Explode the Code Questions

[emmsmama]

My ds is 6.5 and is not reading. He could read CVC words if he tried, but most of the time he whines about it so I just backed off. He knows all the main consonant and vowel sounds and a handful of sight words (maybe 5 tops). I was thinking of getting the ETC books for him as a fun way to help him get going with reading. Are they good for that?

 

We read together every day and we have at least 1000 books in our house and I almost always have my nose in a book so it isn't that he isn't exposed to it a lot, but I really find that he is the type of kid that hates to do something if he can't do it perfectly the first time. I think part of it is because he doesn't like to put in the effort for things that are a bit more difficult, but he's also afraid of failing. I thought maybe ETC would get him reading in a fun way without him even realizing he's learning to read kwim? I've heard the books are very silly and I think he'd like that.

 

How are the books different from workbooks you can just pick up off any bookstore shelf? I was looking at some samples and they look very similar to most workbooks I've seen. What makes ETC books so special that people prefer them to other workbooks?

 

I'm also wondering how many books he would likely go through in one school year. I don't want to buy a tonne of books ahead, especially if this doesn't work out for him, but if I'm putting in an order I might as well make it worth it too so that I don't have to place another order halfway through the year. For those who have used ETC, did you really need/use the 1/2 level books?

 

I'm open to any feedback positive or negative about ETC. I want to find something that ds has fun with while learning to read, but I don't want to waste my $$ either.

[TheCoffeeChick]

My ds loves the ETC books. For his K year, he did books 1-3 and about half of book 4. I only have him do 8 pages a week, which for us was 2 pages Monday through Thursday since we didn't school on Friday. Sometimes he would do a couple more, but not too often. I had only planned on 2 a year though, so I had to order at semester time.

 

Your son sounds a lot like mine in that he doesn't like to fail at anything. If he does something, he expects to be perfect at it! :tongue_smilie: I hope it is just a phase ... it is so hard to try and explain that people cannot possible do everything perfect without practice!?!? ETC is nice for these type of kids because they review a lot, so most pages my ds can do on his own and he feels he has accomplished something on his own. I make him fix any mistakes, but that happens rarely. Also, when he finishes a book, we make a big deal of it and have some sort of treat or prize.

 

HTH,

[Haiku]

How are the books different from workbooks you can just pick up off any bookstore shelf?

 

They are way more entertaining and far more complete. The sentences that the kids read are frequently very silly, and it makes my kids laugh. My oldest dd, who is now 15, did Spectrum phonics, which I picked up at a local bookstore. It was not funny. The difference is between something like "The boy folded the socks" and "The fox in a smock carries a lock wearing socks," complete with funny picture to illustrate. (Note: these are not actual Spectrum or ETC sentences, just examples of the difference from my perspective.)

 

I'm also wondering how many books he would likely go through in one school year.

 

My dd did 2 -3 pages per day and got through four books.

 

For those who have used ETC, did you really need/use the 1/2 level books?

 

My dd didn't need them. My ds does. It depends on the kid.

 

I have nothing but good things to say about ETC. My kids love it. My dd was like your son: she didn't want to read until she could READ. Her reading really took off when we started ETC.

 

Tara

[greenmamato3]

my $.02:

my 6 yr old did books 1-4 during 13-month run at Kindergarten. (long story ... it was a bit spotty at times due to health complications of newborn).

for me, i loved that there was something he could fairly indepedently (esp after we got into the groove) and that i could KNOW was approaching matters from a TRUE phonetic standpoint. we are continuing them, but will stop at bk 7, for various reasons. I purchased 1-3 ahead of time, then realized we were going to need bk 4, and at that time purchased 4 and 5 together. now i've got 6 and 7 on hand.

i planned about the same number of pages as PP did.

i will say that sometimes his hand would get tired and so on the pages where the words had to be recopied, i would come up with other ways for him to do the page ... either orally or just matching with a line or circling the correct word, etc.

 

i think it does a great job of really making the kids think, and when there are "silly sentences" like "can a duck cap the mat" or something like that, he would just crack up :)

 

i don't know of very many families who use them and don't end up loving them ....

 

make sure you check back over their work each time and have them correct them. maybe that's an obvious pointer, but i'd rather state the obvious than assume.

