Which Phonics did you LOVE or Hate, and why?

[srlpenny]

I am currently trying to decide on a Phonics program to follow with dd4 who is dying to read and "do school" like her older siblings.

I am currently looking at:

Phonics Pathways

Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

 

I have also had a Ruth Beechick book recommended to me, although I haven't looked at it yet.

 

So far my opinions are good just based on the looks of 100 lessons and Ordinary Parents .... and Phonics Pathways just look strange to me with the different writing.

 

I would love opinions from people who have actually used and loved or tossed these or any other programs.

TIA

[whitestavern]

Hated "100 Lessons" and didn't much like "Ordinary Parent's" either. Used Simply Phonics with one child and Progressive Phonics with my second. Both are very good, voracious readers!

[Tabrett]

So far my opinions are good just based on the looks of 100 lessons and Ordinary Parents .... and Phonics Pathways just look strange to me with the different writing.

 

I would love opinions from people who have actually used and loved or tossed these or any other programs.

TIA

 

I think you have got PP's and 100ez lessons mixed up. 100ez lessons had the strange writing not PP's.

 

I have not tried OPGTR.

 

100ez lessons-I tried, but you must go with the scripted book. If you dc gets tired of the book, you really can't make the lesson you own, KWIM?

 

PP's-Really good. My dd got to the point where the book brought tears. I just started using the book as MY guide and taught her the lesson with out the book. It is very easy to adapt to your situation.

 

I have the Beechick books (The 3 R's) and they are just suggestions as to how to go about life and teach in a natural way. It is really not a phonics curriculum. I needed more structure and organization.

Edited May 16, 2009 by Tabrett

[moosemomma]

I have use Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading with both of my boys.

 

I do supplement with sight word study so we can read "real" books sooner.

 

Just take your time with the program. I would complete a section of the book then take a break for a few weeks - just focused on reading and some sight word games. Then spent 1-2 days to review the old section then complete the next session.

 

In a few weeks, I am a going to finish the last two sections with my 8yo and Section 3&4 with my 6yo. Then my oldest will move into Megawords for reading skills and my 6yo will start reading level 2-3 early readers. (Currently we are refining reading CVC words and reading small phonics readers like Bob Books).

 

Jill

[Smithie]

My ds(4) cried whenever I pulled out the OPG. We are now using Hooked on Phonics with great success (tons of enthusiasm, rapid progress - "reading unreadiness" was not the problem with the OPG, it was just a bad fit for ds).

 

That said, he's getting older and I'm getting better at teaching, so I plan to pull out the OPG again after we've finished the first level of Hooked On Phonics, and present it using a big whiteboard. I would really like to work through Jessie's sequence, because I think it's excellent.

[Zoo Keeper]

My vote is for Phonics Pathways--why?

 

1. low cost--you don't have to buy extra flashcards, cd's, etc. There are pages to copy off in the back of the book for games and reinforcement.

 

2. builds confidence and fluency slowly and easily--doesn't make the child memorize word families, or meaningless groups of sounds

 

3. easy to do book as fast or as slowly as you like

 

4. can also be used as a spelling program/refresher

[Orthodox6]

It is unusual for me to "swear by" one program only for something. Yet this I do for "Alpha Phonics".

 

I have used the CD-based program twice now. The first time was with a 5-year old son, who later was diagnosed with Asperger's. After we completed lesson 15 in the course, my husband quietly beckoned me to watch our son. The child had, with only that scant exposure to formal reading lessons, taught himself most of what else he needed to know. He was sitting alone, happily reading a book aloud. Finally I could believe my mother's assertions -- which I always had dismissed as impossible bologna -- that I taught myself how to read at barely age 4.

 

Now, for a distinct contrast in student ability, here is my experience a few years later with my daughter. She was not a "quick, eager" wannabe reader ! I maintained a very relaxed, easy-going approach with her. When she was nearly 6, I started her with the Alpha Phonics CDs. When we had completed fewer than thirty lessons, dd "took off", just as had her brother -- who had shown marked abilities absent in her !

