Guest Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I have been using OPG and ETC with great success this year teaching my three dc to read. My ds(8) is on lesson 81 and doing great. I am a little more concerned with my dd (9) and dd (6). We are to the lessons that teach long vowels and different sounds that letters can make...like c saying /s/ and g saying /j/. I am not sure if they are ready for these lessons yet because it is confusing learning how to tell when to use which sound. They both still have to sound out a lot of the words to read...when will this pass? Back to my question though. I am getting so tired of doing OPG everyday with three kids. Plus I feel like I am hitting a road block for my two dd's. I want to finish OPG with my ds(8), but could I just continue on with ETC 3+ and Bob Readers on for my dd's? Will my dd's still learn to read as well? Should we do ETC and put OPG down for a while? I am not in as much rush with my dd(6) as she will be turning six June 25 and is young. But my dd(9) I really want to finish phonics instruction with her this coming year if possible. I would appreciate any thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassoonaroo Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Oh my, I'm new here so I have to figure out acronyms. Having fun with these: OPG: Oscar's Private Garbage (I grew up on Sesame Street) Our Personal Granny Owen's Pig Groomer Oily Precious Gems Outdated Piccolo Guru ETC: Electrifying Technical College Every Thing Cool Eclectic Teaching Collective You'll have to clue me in and I'll say DOH Homer-simpson-style! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Sorry :blush:, ETC is for Explode the Code and OPG is for The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TundraAcademy Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 This is just a thought...feel free to ignore all of my advice! But...a wise homeschooling friend told me that when it comes to phonics I should just pick a curriculum and stick with it throught the end. I didn't do that with my oldest child and I was always concerned that I had left something out (we did part of 100EZ, part of Alphaphonics and some ETC). When my second son was ready for phonics I picked OPGTR (although I do like Alphaphonics too) and we are almost finished. I started it in K and he is just finishing it up at then end of 1st. We slowed down in some places and went faster in others, but now I am so glad to finish the book. I feel like I haven't missed anything! Maybe you could just take a short break and do some reading and online games? I used Headsprout with both boys and they loved it (although they didn't complete it all). Another one is Click n' Read or you could just do Jumpstart, etc. HTH! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I'm not so far along in teaching reading, plus I'm using 100 EZ Lessons, but can you alternate days? Like, use OPG every day with ds8, since he seems to be your priority for finishing first? Then with your dd9, use OPG every other day, and alternate with ETC. With dd6, use OPG every 3 days. Every few days you'll be teaching all 3 in one day. You'd need to set up a schedule, and refer to it to see who's doing OPG each day. Day 1 ds8 Day 2 ds8 & dd9 Day 3 ds8 & dd6 Day 4 ds8 & dd9 Day 5 ds8 Day 6 ds8, dd9 & dd6 Day 7 ds8 Day 8 ds8 & dd9 Day 9 ds8 & dd6 Day 10 ds8 & dd9 Day 11 ds8 Day 12 ds8, dd9 & dd6 . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 You could plop them in front of my phonics lessons and give yourself a break for a few weeks! Your youngest just needs to watch the first 10 minutes or so of each movie if she can't last the whole time. You could also play my game for a break from the routine, but they would still be learning: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html You could also try adding in some oral spelling or work from a whiteboard instead of the book to mix it up a little. Or, have them each take turns writing out a few words from the lesson for their siblings to read. For a lot of children, it takes a lot of repetition and a lot of sounding out words over and over until they get it. My game helps up the repetition without too much pain. My daughter learned phonics quickly, but math is another story. After last year's mistake of no math over the summer, this year we just started our summer schedule--supposedly RS twice a week. But, my daughter had so much fun that she begged to do math games every day! Who am I to argue with that? The sooner you start the c as s before i, e, or y, the better. You'll have to review it at least 100 times anyway! (Even my daughter needed a lot of review for that one.) For some reason, g as j is not as problematic, even for my remedial students who have trouble with all kinds of other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Maybe you could just take a short break and do some reading and online games? Or just play the games in OPGTR? Have you played any of them yet? If so, it won't hurt to do it again. If not... there is some of the fun you are missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Thank you all for your replies. Yes, we have played the games and activities that are listed for the lessons. Earlier in the year I had purchased Headsprout for all my kids and they almost got to lesson 40 so we are going to finish up since I paid for all 80 lessons. We are also going to finish up the ETC series. They should be done with Headsprout by July/August...I