I'd like to change phonics programs . . .

[AFwife Claire]

I'm getting ready to teach my 5th child how to read. Back when I was a starry-eyed new classical homeschooler teaching my first child, I bought VP Phonics Museum, and I've used it to teach my 4 sons to read. With the first ones, I did a lot more of the games, art projects, etc. Even with less of the fun stuff, it's worked well, and all 4 are good readers.

 

I, however, am so tired of the program! I don't think I can listen to another new reader struggle through "Pan and the Mad Man"! So I'm looking for a new program, one that hopefully is not anywhere as expensive as Phonics Museum (although right now that is probably the cheapest option for me, since I only have to keep buying the workbooks). Any recommendations? I've been thinking about Jessie Wise's book.

 

Thanks!

[Guest]

McRuffy comes to mind or Christian Light Education's Learn To Read set or Dancing Bears/Bear necessities from the UK.

[Stellalarella]

I am using Phonics Pathways with my first grader and my 5 year old preschooler. This curriculum is successful for us because it teaches totally decodable phonics and it is EASY TO USE. Everything I need is in that one book--and we use it for both reading and spelling. Ours came from Amazon for less than $20. My dd and ds both genuinely like this book--my first grader, in particular, likes Dewey the Bookworm and loves for me to read his little sayings.

The set up of this book is that the student first learns the 5 short vowel sounds and then one by one learns a consonant sound--and immediately learns to blend the sounds together. The student will learn to sound out sa, se, si, so, su (all with SHORT VOWEL sounds). This seemed very strange to me at first, since it appeared to be nonsense words, but it trained their eyes to track correctly. This has been a big help with my dd. I feel like this reading program got her on the right track after a year in a school that required students to learn 50 or more sight words and inferential phonics (i.e.--the guessing from the picture method).

I checked out both this book and Jessie Wise' Reading book from our library before I made our purchase. Both books teach decodable phonics. All decodable means is that the student can sound out the word using phonics rules. They will not be looking at context or pictures to guess and then memorize the word. Neither of these phonics textbooks use the endless reams of phonics worksheets that always came home from school with my oldest two kids. Jessie Wise' book gives more explicit instruction on how to form your mouth in order to say a sound. The Phonics Pathways book is easier for the teacher and student to just pick up and get to work--in my opinion--all the words are printed right there. The PP book is easy to look at because of its design.

Oh, yes, and one more thing--The Phonics Pathways book also makes use of some words that are easy to sound out phonetically, but are not typically used by the young. Our reading lessons turn into wonderful vocabulary lessons--"Mom, what does "cask" mean? What does "fond" mean?

And, there are no pictures for the words. What a relief!! My easily distracted dd can just concentrate on learning to READ.

I like Phonics Pathways for our particular family. :001_smile:

[kalanamak]

I like Phonics Pathways for our particular family. :001_smile:

 

:iagree:with it all.

[ElizabethB]

PP is failsafe and easy, she's always working on a new edition after finding new spelling rules and working with students--she's working on edition 10 right now!

 

OPG is good too, but you have to read through scripting and the words are small so must be taught from a white board (although you really should be teaching from a whiteboard anyway at that age. I also like to use all caps for K, they are easier to distinguish and read and it helps prevent the b/d problem--there is no problem distinguishing B/D, and then B looks like b.)

 

But, if you wanted to be 1700's classical, you would use Webster's Speller and teach the syllables. Ten minutes a day from the white board, no stories ever--just work on the phonics and spelling, when you're done they can read out of the KJV. (Well, after a few months of syllable divided books, maybe, but she is a girl, she might be able to go straight to the KJV.)

 

To be truly classical, I think 1600 and before, you would teach reading and writing in Latin first with a Latin syllabary, teaching to sound out and spell the Latin syllables and then Latin words before switching to English. Of course, then you might not have time to mummify chickens or anything like that, but the English first syllable route is actually far more efficient than normal phonics and you'll have more time in the long run.

 

There are some fun free programs that you could print out, too--Blend Phonics is easy and only 20 or so pages to print out, you work from the whiteboard, you wouldn't even have to print them if you don't want to. Pollard's First Book for Little Folk is great, you can read the manual online and get an actual copy of the book from abe books right now for $12, or you could just print out pages. With Blend Phonics, you could add in my spelling rules and syllable division exercises for your boys and have them do some spelling while you're working on her reading and a bit of spelling for her. (She should be able to spell at least 2 letter words. If she can't spell CVC words when you get to those, have her look at one and spell it while looking at it, then spell the same word without looking at it.) The rules and exercises are linked at the bottom of my how to tutor page.

