100 easy lessons not working with 6yo?

[jenniferlee]

Hello all,

I used 100 easy lessons with my first two at 5yo (a boy and a girl) and it worked so well. I tried my third child (girl) last year at 5 and nothing happening, no interest. So I tried again this year at 6 and we've been at it since october. She's is interested this time, but just not moving along easily. Every lesson is so difficult, she doesn't seem to remember the sounds from one lesson to the next, struggles to put them together and frequently just guesses on what word she thinks it is instead of actually sounding it out (using context). She just isn't "getting it" I guess. So I have put the book away now for two weeks and she hasn't noticed or asked why we aren't doing it. We were almost 2/3 of the way through.

She is 6.5 and I don't know whether to just let it go for awhile and try again in the fall when she turn 7 or try something else altogether. And if I did wait, would we just pick back up or start over or...

I don't mind waiting, except that I think she would love to be able to read to herself -she seems frustrated that she can't, and I don't want to cheat her out of it if some other program would click better. However, I love 100 easy lessons and, frankly, it seems intimidating to me to start trying other things - I wouldn't even know where to start.

thanks for any advice.

Jen

[Closeacademy]

Have you observed how she learns? Does she learn through pictures? Audio? Video? Hands-on?

 

100EZ lesson doesn't work for every child in fact there are a lot of children who hate the book including my oldest. We never got through lesson 2 and I knew it wasn't going to work for us.

 

Take some time and observe how she picks up information that she does retain and then we can probably help you find something that should work for her.

 

Then again this may be a maturity thing. Some kids just don't read until 8 or 9 or even 11.

 

Good luck.:001_smile:

[ABQmom]

I would agree that it might just be a maturity thing. My dc did okay with 100 easy up to about lesson 50 or so, then we switched to OPGTR. You might try something different to see if it would help, but I would think it wouldn't hurt to stop for awhile and try again.

 

Also, I would say that if 100 easy frustrates her, switch to something else.

[Kari C in SC]

The Reading Lesson, Explode The Code and Pathway Readers. I don't know which of these is the best bet, but somehow they all worked out rather well. We tried 100 EZ lessons for awhile and my dd hated it. Then I tried The Reading Lesson. She really enjoyed this. Some days she loved ETC and others not so much, but she definitely learned from it. Finally, she LOVED Pathway Readers. These were by far her favorite resource for reading.

[Beth in Central TX]

Hi Jen,

 

I would agree with the others that it might be a maturity. However, with my 3 boys, I used three different reading programs. DS #1 learned to read in public school with Saxon Phonics. DS #2 learned to read using 100EL followed by PP. I tried DS #3 with 100 EL twice. It didn't work. He was showing all of the pre-reading signs: recognizing letters and sounds, trying to read signs when we were in the car, etc. I finally switched to OPGTR, and it worked. Like you, I didn't want to start another reading program, but 100EL was not a good fit for him. Maybe you could look at another program through your library to see if you are dealing with a timing issue or a program issue.

[StephanieZ]

I love the combo of ETC along with 100EZL +/- Bob books. the 2/3 mark was the hardest spot with each of my 3 dc. We just had to PUSH through those 15-20 lessons or so and it got smooth again. I think ETC adds a lot to the learning-to-read process, so if you aren't using it yet, I'd add it in and do that every day. Take 2 days to get through a 100EZL lesson if needed, or even step back 10 lessons and re do some. . . I like adding in Bob books and other easy readers ASAP just to get more words read each day. I use Pathway Readers AFTER 100EZL.

[coffeegal]

Hello all,

Every lesson is so difficult, she doesn't seem to remember the sounds from one lesson to the next, struggles to put them together and frequently just guesses on what word she thinks it is instead of actually sounding it out (using context).

