Explode the Code Question

[Tidbits of Learning]

My ds6 is going into first grade. We are doing The Reading Lesson right now and it is going well. We had been doing Adventures in Phonics by CLP and that was a little bit too much writing and workbook for us and we switched to The Reading Lesson which has no writing/workbook aspect to it.

I want to add Explode the Code, but I don't know where to start him at in their series. I'm thinking he should start book 3. He is starting to learn the ee, ea type digraphs.

Does this sound about right?

[kim.4dogs]

That sounds right to me. My 1st grader is just about to start ETC Book 3. We're using the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading along with it. She's always learning something in OPGTTR a bit before we reach it in ETC, and this works well for us. It's a nice review.

[Tidbits of Learning]

Do you get the teacher's books for ETC as well or are they really not needed at this age/level?

[JESSICAinMD]

I have the teachers guide for ETC and I never use it. You can use the workbooks alone easily.

[mindygz]

I actual;y really like the teachers guide. It is 2 books (3 & 4) so it seems like a nominal investment. I feel like it does a good job "completing" the lessons.

[kim.4dogs]

There are a few pages in the back of ETC (a book-end quiz-type thing) where you would read certain words for the student to write. I think that info. is only in the teacher's guide. I've never had them, though, and my older daughter did ETC books, too.

[jjcmehl]

We used the ETC workbooks without the teacher manual (I owned it, just never used it)....the test was easy to figure out without the teacher manual. (After workbook 1 & 2 we then used Alphaphonics....where they just took off...ETC definitely initiated their launch!)

[Yolanda]

If you go to their web site they have a pdf file of what each book teaches. You can see where your child is at according to their list and go from there.

 

I didn't see this info on their site but read it in Cathy Duffy's 100 best picks that the 1/2 books (1 1/2, 2 1/2 etc) are just review of what the whole number book taught on. I thought that was helpful because it's not always necessary to repeat some lessons.

[kim.4dogs]

Yes, we've never done the 1/2 books. They've always gotten enough practice without them.

[MamaReads]

I do like the teachers guide for ETC if that is your stand alone phonics program. It provides lots of extra hands on activites to round things out. So if you need those type of things I say they are indeed worth it. If you are working through a second phonics program and basically supplementing with ETC then no, you probably don't need them.

 

As for the 1/2 books, they are a review of the skills learned in the previous book but at a slightly higher level. You may want to check out book 2 1/2 if you are planning on starting at three. You can usually find a good deal on the books used so it shouldn't be too big of an investment and more review is always good. I find it really builds confidence and fluidity in reading.