 

I'm really hoping I can convince someone to try the Latin syllables option for me, I'm going with Webster again for K next year, we haven't done enough Latin this year for me to be comfortable teaching Latin syllables first. You could do it, I'm sure!

 

Of course, whatever you use, you must play my game for practice blending, her brothers can take turns playing with her.

Edited April 14, 2010 by ElizabethB

[Sara in WA]

I'm a walking advertisement for The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. Here's what I love - it's simple, it's methodical and the price is right (right now it's just $20 on Amazon). The book includes an activity here and there to make it fun for the learning readers.

 

I use the book, flash cards (Helpful for sight words and the games. You can make your own if you have the time.), magnetic board, and CD. I use the CD mostly at the beginning lessons for the vowel and consonant poems and songs.

[NancyNellen]

Phonics Pathways - cheap, straightforward, thorough, gets the job done.

[CamperMom]

I like Phonics Pathways. One reason is that it is very similar to the method with which I was taught to read back in kindergarten, so I am comfortable with it. But also because I find it to be easy to use, no fuss, straight to the point, makes sense. My children seem to prefer this as well. I like that there are no picture clues for letters, sounds or words. The child must look at the letter or groups of letters and learn the sounds they stand for. There is no guessing due to picture clues. We also use Reading Pathways along with it. The pyramids are fun.

[Kathie in VA]

Alpha Phonics is my choice.

It's simple in that we just sit together on the couch with one book and read. Some pages are new sounds to learn, some are practice pages of the sounds or words with the sounds, and other pages are sentences using the new phonograms and reviewing past ones. It is not scripted but it is so easy to use so you don't need it. There are instructions for each lesson in the back of the book, if you should want some guidence. I just say: "When you see this phonogram or set of letters, they say this sound, now let's practice"

 

The phonics taught is based on O.Gillingham which is what the programs like WRTR are based; except that AlphaPhonics teaches one sound at a time ... not one phonogram with all it's sounds at one time. Thus, you learn the short sound of 'a' and then practice it with various considents (an, am, at, as). Then you can move on to 'tan, ran, pan' or 'sam, ham, Pam'. The sentences are great because they review all that has been learned, so you don't need to "master" each page as you go.

 

That's the bare bones of it. We spend about 5 to 20 min a day on it. I chose to tell my dc that we will try to get thru one whole page a sitting. If they want we can do more, which we do sometimes. Other days she is not in the right mood and can't finnish a page. That's okay too, but we restart that page next time. This is my 3rd going thru this book. Sometimes I'll change things up by using a white board, but not often as I like snuggling on the couch! Other times we'll take a break and read a Bob Book that is behind what we are covering in AP. It's a relaxing review. AP does sell little stories of their own but I already had Bob Books on had. For fun and additional review I sometimes use an Explode the Code book. This little one seems to like to do workbooks ... they aren't needed but it's fun for her. Again AP offes their own workbooks now that go along with the text, but I haven't seen them.

 

Hope this helps some. Good luck in your search.

 

Blessins,

Kathie in VA

[8filltheheart]

I love Sing, Spell, Read, Write. In comparison, I have taught 5 of my kids with it and I am excited about starting it with my 6th one in the fall.

 

I taught my oldest with WRTR and 100 EZ and it was torture. SSRW is fun and engaging. And, most importantly, it makes them solid readers.

 

HTH

[Jen+4dc]

I have one to teach next year, too. I've looked at a ton of programs but $$ and ease-of-use and prep-time (or lack thereof) are essential since I'll be schooling 4 next year.

 

I'm 99.9% sure I'll be using Phonics Pathways:

*it's affordable

*it's thorough

*doesn't require writing skills to learn reading

*open and go

*font is very readable

*not scripted

 

I chose not to use Alpha-Phonics (although I believe the methodology) because:

*teacher's portion of lesson is in the back of the book, I hate flipping back and forth

*the font is awful - calligraphy and the lowercase L is indistinguishable from the uppercase I. When I had it from the library and was looking through it dd4 joined me on the couch for a few minutes and had fun "reading" from it. There were too many letters she couldn't recognize (even though she knows them and their basic sounds) because of the font.

 

I chose not to use OPGTR (even though it's fantastic in its methodology and thoroughness) because I hate scripted programs.

