JessieC Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Hi, I've posted once before. I'm not currently homeschooling but am 75% sure I will be next year. My daughter is now in half-day K and is reading and writing some basic words on her own. I would like to try out a reading program now to do after school so I can be sure I like it before committing to one for first grade. So my question is, what do you recommend I try out first? I've read about some different phonics programs here but don't know the differences. Thanks so much! Jessica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2Tess&Gus Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aoife Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Dancing Bears!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. Love it! :iagree: Short lessons, cheap, and really, really effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowfall Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 You will get lots and lots of opinions on what phonics program is the best. :) Honestly, you'll have to look at the different ones and decide which you think will be best for you to teach and your child to learn. Of course, that's hard to do since you can't hold them and flip through them all, so I understand that's not extremely helpful. The three that I see recommended the most, that are strictly reading programs, with no spelling or writing necessary, are Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (100EZ), Phonics Pathways (PP) and The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading (OPGTR). These are just books that you work through, from beginning to end. They don't have worksheets, coloring pages, or anything else. You teach what's on the page, then you move to the next page. I haven't even looked at OPGTR, so I can't comment on it. I've used PP and it has worked, but I can't say DD has liked it. She has and the she hasn't and then she has...she's fickle about it. I have looked at 100EZ and DD freaked out just seeing how the letters were oddly sized (different sizes on one page) with all sorts of markings and such. That would never have worked for her and quite frankly I hated the look of it. Lots and lots of people love it, though. Now, if you're looking for something that includes worksheets or spelling and spelling rules, that's a whole new list of programs. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mothergooseof4 Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 If I were in your position, I would start Ordinary Parent's Guide now. I would look through it and realize that you do not have to start at the beginning if she already knows the basic letter sounds. But, read through whatever lessons you do not have her work through because there are some good tips for you as the teacher. Then in first, I would add Phonics Road at a light pace until you finish OPGTR. That's my plan if I ever have any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trying my best Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 (edited) When DS5 turned 4 i started on Reading A-Z. www.ReadingA-Z.com they have levels from A through Z which A is kindergarten level and Z is 5th grade. There are about 5-7 levels within a grade. Each level is a bit harder than previous. Each level has about 30 books. You pay for the year and download the books to your computer. Each book has comprehension test and some very educational activity relayed to the book. My son (never read before) finished K level in 2 months. We started 1 year ago and now he is in the middle of 1st grade books. I really recommend it. That website (readinga-z) also has some letters sheets and cursive sheets to practice writing. Here is a video of my son from earlier this year - he just started reading on that video. Its a video of the ReadingA-Z books Edited December 21, 2010 by trying my best Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonNative Posted December 21, 2010 Share Posted December 21, 2010 The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. Love it! :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessieC Posted December 22, 2010 Author Share Posted December 22, 2010 Thank you, everyone--this is really helpful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivingUnderGrace Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 For my 6 year old son I am using The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, along with the Abeka Phonics K5 workbook (he loves it ;) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 There are so many choices. Here are my favorite two (more choices for you to examine): McRuffy SE Phonics & Reading Program & Reading Made Easy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlcc Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 My vote is for The Reading Lesson. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreistetter Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 I used 100 Easy Lessons, but the not their handwriting, for my boys. It is simple & cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grace'smom Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 I had success with Webster's and Blend Phonics- both are free programs that you can print out and try out or use from your computer. Always good to give the free ones a whirl to see if they might stick, LOL. If your daughter already knows how to blend you could probably go right to Blend Phonics although you really can't beat the syllable approach used in Webster's. We use I See Sam books for extra practice in reading- those are also free and printable from the internet. I also make up very short (half page) stories about her that I know she can read and print them out. She reads them and colors a picture about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 I had success with Webster's and Blend Phonics- both are free programs that you can print out and try out or use from your computer. Always good to give the free ones a whirl to see if they might stick' date=' LOL. If your daughter already knows how to blend you could probably go right to Blend Phonics although you really can't beat the syllable approach used in Webster's. We use I See Sam books for extra practice in reading- those are also free and printable from the internet. I also make up very short (half page) stories about her that I know she can read and print them out. She reads them and colors a picture about them.[/quote']:iagree: Here are links to some free and cheap programs: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/phonicsandspelli.html Also, if any sight words are being taught, I would focus first on teaching those phonetically, here is how and why to teach all but 5 of the most commonly taught 220 Dolch Sight words phonetically: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/sightwords.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 Reading Made Easy worked for both of my girls. It is super easy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessieC Posted December 22, 2010 Author Share Posted December 22, 2010 Wow, this is great! So with OPGTR, the book contains the lesson plans with no student pages, and then Reading Made Easy, for example, is more of a student workbook? Am I getting this right? You guys are awesome! Jessica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mothergooseof4 Posted December 22, 2010 Share Posted December 22, 2010 Reading Made Easy is also a guide to teach reading. I have both and prefer OPGTR, but lots of people like RME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 It really depends on your child. OPG was too dry for us. Explode the Code was too workbooky. Jolly Phonics really clicked for Ariel (a visual/tactile learner), and we moved on to Dancing Bears after that because it teaches reading to a higher level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted December 23, 2010 Share Posted December 23, 2010 Phonics Pathways. My son was not an early reader, and I did this with SWR (not for spelling, but for reading). It was a boost for him, because his brain read (and spelled) far earlier than he could easily track across a page. PP helped him with that. He was a wiggly boy, but the art and look of PP was *just* enough to keep him interested yet not distract him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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