Jen

 

One of my ds couldn't remember his sounds from one lesson to the next. He is reading well now, :001_smile: but we had a few frustrating years. Sometimes it seemed like learning to read was a constant series of 3 steps forward... 2 steps back. There are a few things I would do differently, if I could go back. The first is I would spend more time on each 100 EL lesson, cementing the sound in his head. We needed to spend extra time throughout the day practising, not much but a few minutes here and a few minutes there. Instead, I tried Phonics Pathways, OPGTR, ETC, WRTR, and Saxon Phonics. We would have been much better off if we'd stuck to 100 EL and spent a week on each lesson cementing the sounds in his head than trying to find a 'magic' curriculum that would solve our problems. It would have taken us 2 years to get through 100 EL but we spent 4 years struggling as it was. For my son, I never thought it was developmental because he could read... when he could remember those pesky sounds. Instead, I believe that for some children the sounds are nebulous and require lots, and lots, and lots of drill before the sound-letter combination is firm. :smash:

 

So, my advice is to stay the course and take it slow and steady. :001_smile:

[momtolgd]

I agree with those that said to add in Explode the code...that worked wonders with my oldest, and is working great with my youngest. We ended up dropping 100EZ lessons and switching to OPGTR with ETC workbooks. HTH.

[jenniferlee]

wow, thanks so much for the ideas! what is OPGTR?

as far as maturity goes, is it harmful to the child to keep trying things if they are just not ready?

also, I am honestly not sure how she learns best. She loves to draw - all the time! And she has also (unfortunately) been my child to watch the most videos - (middle of 5). She does love to be read to, but she's quite wiggly, more than my boys - which has made 100 lessons fairly frustrating - every other line I have to ask her to sit back or sit up or stop squirming, etc.

thanks again for suggestions

Jen

[Beth in Central TX]

Sorry, OPGTR is Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading written by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington.

[home4fun]

I used 100 easy lessons for my first and though my second son struggled with it we made it through, but he was not taking off with reading and forgetting sounds mixing up letters and reading words backwards. (he is 6 too). I wanted to give up many times until I heard Dianne Craft speak about right brained children. This changed my life and my sons and he is loving reading. My son did have some audio processing problems that she was able to identify. I always knew he learned different than my other son, but I did not know how to teach him differently. Dianne Craft teaches how to teach them! Her sight word flash cards are amazing (they have pictures within the words and stories to go with them). My son learns them with ease. Also her sound flash cards put a picture with a sound and now when he forgets a what an "e" says we go to the card with the egg on it and it connects together! She has great articles to read on her website and I love to tell people anytime I can about this simple program.

 

Her web page is diannecraft.org

 

Blessings,

 

Angie (home4fun)

[yslek]

100 EZ Lessons worked so well for my 1st, that I assumed I'd use it for all of the others as well. I tried it with my 2nd ds twice. He didn't get it at all. What worked for him was SWR. I've tried 100 EZ Lessons with my 4.5 yo dd, just to see if she was ready. Nope. I'll try again when she's older (maybe), but will probably end up using AAS the way I used SWR for #2. Each kid learns differently! (Sometimes I wish there was some kind of print-out that would come out of their forheads with all of the "best" curriculum choices/ homeschool approaches for that child. It would make life so much easier...:D)

 

Kelsy

[QuirkyKapers]

We did the same thing....dropped EZ lessons and have been doing Explode the Code. My son loves it....

By the way, the homeschool buyers co-op is offering the online version for almost half price (depends on how many people buy it) You can check it out here http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/

My son really enjoys doing things on the computer so this looks great. I am definetly going to try it.

[Guest christinegiles]

Hi . . . sorry to hear of the difficulties you're having with reading. I went through the very same thing with one of my daughters. I had taught my three boys and 1 daughter how to read using "Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons", with no problems. But Kelly just couldn't remember from one page to the next what she had just learned! Two things worked with Kelly - First, her desire to learn to read was very high. Second, she did the "Explode the Code" series. You can find them at EPS Books. They are inexpensive phonics workbooks with drawings by children. All my kids have loved them, even the workbook-hating kids! If you'd like more details about my reading journey with Kelly, you can email me at christinegiles@cox.net. I'll be happy to share our story.

