Please tell me about OPGTR

[m0mmaBuck]

Is it easy to implement? Do I need extras (i.e. props, manipulatives, etc.)? How does it compare to 100EZ lessons, Hooked on Phonics, and the other LTR programs out there (BJU, CLE, R&S)?

 

Thanks.

[ElizabethB]

Here is a comparison:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1710516&postcount=14

[m0mmaBuck]

Here is a comparison:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1710516&postcount=14

 

:)

[ElizabethB]

You're welcome!

 

Whatever you decide, games are good, here are a few:

 

my game

 

the games from cat phonics

 

Also, here are 2 making phonics fun threads:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177414&highlight=cat+phonics+games

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137632&highlight=phonics+games+cat+game

[monalisa]

Having just used it this year, and starting w/ BJU, OPGTR is extremely simple and easy (BJU was too slow and complicated for me and dd, who was already reading when we started). Some kids apparently don't like the look of the B&W pages and all the print on it. For my dd it has been no issue; she thinks the little stories are hilarious. You don't need additional manipulatives really, but you do need index cards sometimes to do the games and sight words. A magnetic board with magnetic letters is nice, but not mandatory. We love it and would use it again!

[Staci in FL]

I have taught four children to read using OPGTR, and none of the children had English as their first language. It makes sense, it is easy, it is virtually no prep on the mom's part and it sticks with the kids as they make the transition to reading. I love this program. The other thing I love about it is that it works so well with Spell to Write and Read, which I use for spelling. Let me know if you have any more questions!

 

Staci

[fairytalemama]

Having just used it this year, and starting w/ BJU, OPGTR is extremely simple and easy (BJU was too slow and complicated for me and dd, who was already reading when we started). Some kids apparently don't like the look of the B&W pages and all the print on it. For my dd it has been no issue; she thinks the little stories are hilarious. You don't need additional manipulatives really, but you do need index cards sometimes to do the games and sight words. A magnetic board with magnetic letters is nice, but not mandatory. We love it and would use it again!

 

:iagree:

 

I started with my daughter with OPGTR a couple of months ago. We started with lesson 26 or so because she already knew her consonant sounds. We hit a rough patch a little while back when she didn't want to do it. I backed off, bought some stickers to reward her for finishing a lesson, and now she asks me to do it. We've reached the long vowel section (somewhere in the neighborhood of Lesson 65) and she is flying through. She has some favorite stories too that she wants to go back and read again and again.

[SewLittleTime]

I started my soon-to-be kindergartener on it in Jan. at around lesson 26. He knew all his letter sounds and was blending and rhyming orally pretty well, so I knew he was about ready. We have taken it slow sometimes--taking a full week to complete some lessons. He is reading somewhere around lesson 50 now, but can read just about any short vowel word and is already starting to pick out other words he sees without me teaching him anything yet! He also is spelling very well already. The lessons are short, easy, and very logically incremental. I have all the letters on index cards (vowels red and consanents blue) that we make the words with. I have moved from those to just using our AAS tiles since they are out all the time.

[JMDRAD]

I started my oldest with OPGTR when she was five. We got half way through the book in a year and she took off reading. I ended up quitting because she got frustrated with the phonics aspect of it even though she still needed the instruction. She is also a stickler for rules and all the "exceptions" drove her nuts. I switched to SWR and we call it spelling (not phonics) since it teaches how to spell in order to read.

 

My second dd is four and I plan to start out with OPGTR. It's very straight forward, simple, and easy to do. You don't "need" anything but the book. They do recommend that you make flashcards for each phonogram and there's an optional game you can make with items around your house. I highly recommend this program to all my homeschool friends with young children. Have fun :-)

[m0mmaBuck]

I checked our library holdings and put a hold request for OPGTR and the audio for lessons 1-26. At least that way I don't have to buy it if we don't like it. I am also checking out 100EL to look at them side by side.

 

It sounds like I could potentially use our AAS tiles vs. the flashcards. Is that true?

[SewLittleTime]

It sounds like I could potentially use our AAS tiles vs. the flashcards. Is that true?

I think you could. That is what I do.

[m0mmaBuck]

I think you could. That is what I do.

 

Thank you! At least I'll get some use out of them then (DS despises AAS).

[She]

I love, love, love OPGTTR! I used it for a struggling reader. She was going into 6th grade and was struggling terribly. We bought OPGTTR and worked through it in about 6 months. 1 1/2 years after starting it she read Hamlet with her older sisters and did really well!

 

I'll be using it with my 5yo soon.

[RobinF]

With our oldest son, I tried 100EL, and something else with 20 in the title and then finally OPGTR and we loved it. It was simple and just what he needed to learn. I am now using it with my 3rd son and may start #4 with it slowly in the fall (when he is 4 yo). This year when we were half way through K with #3, I had a friend who teaches 1st grade a very good local school evaluate him in reading to see how he is doing. (He is aspie so I just wanted to check things out.) He was reading at the level that most of the children are when they enter 1st grade so he was and is doing great.

 

Seriously, I highly recommend this program for teaching reading. I learned to read using whole language and this has helped me with spelling by finally learning the phonics rules.

[Classically Minded]

We are currently using OPGTR with AAS tiles and it works great together! Before I got AAS, I was just writing some words on a dry erase board. Now, with the letter tiles - dd gets excited about the reading lesson and finds it easier to do. We love OPGTR and highly recommend it! ;)

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

We are currently using OPGTR with AAS tiles and it works great together! Before I got AAS, I was just writing some words on a dry erase board. Now, with the letter tiles - dd gets excited about the reading lesson and finds it easier to do. We love OPGTR and highly recommend it! ;)

 

How do you use the tiles for the OPG sentences? I'm assuming enough come with the AAS tile set. :confused: I like this idea!

[Classically Minded]

How do you use the tiles for the OPG sentences? I'm assuming enough come with the AAS tile set. :confused: I like this idea!

 

We just use the tiles for the blends, vowel pairs, words, etc not the sentences. Take for instance, the lesson on learning oo, AAS has a letter tile for oo, so I use that to teach the OPGTR lesson and I make the words on the board for her to read. She thinks it is more fun that way than reading the words in the book.

[orangearrow]

It's simple enough to use that my 6th grader has been using it with her 1st grade little brother this year. It's "their class" they do together every day. :)