 

I would suggest getting whatever interests you from your library and looking at it yourself to see what works for you.:)

[Sahamamama]

I've been thinking about Jessie Wise's book.

 

This is what I have been using to teach my first daughter, and she's a fabulous reader. Even though she's beyond the primer in her ability to read, we are still going through the lessons. It's a good product, and VERY easy to use. The CD isn't really necessary, especially if you've taught other children to read. The pre-printed flashcards are nice to have, you just have to cut them out.

 

With my 3 year olds, who are just starting their reading lessons, we're using OPG, along with a simple home made chart of The Consonant Rhyme (for review). We review all the short vowel sounds daily, and they do about one lesson/week. So far, so good. :D (Lesson 32 today -- Introducing Short E Vowel Sound -- wish me luck).

 

I like OPG for these reasons: (1) affordable; (2) easy to open-and-go; (3) gentle, clear phonics approach; and (4) NO PICTURES. That last point was what sold it to me. The child learns to read with this primer, because she can NOT look at pictures and guess. ;) HTH.

[hsmom]

I am using McRuffy. This is after trying and crashing with 100 ez, LLATL, PP, ETC, HOP and so on. My son hated all the others! I mean to the point of crying when he saw the books come out.

 

So, I read about McRuffy from Nukeswife. I was hooked and had to try it. Well my son LOVES it! He asks to do his reading (and other subjects math and science we are using McRuffy aslo).

 

Yes, it is scripted, but not to the point you cannot make it work for you. I like that it is scripted, yet lightly. I read through the TE, which is laid out all the way to if you need a crayon for the lesson or not. Which is nice not to have to prep anything. The program comes with everything you need, the copies are already made for you, it has games, readers, sliders (instead of flash cards), word wheels, charts, all of it is included. The lessons build on each other and flow comfortably. Which I find many programs do not. The lessons are short and sweet. Which is a big one for little kids. They are just long enough to keep there attention and not over do it. The program is bright and colorful. I cannot say anything bad about it. It is a great program. Yet like all things not all programs are for everyone.

[skueppers]

We've been using the OPGTR for two or three months- we started it after my daughter could already read CVC words. She doesn't like it much, but she does find it effective. One thing I've done to help her see how much she's learning is to have her pick a sentence from the lesson once a week that she found especially difficult. Then we go back 3 or 4 weeks later and read the sentence again. She finds it motivational to see that the 'hard' sentences from the past are easy now.

 

Oh, and I ignore the script. It's perfectly straightforward for me to spend a minute skimming the lesson so I understand the objectives and can teach it in my own way.

 

She previously went through stages where Reading Eggs online was helpful, a stage where Bob books were her main 'curriculum,' and a stage where Progressive Phonics really helped her.

Edited April 14, 2010 by skueppers

[Krista in Colorado]

:iagree: with everything previously posted. I've used it with all 3 of my kids. It's easy and effective for them . . . and me.

 

One thing I'd add (if you decide to use it), take the book to Kinkos and have it spiral bound for $5.00 (or so). After the 2nd child, ours was falling apart (maybe because it's well-loved :tongue_smilie:). The spiral-binding has made it a joy to use with my son.

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

:iagree: with everything previously posted. I've used it with all 3 of my kids. It's easy and effective for them . . . and me.

 

One thing I'd add (if you decide to use it), take the book to Kinkos and have it spiral bound for $5.00 (or so). After the 2nd child, ours was falling apart (maybe because it's well-loved :tongue_smilie:). The spiral-binding has made it a joy to use with my son.

 

Thanks for the tip! I have a few other books that would be better spiral bound as well. I have my PP coming (used). So great to hear all the positive reviews!

[tkeller]

My son is still very young but we are enjoying Phonics Pathways as well. We started with Ordinary Parents Guide but I didn't like all the scripting. I like how we can just pull out the book each day and do a page, or even just one square here and there and he is definitely learning to read!

 

I didn't like the illustrations in it, but my son loves them. Go figure!

[nmoira]

 

My son is still very young but we are enjoying Phonics Pathways as well. We started with Ordinary Parents Guide but I didn't like all the scripting. I like how we can just pull out the book each day and do a page, or even just one square here and there and he is definitely learning to read!

DD the Younger got to the point she'd pitch a fit when I pulled out OPG (and I wasn't far behind), but she loves Phonics Pathways. OPG was a bad fit all around: far too many words (and dry words to boot) for a child who needs to *do*.

