Do they still make basal readers? Any recommendations?

[AngelaVA]

I really want to get my hands on a decent, relatively modern first- second grade level basal reader.  I know it's old fashioned but I am dealing with some special learning needs and I feel like it would be really helpful for us.  I want the uniformity and continuity and controlled word list they provide.  I am currently using Rigby PM readers but there's not enough books at each level for us to get sufficient practice to move on. 

[Zoo Keeper]

How modern were you thinking?    I like the Lippincott Basic Reading series or the Ginn Basic Readers series.  They're not modern (as in 2017), but they are a better choice, in my opinion, than something like McGuffey.  The Lippincott books have good phonics instruction folded in.  The Ginn series is more sight word based.  Both series are late 60's-80's vintage and were used in public schools of that time.

 

Abeka also makes readers, but since they are a Christian company there are Bible and other moral stories sprinkled in (don't know if you need secular or not).  The readers are very colorful and nicely illustrated, if that is a need for you. They are also much cheaper on Ebay and other used sites....

[ReadingMama1214]

I have the Basic Reading Series by SRA. My daughter enjoyed them but we didn't use them as much as I'd hope. She kind of flew by that stage. But the stories are nice and they held her attention.

[cintinative]

We used and I still have some of the Heath Reading books:  Come Back Here, Crocodile; A Soft Pillow for an Armadillo, etc. from the late 1980s

 

I also have some others but I need to remind myself of what they are called. I am not at home at the moment.

[cintinative]

BTW, OP, I am trying to get rid of some of these. I would be happy to mail them to you if you can cover postage.

[cintinative]

Okay the other series I have some of is Open Court Reading and Writing.  From Sea to Shining Sea, Across the World, and Slide Down the Sky are the ones I own.

[PhotoGal]

We used some inexpensive used textbooks for this. One of them was called "treasures" - I think there were 5 or 6 books per grade level. They are larger hardcovers with many stories, poems, nonfiction - often using the same words so they build on each other. If you search Amazon for "treasures grade 1" you should see some pop up. :)

[jgrabuskie]

Treasures. You can buy the grade level anthologies very inexpensively on Amazon. Then, google treasures and you should see all the workbooks for free or try here http://readingspecialist-ihm.weebly.com/treasures-reading-resources.html . They include On level workbook, grammar, spelling. There will also be spelling lists that differentiate between below, on level and above level. These programs do a really good job teaching skills such as main idea, supporting details, inference, cause and effect, problem solution. However, the reading material is substantially lower than most homeschool selected material for the same grade level. I found that though my DS8 did very well with the basal method and scored near perfect on his annual test (required by state) he fell very short when I switched him the following year to WWE 2. 

 

I did some reading about why America's test scores fall low to the rest of the world. K-4 we do a bang up job, all our ELA is geared toward skill development using the basal method. However, by 5th grade we start to lose points because our students know skills but not history, science, difficult words, etc, so their lack of depth of knowledge and quality literature hinders them and test scores fall.

 

The writing element of this basal program leaves a lot to be desired, so I would go with something different.

 

So, If you feel a basal will help in the short term I would go for it, but plan to add in quality reading, history and science so that your student is prepared for the now and future years.

 

The Treasures program has 6 units that are covered over 5 weeks each, the 6th week for each unit is a benchmark unit that the public schools use for testing, projects. Overall the program is 36 weeks long.

[Heathermomster]

The American Language Reader Series books are basal readers with Christian content. BJU sells basal readers too.

 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_25?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=american+language+readers+series&sprefix=American+language+readers%2Caps%2C273&crid=1Y2OJ40OY108U

Edited June 30, 2017 by Heathermomster

[J&JMom]

Treasures. You can buy the grade level anthologies very inexpensively on Amazon. Then, google treasures and you should see all the workbooks for free or try here http://readingspecialist-ihm.weebly.com/treasures-reading-resources.html . They include On level workbook, grammar, spelling. There will also be spelling lists that differentiate between below, on level and above level. These programs do a really good job teaching skills such as main idea, supporting details, inference, cause and effect, problem solution. However, the reading material is substantially lower than most homeschool selected material for the same grade level. I found that though my DS8 did very well with the basal method and scored near perfect on his annual test (required by state) he fell very short when I switched him the following year to WWE 2. 

 

I did some reading about why America's test scores fall low to the rest of the world. K-4 we do a bang up job, all our ELA is geared toward skill development using the basal method. However, by 5th grade we start to lose points because our students know skills but not history, science, difficult words, etc, so their lack of depth of knowledge and quality literature hinders them and test scores fall.

 

The writing element of this basal program leaves a lot to be desired, so I would go with something different.

 

So, If you feel a basal will help in the short term I would go for it, but plan to add in quality reading, history and science so that your student is prepared for the now and future years.

 

The Treasures program has 6 units that are covered over 5 weeks each, the 6th week for each unit is a benchmark unit that the public schools use for testing, projects. Overall the program is 36 weeks long.

 

I have used Treasures from 2nd grade through 6th and have been very happy with it.

 

Excellent link, btw. I found a likewise link but for Florida resources years ago. Everything you need except the student text is there. Lots of material to juggle, but I downloaded all to my ipad and switched between at will. 

 

I agree with the writing. I used their prompts but taught it my own way.

 

I supplemented the program with daily fiction read aloud (20 minutes daily in early grades up to 1 hour a day now in middle school), novel studies (use TpT guides for chapter books in a couple of weeks to MP guides at 1 book a quarter in 5th grade and up), and independent reading - 30 minutes daily on self-selected, but AR ranked materials.  No projects or tests, just discussion except for the novel studies. 

[Sugarfoot]

Are you thinking of a series that would be used in a public school? Just for interest, this is the basal series I grew up with in the 70s-80s.  It's by Houghton-Mifflin, and was widely used at that time. My DD has the 1st grade book, Secrets, in her room. She thinks it's special because it was the book I used as a child. :)  It's a collection of stories and poems, etc.  I'm not sure if things have changed with this sort of reading program or not, but FWIW,  I can't imagine it being a good fit for the dyslexics here. A struggling reader would really struggle with this series.

 

http://hmr.posthaven.com/

[Renai]

Are you thinking of a series that would be used in a public school? Just for interest, this is the basal series I grew up with in the 70s-80s. It's by Houghton-Mifflin, and was widely used at that time. My DD has the 1st grade book, Secrets, in her room. She thinks it's special because it was the book I used as a child. :) It's a collection of stories and poems, etc. I'm not sure if things have changed with this sort of reading program or not, but FWIW, I can't imagine it being a good fit for the dyslexics here. A struggling reader would really struggle with this series.

 

http://hmr.posthaven.com/

I remember these, too!