Thanks. So do you think this needs to be followed up with another program for fluency and comprehension, or is it enough on its own?

Does anyone know what grade level a child will be reading at when finished with this program? Thanks.

Anybody? I've been wondering the same thing...

I'm looking for something unlined, big, and with nice thick pages so ink doesn't show through on the other side. Any suggestions?

Yeah, we liked it a lot. I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

Everyday when we get up and I pull out the books, I hear "I don't wanna do school! Can't we just skip school today? I don't wanna do it, I don't wanna do it, I don't wanna do it!" It's the same way with her chores. She only has, like, 2 things she has to do to contribute to the family, namely, pet care. Yet they go undone until she sees her friends outside and wants to play, and I point out to her that she can't do anything fun until her chores are done. Then she does them lickety-split and is out the door to play. Why? What can I do to change this? How can I stop this behavior? She just generally has a bad attitude. Yesterday she accidentally hit her little brother with something, and I said, "Hey be careful, you hit your brother." She responded with, "So?" all snotty like. So now as I'm typing this and thinking, I realize that this is not so much a school problem as an overall attitude problem. Sigh.... Advise please from parents who have BTDT? Oh yeah, she's 6.

That was great, thanks! We listened to the sample sound file on the website, and my dd liked it. The only question I can think of right now is: Would it be appropriate for a pre-reader? Dd is JUST beginning to read cvc words (she's 6), and I wondered if this would be okay, or does it require much reading from the student? Thanks for the great review!

Just curious how you were liking it!

How fast do you cover this if you're just reading it? Do you still do about a chapter a week?

I have the AG, and don't get me wrong, I love it. I think there are a ton of wonderful ideas in it. But, for the most part, for whatever reason, I just read SOTW aloud and dd listens. I do usually ask the review questions (or if I'm too lazy to pull out the AG, I make up my own). Dd is 6 and doesn't read yet, so our main focus is phonics and math. Everything else is just for the sake of exposure. Our public library has almost none of the recommended books to go along with SOTW, and it's time consuming to find others. I also work, and sometimes there just isn't time to do the "extras" after we finish our core subjects. All this to say, I've decided to use SOTW just as a read-aloud. (Okay, this is what we've been doing anyway, but now I've made it official ;)).

Thank you SO MUCH for answering my questions! I really appreciate it.

Is this a complete set? It's much cheaper than the other ones I've seen, is the reason I'm asking. http://www.amazon.com/McGuffeys-Eclectic-Readers-William-McGuffey/dp/0471294284/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207001230&sr=8-1

So does anyone have a prefernce as to the original vs the revised? I have been trying to figure out which one to get.

Thanks, pixelroper. Do you just have your kids read aloud to you from them? I was thinking of using these for practice once dd is reading a little better.

How do you use them? And, (absolutely no offense intended here) are they super-religious?

I used Mavis Beacon to learn to type long ago. I hope it's still around, because I'd like for my kids to use it. I type about 100 wpm and earn a living by typing, so I'd say it worked!

Does anyone know the scoop on the Garth Williams illustrations? I've heard that the publisher is doing away with them, and if that is the case, I want to purchase them before this happens, even though my dd is not quite old enough for them yet. Does anyone know if this is true?

Is y still considered "sometimes" a vowel? In looking at Phonics Pathways, ETC, OPGTR, etc., when they introduce vowels, they only speak of a, e, i, o, and u. Is this just because they teach short-vowel sounds first? The reason I'm asking is because I was writing the vowels on a piece of paper to hang on the wall to help dd remember which letters are the vowels, and I couldn't decide whether to include "y" or not. It's been awhile since I've been in school, and I just want to make sure they haven't changed the way this is taught.... :o

I'd like to see some samples too. We are nearing the end of our K year, and while dd's handwriting is certainly legible, it's nothing fabulous. I'm trying to slowly increase the amount of writing she does, as her hand tires easily. She has never really even liked to color because it makes her hand tired. I wonder about some hand-strengthening exercises?

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1. Where would you start a child who already knows their letter sounds? 2. When do you start FLL? (I know I've seen the answer to this before somewhere but can't find it now.) TIA

Thanks for the permission everyone! It's gone!!

Does this teach by word families (at, bat, cat, fat, hat)? Thanks.

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That's funny. I've been seriously looking at Alpha Phonics. I'm trying to decide between that and HOP. Right now we're still in book 1. We did the primers and have been struggling our way through book 1 for several months now. I've only been buying them one at a time, as we need them, so I don't have any I can sell to you, sorry!