will determine then if they are reading well enough to move on to All About Spelling...if not we will pick back up with OPGTR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 We stopped using OPG for about a year, and then went back to it, and it went much better after the break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 (edited) I typed a up a long post about how you should try Headsprout, but then I read your second post where you said that you already bought subscriptions for all of your kids. Definitely finish out those subscriptions. Headsprout is an excellent program. It helped my dyslexic dd tremendously. I have seen a lot of posts on HSDyslexicKids where people have talked about using ETC with their dyslexic kids. It didn't work for my dyslexic dd. It moved way too fast for her. She needed to move at the pace of about 1-2 pages/week. There just wasn't enough content on each page to move at that pace. We still did it up through book 3, but then gave up with book 4. My other kids loved the series, but they weren't dyslexic. Funnix level 2 picks up right where Headsprout leaves off, so that's another option you should consider. It's a cd-rom program that you purchase, so you only have to buy it once to use it with all of your kids. You can even sell it once you're done with it. It isn't as nice graphically as Headsprout is, but my dd actually liked it better because of the stories. You will still need to sit with your kids as they do the program, but you would only need to supervise, not instruct. Edited June 7, 2009 by AngieW in Texas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterbabs Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 My DD detests OPG. She cries every time I bring it out. I'm trying hard to finish it (we don't really have the money to waste on curricula that doesn't work, even if it is just $20 for a book, kwim?) but I may just give up on it and move to ETC. I think it's a very well-done program, but not a good fit for every child. The exact same lessons in a workbook would be great, but I guess that would be ETC. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I did not use a phonics program with my dd (7), and with my ds (6), we got halfway through a phonics program and he started crying every time we did it. I took a few weeks' break and tried again. More crying. I finally figured out he just wanted to read real books. My dd, who had no phonics program (but did do ETC and is currently on level 5) is now reading chapter books of the "Socks" (Beverly Cleary) variety. My ds (ETC 2 1/2) is reading Henry and Mudge-type books. My opinion is that phonics programs are probably excellent and very necessary for some kids, but other kids can learn to read without them or with just a start in them. I would guess that a 9 year old isn't very interested in a reading program meant for kindergartners. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Continuing with what I had in my post - Definitely finish off the Headsprout subscriptions. It's geared for younger kids, but it's a solid program. Funnix 2 would be a good follow-up program because it starts right where Headsprout leaves off. Phonics for Reading from Curriculum Associates is an excellent program. Level 2 is about the same level as Funnix 2, but goes deeper. I used it at the same time as Funnix. PfR is very good at teaching how to work through multisyllable words. After Funnix 2, most kids will place into PfR#3, but some will still place into PfR#2. After PfR, you should try Rewards Intermediate. It is designed for 4th-6th graders who are reading at least at 2nd grade level. It follows the same type of format as PfR and has one author in common with it. This is an excellent program. If you do one lesson each day, you can finish it in one month. Some posters on WTM Special Needs Board have reported kids going up 2-3 grade levels in just one month with this program. I didn't see that kind of progress in my dd, but she was reading at grade level when we started the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 (edited) Thank you all for your replies...you have given me a lot to think about. In regards to my dd(9), she has autism and is functioning on about a six year old level so headsprout and OPGTR is not below her. She had a late start in life and did not start talking until she was four years old. But she is now making tremendous progress since we started home schooling. My ds(8) actually loves OPGTR and is flying through his lessons. Even though he is going to finish his headsprout lessons he still begged to be able to finish OPGTR. The only reason that I am still doing phonics with him is because he was in public school for kindergarten at six years old and all they taught him was a few sight words. So at seven we had to start phonics from scratch. I love OPGTR and think it works great...I just think the girls need a break from it over the summer. They have did really well with OPGTR so far; they are just not ready for the next lessons coming up yet. Their headsprout lessons will solidify past concepts...and teach them some that they have not learned yet. In August we may pick OPGTR back up and finish the last half of the book for dd(6)'s 1st grade year and dd(9)'s 2nd grade year (I am holding her back a year because of her special needs which is a whole other conversation). Edited June 7, 2009 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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