 

The commonalities between these two of my children were (1) the Alpha Phonics and (2) my "teaching method" of typing up words and invented sentences which the child could, by extension from the material already covered in Alpha Phonics, read by himself (herself).

 

With one of our older boys, I attempted the Horizons Phonics program. I abandoned it as overly-detailed and pedantic. I had the same reaction to the Pathway Readers workbooks. Same old picky, pesky details which, rather than facilitate learning, derailed the child and killed interest. (So we just enjoyed the readers and ditched the workbooks !)

 

The BOB books are great fun, too !

 

Hope this helps, even a bit, with your deliberations.

[FO4UR]

I have a love/hate relationship with SWR.

 

I love it b/c it works - ds6 finished section E this week (2nd round through A-I) and it's all clicking and coming together. As we review the words we've spelled, he's reading with automacity. And, he's attacking words in books and on signs like he never has before. dd4 seems to be a natural reader, and she just listens in when she wants - and reads right along nearly as well as ds6.

 

I hate it b/c it IS work. I push through - knowing it will pay off.

[Melora in NC]

I used Phonics Pathways and Hooked on Phonics with ds, and thought they were a very effective combination. But ds Hated PP. Just Loathed it. He liked HOP quite well. So when it came time to teach dd I decided to see how HOP alone would work, and it turned out just fine. She is an excellent and enthusiastic reader, and we were spared the Agony of that hated blue book. So my recommendation is HOP!

[arcara]

My ds is using OPG. It's going well for us!

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

I used OPGTR with my dd for a while. It is very thorough. Sometimes almost too thorough, especially if you have a dc who gets things easily. I wrote the words on a white board and had my dd spell the words with a movable alphabet. I would have continued, but I like All About Spelling better and don't feel the need to double up right now. If my dd struggles I'll pull out OPGTR again, but for now I'm just going to use AAS, games, and easy reader books.

[siloam]

I have used SL, which would be Ruth Beechick in style and it worked well for me.

 

I adore the Explode the Code books and the Get Ready, Set, Go for the Code books.

 

100 EZ lessons was quickly scrapped here, but I am a visual dyslexic and had problems just reading the page. It is just too busy and gave me an instant headache.

 

I Reading Reflex and it wasn't too bad. It didn't work well for us because the child I used it with could spell better than she could read, and there is no way to progress in the program unless they can read the words. With SL she could still do the dictation even through she couldn't read it.

 

At that point I started looking into programs that combined spelling and phonics and tried SWR. SWR has taught me more than all the earlier programs combined, but it wasn't painless.

 

AAS is where I have now landed and I am really enjoying it. I still use the old 2002 SL that I own, and the ETC books I bought for my oldest and put into page protectors because right after I bought them my dh was laid off. They have gotten a lot of mileage. :D

 

Heather

 

[Alphabetika]

100 EZ didn't work for us. Too weird-looking, too scripted, too inflexible.

 

Phonics Pathways was wonderful!

[Celly B]

We have been using OPGtTR this year, and I am very pleased with it. I really like the fact that it does not have pictures; this way I know that dd is not using clues from the pictures and is really learning the phonics rules. I also like the organization and short length of the lessons. I have found the supplemental information in the back really helpful, too, for playing phonics games.

 

That being said, my dd is not a big fan. She is, however, seeing how beneficial these lessons are, as her reading is really taking off now. There was one point in time where she was really frustrated with the lessons. I gave her a break for a couple of weeks, and then we came back to it. She soared through the lessons then, and I think this was just a developmental issue for her.

 

I had also bought Explode the Code at the recommendation of some hs friends of mine, but we've never picked it up again after the first one or two times we used it. IMO, OPGTtR is far superior.

[Vida Winter]

I have tried many of the mentioned programs over the years and what seems to work best for my kids is Reading Made Easy. It's very gentle and easy to use (I've used it with two children), and the kids love it.

[mombygrace]

Alphaphonics is working very well for us. This is my 3rd child I'm teaching reading too. Both older children are avid ,very able readers. I looked at or tried the others mentioned but went back to the old faithful for its simplicity and effectiveness.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

Another vote for PP here. Love the layout with large easy to read print. Everything is in the book so no flash cards or extras to keep up with. It's the most adaptable as far as setting your own pace. I like that it introduces consonants in combination with vowels.

 

HTH

[MamaBlessedThrice]

I have to completely agree with the poster who has the Love/Hate relationship with SWR. I hate how SWR is organized; it's unnecessarily difficult to figure out at first and terribly disorganized, IMO. On the other hand, I LOVE that it works so well. I'm amazed that my daughter in kindergarten this year after six weeks of plugging away at SWR was already reading, and now, finishing up the school year, she's reading at about a fourth-grade level. It's amazing how this pays off. I just wouldn't dream of doing any other program, despite the annoyances I have with it, because the Spalding method has such incredible results for us.

[babysparkler]

It is unusual for me to "swear by" one program only for something. Yet this I do for "Alpha Phonics".

 

I have used the CD-based program twice now. The first time was with a 5-year old son, who later was diagnosed with Asperger's. After we completed lesson 15 in the course, my husband quietly beckoned me to watch our son. The child had, with only that scant exposure to formal reading lessons, taught himself most of what else he needed to know. He was sitting alone, happily reading a book aloud. Finally I could believe my mother's assertions -- which I always had dismissed as impossible bologna -- that I taught myself how to read at barely age 4.

 

Now, for a distinct contrast in student ability, here is my experience a few years later with my daughter. She was not a "quick, eager" wannabe reader ! I maintained a very relaxed, easy-going approach with her. When she was nearly 6, I started her with the Alpha Phonics CDs. When we had completed fewer than thirty lessons, dd "took off", just as had her brother -- who had shown marked abilities absent in her !

 

The commonalities between these two of my children were (1) the Alpha Phonics and (2) my "teaching method" of typing up words and invented sentences which the child could, by extension from the material already covered in Alpha Phonics, read by himself (herself).

 

With one of our older boys, I attempted the Horizons Phonics program. I abandoned it as overly-detailed and pedantic. I had the same reaction to the Pathway Readers workbooks. Same old picky, pesky details which, rather than facilitate learning, derailed the child and killed interest. (So we just enjoyed the readers and ditched the workbooks !)

 

The BOB books are great fun, too !

 

Hope this helps, even a bit, with your deliberations.

 

I was glad to read this... we just decided to use Alpha-Phonics for our 4 year old in the fall... We have the book, but not the CD's... do you think they are necessary?

[SLH in ND]

My best friend raved about First Reader (now called Turbo Reader) by Phyllis Schlafly - http://www.turboreader.com/) so I got it for oldest dd, who wanted to learn to read at 3.5. It was wonderful! I also used Abeka's Handbook for Reading with her, just for variety. Another wonderful product! She learned to read so quickly, it didn't seem right. She's been an avid reader ever since and wants to be an author.

 

I thought I was set for life...I'd use them for all my other kids.

 

Second dd came along and had no interest in learning letter sounds, let alone putting them together to read words. Sometime between ages 6 & 7, we got her to try it. The two programs I had did not work, so we tried Alphaphonics (which I also liked), but that wasn't a good fit either. We then tried Phonics Pathways, which was sold looking like it was opened once! We finally picked up 100 EZ Lessons, as a last resort, when it was recommended to us by another friend. I did not like it & had a tough time teaching it to dd. However, dh would come home at lunchtime to work with her and they went through that whole book. She still (at age 11.9) is not a strong reader, so I often wonder if it's because of what we used or if that's just "her."

 

Third dd came along and we primarily used First Reader, along with Abeka's Handbook for Reading. She learned to read at the "average" age most kids do. It worked well for her and she is an avid reader.

 

What I learned with the experience I had with my 3 [very different] girls is that what works for one may not work for another. So, take all these responses with a grain of salt.

 

Sheri :)

[laylamcb]

LOVE Phonics Pathways.

HATE 100EZ (though I've seen it used with tremendous success).

Never used OPG.

[LadyAberlin]

We didn't like any of those three. They all had to much writing on one pg. I needed something where the kids book was separate from the teacher's. That way my ds wouldn't be overwhelmed like he was when he saw what I was supposed read on the same pg as what he was supposed to read. We use McRuffy. We love it. It has cutting and pasting and games and it is a lot of fun.

[mama2cntrykids]

My oldest learned to read with MFW 1st. It was a great, gentle approach to phonics (in my opinion). I liked it so much, I will be doing it again with my youngest ds this coming year. Can't speak to other phonics because we've never used anything else. Oh, I lied, I've tried using Teach your Child to read in 100 ez lessons, but both boys cried whenever I'd try to do it with them.

[Julie of KY]

I love Reading Reflex. Even if you don't use it to teach your kids, I think it is very valuable in teaching you how reading is learned.

 

This is all I've used will a few phonetic readers like Bob Books to teach my kids to read.

[Matryoshka]

I love Reading Reflex. Even if you don't use it to teach your kids, I think it is very valuable in teaching you how reading is learned.

 

This is all I've used will a few phonetic readers like Bob Books to teach my kids to read.

 

:iagree::iagree: All I used for all three kids was Reading Reflex, some Bob Books, and they took off from there. I also found the explanations in the book of how reading is learned invaluable and used them on the fly for years after we put away the tiles and whiteboard.

[kalanamak]

100EZ bored me.

We did Leapfrog video at age 4, moved into the games from SWR, plus the consonant cards, did about half the pages of Plaid Phonics and ETC (1-3), then buckled into Phonics Pathways, which we like. Once he was up to the digraphs, we started doing SWR almost exclusively. Even before kiddo was reading early readers smoothly, he was catching onto spelling like wildfire, a skill I will never poo-poo.

[LynnG in Arizona]

We didn't like any of those three. They all had to much writing on one pg. I needed something where the kids book was separate from the teacher's. That way my ds wouldn't be overwhelmed like he was when he saw what I was supposed read on the same pg as what he was supposed to read. We use McRuffy. We love it. It has cutting and pasting and games and it is a lot of fun.

 

LadyAberlin, would you be willing to tell me more about McRuffy? I've checked it out on the website and *really* like what I see so far. At this point, I think I've narrowed my phonics search down to McRuffy and Jolly Phonics. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble finding many first-hand reviews for either program.

 

I have a 3.5 yo daughter who is getting eager to learn how to read. I will probably start something with her (slowly and gently, of course) within the next couple of months.

 

Thanks in advance for any input you can give! :)

[Lovedtodeath]

We didn't like any of those three. They all had to much writing on one pg. I needed something where the kids book was separate from the teacher's. That way my ds wouldn't be overwhelmed like he was when he saw what I was supposed read on the same pg as what he was supposed to read. We use McRuffy. We love it. It has cutting and pasting and games and it is a lot of fun.

 

It sounds wonderful. I am investigating this one for DS now. :D Do you need to buy several grade levels?

[Heather in VA]

We love Phonics Museum. My daughter just loves it. I was very concerned about her learning to read because she has attention issues and probable processing problems. But PM has just done amazing things for her. She went from sounding out 3 letter word sounds and not being able to put it together into a word at the beginning of the year to now when she can read at probably a 2nd - 3rd grade level. She can spell well too. I know people find the readers that come with PM to be stilted early (when the kids only know some sounds) and they are but that never bothered us and my daughter reads them all the time by choice now. She's anxiously waiting starting PM 1st grade next year.

 

Heather

[Lovedtodeath]

Okay, I went on a search, there isn't much!

 

http://www.wtmboards.com/K8currMar222006/messages/1767.html

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=950079

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=810201&postcount=7

 

AJ in Ohio

02-09-2008, 12:12 PM

I have never used the TM's. I do have the Code cards though and my boys like them. My oldest is on book 8. We didn't do ETC most of last year and he actually saw it on the shelf and requested to finish the series.:eek: I think that speaks volumes! I did, at the beginning, use AlphaPhonics with ETC and they worked together very well! I seriously just ordered Happy Phonics to use for my youngest. I used the primers of the ETC series with him, then went on to McRuffy Phonics and Reading, (loved it) but this year I am going to use ETC w/ Happy Phonics for him! I chose not to do McRuffy because it is a COMPLETE LA curricula and I am too into 'a little of this , and a little of that'. Hope this helps!

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=806667&postcount=29

 

kimber64 from: http://www.homeschoolreviews.com/reviews/curriculum/reviews.aspx?id=417

 

• Reviewed on Sunday, April 15, 2007
  
• Grades Used: K & 2nd
  
• Dates used: 2005-2006
  

I would like to thank Brian for creating the McRuffy Phonics program. Having been a private school teacher, a public school teacher, and now a home school mom for the past ten years I appreciate such a well organized and laid our curriculum.

 

With seven children, I have tried many different phonics programs over the years. I believe I have looked at or used about everything available. Each program has its strengths and weaknesses. Some programs were too time intensive. With other children to educate, I did not have the extra time to prepare all that was necessary to implement their program, or the program was so shallow that I did not feel like it gave adequate practice to prepare the student to be a good reader. I have also found many of the curriculum choices move either too fast or too slow.

 

When I found McRuffy, I knew I had finally found the phonics curriculum I needed to prepare my children to be good readers. It is the perfect balance for the home school mom of many.

 

Brian has done a terrific job at laying out the material in a concise easy to understand manner. It is not overwhelming for the child or the home school mom. You can open the teacher’s book glance through the lesson and be ready to go. I have found the pace to be a perfect balance for my children, not too fast or too slow. The readers are not dry and boring, which is a big plus for motivating the children to read the story.

 

McRuffy is very affordable. The price includes your children’s workbooks, readers, teacher manuals, and all charts and word lists needed. Everything you need is in one neatly organized box.

 

Thank you again Brian and McRuffy Press for a great phonics program.

Edited May 17, 2009 by Lovedtodeath

[HiddenJewel]

I use to have a strong dislike for Spell to Write and Read but it has finally clicked and is quite easy to implement and makes so much sense.

[westcoastmom]

I didn't read all the answers so I apologize if this was already mentioned.

 

The one I liked was Sidney Ledson Teach Your Child to Read in Just 10 minutes a Day.

 

I liked it because the program is designed to be fun and child centered depending on what each child needs. As such it doesn't have laid out lesson plans since what one child will need another won't. The order of the sounds, words is given and different ideas for games ways to introduce those. I just wrote them on flashcards and typed the Silly sentences in very large font, double spaced.

 

This program took us a month and a half to do and my child was off and reading.

[alegnab]

I love Alpha-Phonics. I've taught all four of my children to read with it. It's inexpensive and simple.

 

I hate 100 Easy Lessons. I tried that before AP. It drove me crazy how ds used to say "thee" all the time when he read from it. It took a long time to break that habit. I didn't like the strange orthography (but I don't remember how ds took to it, since it was about 12 years ago). Ds kept getting distracted by the pictures, so I had to cover them during the lessons.

[Mom-ninja.]

Hated 100 EZ lessons. Hated it.

 

After trying other programs I've decided to try ABCDarian with my struggling reader. I hope this helps us.

 

I have Reading Reflex and it explained a lot to me, but the lessons are not very user friendly for my lifestyle at the moment.

[razorbackmama]

Probably our least favorite (I can't say we HATED it, but....) was OPG. The writing for the kids to read was way too small, and it was just boooooooooooooring.

 

We're currently using 100 EZ Lessons, and it's going OK. My ds LOVES the stories in it. We're at about lesson 78, which is where they transition to the regular writing, and he's struggling some with the switch. I don't know if we'll use it in the future, since what we'll be using for K and 1st next year includes phonics instruction.

 

At the time my olders were learning to read we all liked BJU phonics. Now that they are older though, I can see where the method BJU uses hinders more than it helps. I can no longer recommend it at all, despite how much my kids loved the stories in the readers. My son that is currently learning to read started out learning with BJU, and I am soooooooooooooo glad that we switched to 100 EZ Lessons. BJU would have messed him up for sure. This way I was able to break the bad habits that were starting to form. WHEW!

[Lovedtodeath]

Okay, so I was thinking either McRuffy or MCP Plaid, then I see that both of these have phonics instruction for 4 years!??

 

Yes, I am on a board break. I am not looking at new threads. I will have to make it longer, I think.:tongue_smilie:

[HeatherInWI]

We used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and really liked it, after massively disliking Sonlight's I Can Read It (I think they've changed it since then). Because 100 EZ didn't cover years worth of phonics, I supplemented afterwards with Rod and Staff's phonics cards and Abeka's Handbook for Reading, plus we used some of the Go for the Code workbook series, too.

[Penny from Tenny]

I loved Christian Liberty Press' Adventures in Phonics. I taught 3 boys to read with this and have 1 more little girl to go. All of my children have different learning styles and it worked with all of them. It could be done completely orally instead of using the WB if fine motor skills are a problem. I highly recommend it plus it is not expensive. Ruth Beechick's 3R's are also excellent.

HTH,

Penny

[TengoFive]

I've used 100 Easy Lessons and OPG, and I've looked at and dismissed Phonics Pathways. For me there wasn't enough direction to Phonics Pathways and it overwhelmed me. Just opening the book and looking at the first page made me wonder how anyone could use that. It's funny, but that's what others tell me about 100 EZ Lessons and OPG!

 

My first 2 learned to read with 100 Easy Lessons after bottoming out around Lesson 75 when they switch to regular writing and start teaching the letter names and capital letters. They both loathed their reading lessons. I had a hard time keeping them focused on the reading, when they knew there was a picture to look at (even though I hid it).

 

My third learned to read with OPGTTR and was reading independently by the 40th lesson. The rest of the book was just to teach her the rules. She just zoomed off. I don't know if it was the kid or what, but it was very successful here when used in conjunction with ETC.

 

This time around I'm using OPG again with ETC. I have a preschooler with a voracious workbook appetite, so Igot the MCP Plaid Phonics workbooks too. We're on lesson 15 or so, and she's reading cvc words. I like the Bob books, especially the new ones with a cd and the MCP readers. This time around I'm buying a lot more phonetic readers for her. I like the WTM suggestions for those. I've heard many say the lessons in OPG are boring, and that's probably true. That's why I supplement with reading practice in the readers JW and SWB suggest. That's the fun part! I don't JW wrote the OPG to be the only reading a child is getting, and I don't think any phonics program has you just read the lesson. Most have readers that go along with the lessons.

[Renthead Mommy]

Never tried 100 EZ lessons - I couldn't get past the looking stage. It was just too odd for me.

 

We HATED and OPGTR. It was just painful, slow and boring.

 

Switched to Progressive Phonics (progressivephonics.com) and haven't looked back. It is super easy to use. You read with them so it is much more exciting than 'the fat cat sat on the mat' because the kid words are mixed into little stories. They read their words, you read the rest. You can print it out or read it online. It was only $20 I think. The little stories are very boy friendly. Not saying girls wouldn't like it, but the stories tend to fall under

6yo boy humor.

[Rainbows]

Started with Explode the Code and went through the first few books so I knew DS had a good grasp on the letter sounds. Then moved on to McRuffy Phonics and have really liked it. DS loved the readers, they were challenging without being too difficult/frustrating and DS found the illustrations entertaining. Also think the teacher's manual was laid out really well and it was very easy to teach. If we homeschool next year, I will use McRuffy again

[creekmom]

I like using a combination of different things:

 

Hooked on Phonics (love the color, ease of use, and readers were great)

Explode the Code (great for reinforcement)

Happy Phonics (love the games for variety)

Victory Drill Book (wonderful for fluency!!)

 

I didn't like OPGTR - thought it was boring - I know the black and white pages were intentional, but my kids and I need the color and pictures!

Another thing that bugged me about it was that it used a lower case L (l) for a capital I. This was really confusing to my child. He never knew whether he should make an L sound or an i sound!

[wonderfilled]

I bought Reading Made Easy because it was suggested on this board. I am using it with my 4 yo ds and so far we are loving it. We are not very far in it, but, I agree, it is very gentle and easy to use. He is always ready to work on his reading. The lessons are short and so far have always ended with a suggestion that he picks out a book for me to read to him. I guess you could do this with any program. I think it's a great idea.

 

With my two oldest, I used Beginning Steps to Reading by Eastern Mennonite Publications. I think this is a great program also and lays a good foundation. I haven't seen anybody else mention this. The teacher's guide includes Bible Stories for each letter of the alphabet learned and continues with the stories once the child is reading. The parent reads the story and then the child reads a simplified version of it in his reader. I'm mentioning this because for some people this might be a positive and for some it might not. It includes more writing than Reading Made Easy so that is why I switched to Reading Made Easy. I tried something else with my 2nd ds and ended back with Beginning Steps to Reading so I still might switch when he gets older. It depends on how much he catches on.

 

I have tried many of the mentioned programs over the years and what seems to work best for my kids is Reading Made Easy. It's very gentle and easy to use (I've used it with two children), and the kids love it.

[Joy at Home]

I know you didn't ask about this, but we use The Reading Lesson. Very simple to work through, has an online (or CD) component if you want it. I've used this for my last two and it's great. I also very much enjoy Happy Phonics to supplement. It's cheap, fun, and hands on.

 

Good luck!

Lisa

[Lovedtodeath]

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1056896&postcount=24

[Tohru]

It is unusual for me to "swear by" one program only for something. Yet this I do for "Alpha Phonics".

 

I have used the CD-based program twice now. The first time was with a 5-year old son, who later was diagnosed with Asperger's. After we completed lesson 15 in the course, my husband quietly beckoned me to watch our son. The child had, with only that scant exposure to formal reading lessons, taught himself most of what else he needed to know. He was sitting alone, happily reading a book aloud. Finally I could believe my mother's assertions -- which I always had dismissed as impossible bologna -- that I taught myself how to read at barely age 4.

 

Now, for a distinct contrast in student ability, here is my experience a few years later with my daughter. She was not a "quick, eager" wannabe reader ! I maintained a very relaxed, easy-going approach with her. When she was nearly 6, I started her with the Alpha Phonics CDs. When we had completed fewer than thirty lessons, dd "took off", just as had her brother -- who had shown marked abilities absent in her !

 

The commonalities between these two of my children were (1) the Alpha Phonics and (2) my "teaching method" of typing up words and invented sentences which the child could, by extension from the material already covered in Alpha Phonics, read by himself (herself).

 

With one of our older boys, I attempted the Horizons Phonics program. I abandoned it as overly-detailed and pedantic. I had the same reaction to the Pathway Readers workbooks. Same old picky, pesky details which, rather than facilitate learning, derailed the child and killed interest. (So we just enjoyed the readers and ditched the workbooks !)

 

The BOB books are great fun, too !

 

Hope this helps, even a bit, with your deliberations.

 

:iagree:

 

It is a great program and very reasonably priced. He also wrote a book about education that is fantastic, although I can't remember the name of it though...

[monalisa]

For what it is worth, I just went through this evaluation between OPGTR and PP (have them both right now from the library). I tried them both out with m daughter (we are starting well into the books since she just completed kindergarten and is reading) and she liked PP, so I just ordered it from Amazon. The tightly scripted format of OPTGR is a little hard for me to deal with.

[Whereneverever]

Loved Hooked on Phonics

 

Hated 100 Easy Lessons

[emmsmama]

For those who use Hooked on Phonics, how do you use it? I bought a kit that had 4 levels of books, flashcards, and a practice book, but it has no instructions on how to use it. Do you just practice in the practice book for "x" minutes each day and then do "x" minutes of flashcards and then "x" minutes of reading the readers with your child?

[*Inna*]

Hated 100 EZ lessons. Hated it.

:iagree: We never tried the other programs on your list, so can't help you there. We used Sing Spell Read and Write with a great success.