 

and as far as DS not wanting to read. i can TOTALLY relate to both PP and you about DS wanting things to be PERFECT or not try at all. we talk about this a LOT with piano, as well (i have my degree in piano performance but DS doesn't understand how you get "really good" at something is by a LOT of mistakes along the way, etc . . . ). we use the analogy of him learning to ride without training wheels as well as his experiences at TAEKWONDO a LOT LOT LOT! plus, when the intesity really gets high on reading issues (which he baulked at periodically during K year), i would just do "i'll read a page, you read a page." and that would help to turn the temperature down.

 

i can't blame DS for wanting to be perfect the first time -- he gets it honestly from both DH and me :( ugh! makes me sick to my stomach. we're both working on it.

 

HTH

[emmsmama]

Thanks so much for all the input thus far. Even riding a bike without training wheels is a battle with ds that I backed off of. He went half-way around the path at the park (a pretty good distance), but then got wobbly and crashed and won't get back on again :( I keep trying to tell him that he did soooo well and if he went out again to practice he'd probably have it down pat in one day, but he refuses to try again.

 

I thought of a couple more questions :)

 

Do I really need the Teacher Guides?

Approx. what reading level does it go up to? (ie. if ds finishes up to the end of Book 4, roughly what reading level will he be at?)

[greenmamato3]

no you don't need the teacher guides ....

 

my 6 YO DS is reading level around 3 to 4 (for things like the step into reading, not grade levels). he can read better than he wants to admit, so it's hard to judge. i don't know what grade level that is equivalent to, as it seems those parameters are so marred these days. but i would say he would definitely be able to read a 2 in the leveled-readers by the time he gets there, IMHO.

 

again, HTH

[Arch at Home]

We do about 3 - 4 books a year and start Level 1 in first grade and do all of the 1/2 books except for 4. My kids like ETC because it is funny. I like it because my kids tend to not like phonics and it is a good way to expose them to it. In addition I sit beside them and work with them on their penmanship. Definitely a good way to kill two birds with one stone.

[emmsmama]

Is the online version worth it? I checked out the online demo and am still leaning toward the books. Has anybody tried the online version that could give feedback?

[Radish4ever]

Great thread! I got the A, B, and C books (partially written in) from a friend and it piqued my interest.... I may go ahead and use what is still in there (and maybe recreate what's been written on...not too many pages!) and see how DD likes it... if she likes it, we'll continue on!

 

 

Has anyone used these in conjunction with another program, like 100EZL or OPG?

[TheCoffeeChick]

Great thread! I got the A, B, and C books (partially written in) from a friend and it piqued my interest.... I may go ahead and use what is still in there (and maybe recreate what's been written on...not too many pages!) and see how DD likes it... if she likes it, we'll continue on!

 

 

Has anyone used these in conjunction with another program, like 100EZL or OPG?

 

We did (still do). At first I made sure that we followed the order that ETC went and skipped around in OPG to match up. But after Books 1 & 2, that got to be a pain ;) and we stopped jumping around, just doing each book as written. There was no confusion, sometimes ds will comment that we already learned a certain rule in ETC before when we get to it in OPG. But I just tell him we like the extra practice. :) ETC & OPG compliment each other nicely IMO. We are half way through Book 4 in ETC and exactly half way through OPG right now. I plan on us finishing up OPG and doing a couple ETC books next year.

 

Oh, and ds did ETC Books A, B, & C without OPG. It was overkill for him! So we started OPG on lesson 27 - after all the learning the letter lessons.

[tjarnold]

I'm a big fan of ETC, having used them with my older two (now 11 and 10, and voracious readers). I'm just starting my 3.5yo on them -- she does a bit in Get Ready for the Code every once in a while. I only used the 1/2 books when I felt a child needed extra practice on certain sounds.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Tiffany

[Radish4ever]

EXCELLENT suggestions, Jessica!! TY!

My DD LOVES her letter sounds and such and I think once she's done a few things of extra practice (she looooooooooooooved workbooks and I think she'll enjoy the A, B, C books), starting OPG will be good to go beyond that... She JUST learned (and mastered) her letter sounds about a week ago and is still eager to show it off, so I'd like to give her about a month before we jump into anything more complicated :)

[greenmamato3]

i'm doing the ETC A,B,C with DD 4.5 while she works through phonics pathways (similar to OPG) and it's working nicely.

she's also doing HWoT . . . the prelevels. we will jump right in to book 1 when she's finished with the ABC no matter where she is in phonics pathways (well, provided she's ready . . . you knwo what i mean.... i won't and didn't (with my DS) try to align Phonics Museum/Pathways (or in your case OPG) to the ETC :)