Which Phonics did you LOVE or Hate, and why?

[Plucky]

I taught all 4 of mine with 100 Easy Lessons. It seems it's not in anymore. It worked for us. I'd use it again. My kids are voracious readers.

[Spy Car]

I don't know what is "best" I just know what we've done (and/or are doing). And it's working well for us.

 

First, the Leap Frog videos (Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory I & II). On general principle I'm of mixed mind about teaching with "cartoons" but these videos are simply brilliant IMO. A+.

 

Then we did the 3 Primers for Explode the Code. Began Bob books (which motivated by son immensely). Then began ETC, and kept reading Bob books (and are now on the last set) as we finish ETC 1.

 

My son will turn 5 in a few days and I'm pleased that with-in his phonics range he is reading fairly well and/or able to sound out and spell most of what he faces in ETC and the Bob Books.

 

This boy-boy I don't think would have been keen on Phonic Pathways, not at his level of maturity now. A year from now, maybe. I wouldn't say he loves ETC, but I haven't seen an alternative I feel would have suited him better.

 

So this is what we've done.

 

Bill

[Karen in CO]

I have used various phonics programs and such, but the only thing that I can recommend are the Leap Frog videos. They are awesome. The simply do a great job teaching basic phonetic letter sounds and blending.

 

I don't really like the Bob books at all. I do like the phonetic readers from Starfall (and free online versions if your little on gets computer time). They have much better stories. My dd has read most of the first set of Bob books, and I recently found the Starfall ones. We all like those better - she's our third reader so I have a short attention span for early reader books.

 

I am going to try ETC 1 with her in the fall so that she will have some seatwork when her sister is working. She also does copywork from her books which I think is much better.

 

I do have PP sitting on the shelf for when she wants a reading lesson. I used it for a while with my older dd. We started later in the book - after she was blending and as she was moving into more difficult words. It really helped for a time, but once she was over the spot where she was stuck, she didn't need any more of the intensive reading lessons like that - just more practice. I think it is the only one of the phonics programs I bought that I have kept - besides the LeapFrog videos.

[JenniferB]

I just have to shout out loud, "I LOVE PHONICS!!!".

 

OK, I'm a phonics nerd, and I love what I've learned from all the programs I've tried.

 

I really like SWR as a way to teach phonics, but I don't like the layout of the curriculum and the "program".

 

I like "clocky" to teach "2 on the clock" and around "clocky's face" to form proper letters.

 

I liked OPGTR to introduce the alphabet - I really liked the song, which we learned line by line. Super fun!

 

I also love ETC, because it is so kid friendly, and they can do it independently. I use it as a supplement to review what's already been learned.

 

I LOVE K12 Phonics. It's so thorough.

 

I did not like 100 Easy Lessons. Don't know why, it just didn't work with any of my kids. Sorry 100EL.

[Lovedtodeath]

Whatever program I have used, I have been sure to use Lauri letters to spell the word. You put the letters down one phonogram at a time and they have to sound them out left to right. Plus, they are hands-on, more colorful and fun!

[SBP]

We're big fans of 100EL around here. I taught both of my kids to read as preschoolers using this book, and it was as easy as teaching baby ducks to swim. Passed it on to my sister, and she's had the same success with her preschoolers. So we're five for five with 100EL in my family, and four of the five were wiggly little boys. All were reading by the age of four.

 

That said, 100EL is NOT a complete phonics program and doesn't advertise itself as such. OPGTR wasn't out when my children were learning to read, so I never used that. I did try to follow up 100EL with Phonics Pathways, and it bored my kids to tears; I think it was because they'd already learned to read pretty fluently using 100EL, so reading a whole page of rat, cat, sat, bat or whatever seemed silly to them. If I had it to do over now, I could probably make better use of that resource, but that's because I've learned some things about teaching phonics since then.

 

We also tried ETC for a while (a year maybe?) but it was just busywork for my son. He did fine with it while it was in front of him, but five minutes later couldn't tell me what he'd learned or spell any of the same words he'd just been working on.

 

That's when it dawned on me that what we really needed was a strong phonics-based spelling program. They could read well already; they needed to learn how to spell and in the process, to attack new words. We went to SWR at that point and spent about four years with it. My kids truly "get" phonics now - both decoding and encoding - and although we no longer use SWR each week, we still use the methods we learned from SWR each time we're challenged to spell a new word. So my recommendation whenever I'm asked is always 100EL to get them reading followed by a Spaulding-based phonics program to teach spelling and word-attack skills they'll use for life.

