My plan is to do Recipe for Reading lessons plans plus the Recipe for Reading readers. We are also doing "I See Sam" readers. I was thinking about doing Dancing Bears (alternating it with the other readers). But now that sounds like overkill. What about doing Apples and Pears instead of Dancing Bears since we are using the other two readers? What would we miss out on?

A couple of my books have loose bindings and my toddler pulled out some pages. What's the best way to fix it?

Do you add cursive after all single phonogram sounds are learned and correctly written in manuscript? Or do they need to know and write the multi-letter phonograms first also?

Thank you Elizabeth B. for the resources!

My son had trouble with phonemic awareness as well. It took him quite some time. My two daughters haven't had trouble.

Monster Math is on Netflix streaming right now. My child really likes it. Just thought I'd pass it on.

I love blend phonics! I'm using the lite version with vowels in red to start. My son enjoys making up stories with each word.

Yes, and I truly think that is fantastic. I love spelling rules. I think my children will benefit from them later. But right now, my son doesn't seem to absorb them. I think repetition, seeing the pattern and lots of dictation will improve that.

Kitchen Table Math, Right Start Math, c-rods (Miquon, Gattegno, Mathematics Made Meaningful cards, educationunboxed vidoes)

My middle child has watched the videos 2 times and has already doubled her letter sounds. I think she learns very well by song. She sings a lot. I guess every child is just different.

I started out being a supporter of vertical phonics (teaching all the letter sounds at first). I was told that if I didn't teach my children all the letter sounds at the same time, even from a young age, even if they have learning disabilities, that I would be setting them up for confusion and later doubting our phonetic system. I was told to avoid letter names, which along with the idea about not using horizontal phonics, ruled out many helpful things like Starfall, v-tech laptop and Leapfrog Letter Factory. So I taught my children 3 sounds of A, 4 sounds of U, 2 sounds of C, 2 sounds of G, 2 sound of S, etc. But now I am noticing something quite troubling. My oldest is almost 7. He has been taught these sounds for almost 3 years. When asked what C, G, and S say or when reading those sounds on a page, he often chooses the SECOND letter sound to try first. I figured this would happen at first, so I just reminded him that " 'Yes, "C" can say "sss" but it usually says "kuh" '. But time after time, he wants to say "sss" for c. If slowed down and asked to think carefully about what order of frequency, he can answer correctly, but it's not his automatic response. When he was first learning to read, he would go through all the sounds for each letter. We were able to move him past that pretty quickly once he understood each letter could only say one of its sounds at a time. But I've noticed he has never been quick and confident to respond to what any of the letters say if that letter has multiple sounds taught. The ones with only one sound have been easier for him, though admittedly not as easy as for most kids I suspect. I thought that is was only my oldest. Now my middle child, when asked what C, G, and S say also has a GO TO response of the second letter! I'm beginning to think that, at least for young children or children with learning disabilities, the brain may remember the last sound heard as being prominent. For these kids, I think it would be better for them to learn all the sounds later. I understand the benefits of teaching all the sounds at once, but for some, it's just too much. So here's what I've started doing now that I refuse to drink the "this is the only way to do it cool aid". I'm playing the Leapfrog tape. We are doing Starfall. I am planning to use mneumonics via Recipe for Reading - gasp! I am going to allow my children to trace or write manuscript letters. I am still teaching all the letter sounds during our phonics drill. But, I am also doing a separate activity after in which we say the FIRST sound of every letter as we point to it. We do this first with the Leapfrog song, and then without music or extra words. So they know that the other sounds are possible, but the first sound gets extra attention. I'm hoping this will be the best of both worlds. I am continuing the cursive instruction but am now going to have them trace and maybe write manuscript as well and not wait until later. I'm sharing this because I'm hoping someone else will benefit. I regret listening to the rigid notions. I don't doubt the intentions are good, but it's holding some people back I'm afraid.

Yes and no. I regret not doing more formal learning at the table with my kids at earlier ages when they wanted to do it and were at an age that I believe is highly receptive. I also have concerns about gaps due to my own "all of the place-ness" (I know that's not a real phrase). I have spent so much time piecing things together and obsessing that could have been spent with the kids actually doing something that would develop good habits. On the other hand, not using one has allowed my kids to develop certain skills and parts of their brains that I'm not sure would have happened. They have played a lot of legos, c-rods, outdoor play. They love learning. They ask to do their math and reading lessons, which are quite informal. I have three kids. I'm changing my ways and starting the 5 yr old and 3 yr old at seat work now with 7 year old brother. But I'm not going to have them do all day "school at home" either. I'm searching for that balance. I'm still avoiding what I believe to be unnecessary busywork kind of seatwork.

Seems like more than enough to me but I'm a newbie!

Some people also swear by unit studies for history. It's too all over the place for my taste.

I would also suggest reinforcing it with the CD's while he colors history coloring pages or plays with legos or whatever. Sometimes kids need to hear things more than once. My library has all the CD's.

Have you tried a history timeline? You can do it in book form or a wall type. I had trouble understanding dates as a child, so history was hard for me. I think the timeline would have helped a lot!

Do you feel like your kids have instant recall of letter sounds after using the DVD? It seems to me that thousands of kids have watched that video or have seen classroom wall cards with pictures next to the letter and are reading well.

Also, check out the Learning Challenges board here. There are parents who have tried many different math curricula there who might be able to help.

My favorite math apps are the Montessori one with wooden blocks the child manipulates and the subscription "Dreambox" math which can be played on computer or tablet.

Also, Life of Fred books can be fun!

C-rods work great at our house too. Let her play for a while so she doesn't develop a "I hate math. I'm bad at math" attitude. Right Start is extremely helpful here too but pricey.

The SWR manual is pretty adamant that it's a bad idea to do anything at all to clutter the letter to sound association in the mind of a child, such as using pictures to help a child remember the letter sounds. Unfortunately, I have a couple children who have a very hard time remembering things in isolation. It's not impossible, but it takes enormous repetition. I really like the way the Recipe for Reading K workbook uses tracing letters superimposed on images. For example, the "c" is on top of a cat's face. So anyway, I don't disagree that it's ideal to avoid this so that the child's mind isn't slowed down by thinking "c...cat...kuh", but I suspect that for children who learn this way, they do eventually drop that and develop a more speedy letter to sound association. My question is do you all think they will drop it eventually or is it as harmful as the SWR manual makes it sound?

Thank you so much to all who recommended these. They are working like a charm for my son who can sound out a word many, many times and not gain recognition of the word. Because he thinks they are so funny, he can tolerate the repetition needed to gain fluency. Here's a link if anyone else wants to try it. There are also higher level books that were written later, but they aren't free: http://www.marriottmd.com/sam/

Now I really feel like an idiot, because I posted twice!!!

Nevermind. I figured it out. Feeling like an idiot :huh: