd grade and sometimes even into 3rd, depending on the student.  

 

That said, I do not love ETC, lol.  The pictures are really not that well done.  There were quite a few times I couldn't decipher the picture myself.  If the drawings were more clear, I'd have nothing negative to say about it, lol.  

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I'd say it'd be a waste for a reading child unless you only want it for spelling or handwriting practice. For a non-reader, it's hard because at least the reader has a little help figuring out the pictures.

Well that's exactly what I do want it for, spelling and handwriting. :D

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I'm not sure if ETC was worth it for DS. It was never challenging for him and he never learned from it. It's more handwriting practice than phonics review for him. If you want to be sure that he gets all necessary rules consider AAS. It's very systematic and is great about important rules. It's super easy to teach and doesn't take long.

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I started them with my 2nd child as a form of review and hopefully to help with spelling. I don't think they have helped much with spelling, but they do give him a little confidence boost since they aren't hard.

 

My almost 1st grader has been doing them  this past year because he loves to have school work that looks like his brothers' lol. (He's very insulted if his "assignments" don't seem legit and it's an easy way to indulge that.)

 

 

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I would definitely continue with either ETC or AAR even though your child can read already. They will help with multisyllable words and unusual pronounciation. We don't quit phonics at this level, we continue with "Megawords" by EPS (same people who make ETC), and also McGuffey's Readers. My son is reading many grade levels above, but I think advanced phonics is important to continue.

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I would definitely continue with either ETC or AAR even though your child can read already. They will help with multisyllable words and unusual pronounciation. We don't quit phonics at this level, we continue with "Megawords" by EPS (same people who make ETC), and also McGuffey's Readers. My son is reading many grade levels above, but I think advanced phonics is important to continue.

What grade do you start Megawords?

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