 

Best,

 

SBP

[rafiki]

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[fractalgal]

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

 

My just-turned 4yo son reads Bob Books. He watched the Leap Frog videos at age 3 and learned the short vowel sounds and consonant sounds from that. Then last year he sat in on his 6yo brother's SWR class. I plan to use OPG with the 4yo in the fall, but the beginning of it should be mostly review for him.

 

My now 6yo learned to read with SWR. He had started using TYCTR in 100 Easy Lessons, but we stopped using it at about lesson 40. He then used Cursive First and SWR exclusively for several months. Then we added TYCTRin100EL back in, and he finished that book. From there we added in PP. All along he has been doing ETC as a supplement to all of these programs. He reads very well - about 3rd grade level. He knows all the phonograms and can pronounce big words thanks to SWR.

 

ETA: We also used the Dolch Sight Word List, and my 6yo is working through Reading Pathways this summer. He just completed ETC 6. [i forgot to mention these.]

 

I use a combo of books as you can see, and I just adjust as needed.

 

Good Luck :)

Edited July 8, 2009 by fractalgal

[amanda]

I used OPG with my oldest and LOVED it. I will be using it with my 4yo and 5 yo this year but I will add in Explode the Code books as well as Leap frog DVDs.

[LivingUnderGrace]

I really like OPG, however my children do not. They highly prefer a workbook approach.

 

That said I have used: Explode the Code, Abeka Phonics, and Rod and Staff.

 

ETC did not have enough review for my children. Abeka is really great (top notch in my opinion), however, since mastery works best for us we use and are very pleased with Rod and Staff.

 

See I thought 100 EZ was weird. :)

[Ravin]

We've used 100Lessons and HOP. We started with HOP Pre-K, and played most all the games they suggested, and that was where DD solidified knowing most of her letter sounds. Then in K we moved on to HOP K, but it didn't work very well for us, so I picked up 100 Lessons. We worked about halfway through it, then DD was getting bored plus I think something just hand't quite clicked and it was becoming too difficult for her. We checked HOP K out of the library again, and just worked through a lot of the readers. I've also had her read some of the BOB books. That's where we're at now.

 

For first grade, I'm switching programs again to Word Mastery, which is free online. We're also going to play a lot of games and use the white board, which DD enjoys. We'll probably check out HOP 1st just for the readers, and we're going to work on reading together every day in beginning readers, with DD reading words I know she can sound out and me filling in the others.

 

The biggest problem we've had is that DD gets frustrated that she can't read everything, and doesn't want to do the work to progress her skills. She seems to make progress in jumps...something will click, we'll make steady advances, then she'll start resisting again. I'm hoping after taking a break for the summer, she'll be ready to dive in when we start up first grade lessons.

[AngieW in Texas]

For a 4yo, I would try the I See Sam readers. Your dd will love the stories. If she doesn't have any issues, the series will take her all the way to 3rd grade reading level.

 

http://3rsplus.com/

 

Headsprout is also a nice option. That program made a huge difference for my dyslexic dd. It's pricey though.

[Lovedtodeath]

 

ETC did not have enough review for my children.

:iagree:

[Rainbows]

^^ we used ETC as our intro, then went into McRuffy. I think that ETC alone wouldnt have been enough for DS. But I do think its a great teaching tool if you add some more practice to it. DS liked it because it wasn't overwhelming and frustrating to him (he previously insisted he never wanted to learn to read lol)

[K&Rs Mom]

I love Phonics Pathways because you can do 5-minute "bites" and work through it as quickly or slowly as they need, and I like the way they progress through sounds.

 

I didn't like 100 Easy Lessons because of the way it teaches some non-standard symbols, and the scripting was too much - just not my teaching style.

 

I like the looks of ETC, but haven't used it because PP has worked well for us.

[mom2koh]

We love Phonics Pathways. We tried HOP and 100EZ and dd hated them both. She claimed HOP was too easy and 100EZ brought her to tears with the symbols and such.

 

PPs has been great. We incorprate the games and use the BOB books for reinforcement and confidence building. This weekend she picked up the book Owen and read it to her brother with little help (just 1 or 2 blends we have not gotten to). We started PPs in March (after she became bored with MFW K phonics).

 

PPs is also a great choice for a whole program that's cost effective.

 

Good luck!