Is DS ready to drop ETC?

[Pretty in Pink]

My ds 6 just finished ETC 4 and I was getting online to order 5 & 6 but then I got to thinking that maybe he is ready for something else at this point.

 

He can read. He regularly reads aloud from books like Alice in Wonderland, Stuart Little, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, etc. (the originals, not adaptations). He has to stop to sound out some longer words but gets them right 75%+ of the time.

 

So, is he ready for another program or should we complete the ETC series, or both? Suggestions?

[MaMa2005]

We did ETC and I went on to Book 5. However, we never completed it because DS was reading so well. I just started him on the "I Can Read" books from the library - levels 3 and 4 - for a few weeks. We then transferred to The Magic Tree House series and now are onto The Boxcar Children series. I am just teaching him the rules of words that weren't covered in Books 1-4 in ETC as we are reading real books.

 

So, after all that rambling :D, skip book 5 and just let him read!!!

[Pretty in Pink]

Thanks for the input! Anyone else care to chime in?

[Surfside Academy]

My son is a strong reader but I'm having him go through book 6 (which he's 1/2 way through.) I think ETC really reinforces the phonics rules. The words in book 5 get progressively more difficult and book 6 works on many of the multi-letter phonograms. I feel they still have value and if nothing else, it's good handwriting practice. :D

[KarenNC]

We were in a similar place. We skipped some of book 4 (open/closed paragraphs were more confusing than helpful in our case). At some point in there, not sure if it was at the end of 4 or 5, my daughter was reading very well independently so I decided to try switching to Spelling Power, thinking she would like it as it would take less time. We did that for a few months, then she saw the ETC books and asked to go back because they were her "favorite."

 

We ended up stopping SP and going back to ETC, using it primarily as a spelling program rather than reading. I did not require her to do the exercises circling the word that goes with the picture or the sentence, but she usually wanted to do them anyway. When you get up in the higher books, it does include some reading comprehension which I found useful. Once we finished book 8, we went back to SP. For reading, she just read anything she wanted.

[JadeOrchidSong]

before we stopped. Ds 7 finished ETC 7 when he was 5. DS5 is almost done with ETC 6. The reason I plan to let him also finish ETC 7 is that ETC has good sentences for ds to practice reading. Ds5 just finished Sonlight Readers 2 Regular and we will wait a little while to start SL Readers 2 Intermediate. So he is reading well, but I still would like him to read from the ETC books, not for the handwriting because I had/ve both ds do it orally and sometimes asked them to spell the words which I wrote down for them. As SWB says, there is no reason to slow down a child's reading just because he doesn't write well yet.

So if I were you, I would still continue ETC orally mostly while providing him living books to read.

Just my $o.o2.

J

[Terabith]

Oh heck yeah, drop it!!!! (Unless he loves it or something like you need him to do some school work indepenedently.)

 

He doesn't need it. What he needs is a phonics based spelling program. ETC just isn't the best tool for that kind of job, I don't think.

[Pretty in Pink]

Well, his heart wouldn't be broken if we dropped it at this point...:D We have handwriting covered (daily copywork + HWOT) and he reads plenty from other sources.

 

Phonics-based spelling sounds right to me. Suggestions? I've looked at TWTM recommendation (isn't it Spelling Workout?) but wasn't hugely impressed. I'll take another look though.

[greenmamato3]

This is partially just a bookmark post and partially a "my $.02" post.

 

without going into details, i can relate to your situation.

here's what i'm choosing to do --

-have DS 7 (reading at grade 3 level) continue through book 8 of ETC (he is currently in first part of book 7) for the purposes of reinforcing the phonics pathways & phonics museum he *flew* through in Kindergarten.

-use How to Teach Spelling and/or Natural Speller in our own modified self-suited way to really tackle the rules of spelling without doing it as a *formal* spelling curriculum. (we alternated for 1st grade between the two and will continue to do so for 2nd)

*edited to add: i decided i want only a phonics-based spelling curriculum .... more specifically OG-based .... *

-continue to use copywork for exposure to real-world spelling and a platform for discussion of words

-allow him to explore roots (latin and greek) via Prima Latina, encyclopedias and dictionary etc, and maybe even English from the Roots Up

-keep him reading GREAT literature, not twaddle, with an occasional Progeny Press or Memoria Press literature guide that will require him to really examine the words, the spellings, the meanings, etc .... to DIG in and really think for himself :)

 

[he's a *very* visual learner so workbooks can often become mindless time users of correct answers with little retention]

 

i agree with OP that Spelling Workout is not very impressive. i haven't been very impressed with what i've learned of spelling power either, as it doesn't seem to help the child understand how our spelling rules function or were derived.

 

i'm looking forward to the other opinions you'll receive -- just do what feels right for *you* regardless of what others share if it doesn't feel like a good fit. HTH

[Terabith]

Well, his heart wouldn't be broken if we dropped it at this point...:D We have handwriting covered (daily copywork + HWOT) and he reads plenty from other sources.

 

Phonics-based spelling sounds right to me. Suggestions? I've looked at TWTM recommendation (isn't it Spelling Workout?) but wasn't hugely impressed. I'll take another look though.

 

Yeah, I don't love Spelling Workout either. I'd use something like All About Spelling, How to Teach Spelling, Spell to Write and Read, or Phonics Road to Reading and Spelling. But I think AAS is probably the easiest to implement.