[CamperMom]

I thought of another option for teaching reading that is free on-line at www.tanglewoodeducation.com. Look on the site for the Really Reading program. You can print it out and make a little booklet for your child. It's a pretty good program.

[Heather in VA]

I'm no help because I used and loved Phonics Museum. But I did try OPGTR before PM and it was torture. We are now using Phonics Road which I also love but although it says you can use it to teach reading, I'm glad my dd knows how to read and now is using PR to focus on spelling.

 

Heather

[Sahamamama]

Oh, and I ignore the script. It's perfectly straightforward for me to spend a minute skimming the lesson so I understand the objectives and can teach it in my own way.

 

:iagree: I ignore it during the lesson, too. I can skim it, but don't really need it.

 

I did want to mention, you will definitely want to look at Phonics Pathways prior to purchasing it, if you decide in favor of it. For some reason, I did not like the illustrations. I don't know why, I just was turned off by some of them, and I felt they were very distracting.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Phonics-Pathways-Dolores-G-Hiskes/dp/0962096733#reader_0962096733

 

Some people say that OPG is boring, but I am thrilled with the ease of use and the results are solid and (mostly) painless. OPG was my choice BECAUSE there are no pictures. But go with your preferences, and what you think will work best with your daughter. Good luck! :001_smile:

[Marie in Oh]

I could have written your post my friend. . . except insert Saxon Phonics for Phonics Museum. I am starting to teach my #5 and we started with the Get Ready for the Code books. She is starting to blend a bit, so I know it is time for some "formal" instruction, but just thinking about pulling out Saxon Phonics literally makes me want to vomit. :tongue_smilie:

 

I just went to the Midwest HS Convention and I talked with Jessie Wise about it. She was totally sweet. She basically told me that she wouldn't try to sell me her program if I had a program that I loved and produced good readers. I told her that I have a program that I hate that produces good readers. :D She smiled and said that maybe I should go home and think about it. Anyway, I am seriously thinking about OPGTR for summer/ fall. Saxon is so involved. I need to spend the entire amount of time it takes to teach phonics with that program on her entire K curriculum. So, I am thinking of giving it a go. Maybe you should jump on the boat with me. Our mutual friend in CO is using it for her #3 and #4 with good resluts I think.

[nmoira]

OPG was my choice BECAUSE there are no pictures.

Aw, we like Dewey in Phonics Pathways. :001_smile:

 

I just wanted to clarify that, except for the first two sections of the book (through page 34), the illustrations in Phonics Pathways have nothing to do with the text being read and cannot be used as contextual cues. When learning vowels and consonant sounds, there are some visual cues on the page.

[KrissiK]

Well, here I am - A Beka' phonics' biggest cheerleader.:D Honestly, I think it's a great program. Both my boys are reading very well now (they are finishing Kinder and 1st grade, though I kept them together teaching them to read). I started with the K4 program, went through K5 program and we are now finishing the first grade phonics program and the boys have responded well, I think the material is very good - reduntant at times, but I think it really reinforces things well. I'll be starting K4 with my daughter come August.

[iquilt]

OPG is our favorite - simple, straightforward and very effective in our house. We also have Bob books for practice.

[ElizabethB]

Aw, we like Dewey in Phonics Pathways. :001_smile:

 

I just wanted to clarify that, except for the first two sections of the book (through page 34), the illustrations in Phonics Pathways have nothing to do with the text being read and cannot be used as contextual cues. When learning vowels and consonant sounds, there are some visual cues on the page.

:iagree:

 

I'm a big fan of no pictures and no sight words, but I like Dewey. I use PP for extra practice for my students in areas where they need more work.

[AFwife Claire]

Wow, thanks for all the input! I've spent the day looking at all the programs mentioned, and right now I am strongly leaning towards Phonics Pathways. It seems like it would fit the bill for what we need right now!

 

I really appreciate all the responses!

[Amy in KS]

You might check to see if your library has it to try it out! Many do!

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

Just want to say to all who contributed, thanks for this insightful thread!

[fairytalemama]

We started OPGTR a little over a month ago with my daughter. We do 15 minutes from OPGTR (I'm not concerned if we don't finish a lesson each day) and then I let her play on starfall.com for 15-20 minutes after. I cannot believe how well she's doing. She wasn't reading at all a month ago and now she's sounding out words and spelling them on the fridge with magnets! We skipped the first 26 lessons because she already new all her consonant sounds so we're on lesson 51 now. So far we have experienced only positive results with this. She even asks me to do reading lesson with her!