Christine

[Closeacademy]

I would say that you probably have a visual learner too. I have one myself.

 

What worked for us:

 

Leappad Videos

CD-Rom Games for phonics

Starfall.com can be fun

Sight word window--I write words on a window that she wants to see

The letter sounds game--As you drive, have a letter for the day and have her call out things she sees that have that letter's sound

 

Once she is reading give her phonics worksheets to work on to reinforce the phonics rules. You can find a lot of these free online--there are links at my blog which is linked in the signature line.

 

I use SWR with my dd because she is very logical and it explains how English works in a very logical manner narrowing it down to 70 phonograms and 30 spelling rules.

 

What I did for her was to make silly sentences for each phonogram to emphasize the sounds that they make and then I drew pictures to go with them so that she had visual clues to link the two.

 

You may want to label things around the house as visual learners tend to be natural sight readers but back it all up with phonics when she is ready. You will want a spelling program that is phonics based when she is ready for spelling as Visual learners tend to be weak in this area.

 

I wish you the best.:001_smile:

[CarynB]

My DD 6 also had a hard time with 100 EZ lessons, we switched to TOPGTTR and it has worked great!

 

Blessings,

Caryn

[jenniferlee]

thanks again, everyone. I can see I need to really pray about which direction is right for her, but I feel very encouraged that something will work! :)

Jen

[TracyR]

This definitley can be a maturity thing . This happened to me with my oldest. I bought the 100 EZ Lessons and she did well until lesson 25 . Then we hit the wall with it . We had started when she was about 4.5 because she just seemed so very ready . She had everything else mastered so I figured this was the next step . Well I ended up putting it away , brought it back out at age 5 . Still the same . She didn't like it . Went back to reading to her , brought it back out at age 6 still she just resisted and we didn't get very far . Put it away brought it back out at 6.5 years and she still resisted . Found the book The Reading Lessons at our library ( a rare treasure to find at our library they rarely carry anything homeschool related ) used this and it seemed to work . Now wether it was the book or the fact she matured more can be questionable . Because she plowed through the book and we finished up 100 EZ lessons ( at her request ) . It helped but still took her a while to become fluent with reading . She's in 4th grade now ( age 10 ) and this year is the most fluent she has ever been . Her reading has been slow but my dd's comprehension is AWESOME ! Plus the time off worked well that we could practice working on narration , again something she is extremely good at .

 

Now there is the story of my 2nd . She was 4.5 wanted to learn to read and learned to read she did . She plowed through The Reading Lessons and 100 EZ Lessons and skipped kindergarten and worked straight into 1st grade ( she read way more fluently by this time so I started there ) . She was so easy and simple to teach I almost thought I was doing something wrong . Now my 2nd daughter reads really well , picks up reading words like osmosis . But her comprehension STINKS . Since I worked so much on reading my 2nd dd's narration isn't very good . She is starting to get it now which I am ever so happy for . But I spent more time teaching her to read then I did working on narration .

 

Either way use it to your advantage and it will click with her eventually . Sometimes it does take a change in what your using and sometimes it doesn't matter what you use .

 

So see , two different children , learned in two different ways .

[Frontier Mom]

Can you stand more suggestions?

 

My oldest did great with 100 EZ but my next ds just didn't get it. I ended up using a book called "Reading Reflex" which worked great for him. It actually describes simple and advanced code and why many people only read at a certain level. It is used for adults learning to read or increasing their reading level so he really liked it.

 

I got mine at the homeschool conference but I just saw it at Barnes & Noble. It was a really big help for us.

 

My younger two actually did "Alphabet Island" which is designed for younger children. I actually wanted something different and something they could do together. It was great!! The letters have names and even my older two remember rules like "Clever C always acts SSSSilly before Everloving E and Innocent I." They were listening and use this in spelling.

 

Whatever you decide, hang in there. Every child is different. After my others learned to read, we read the stories in 100EZ for "readers." I also used Reading Made Easy which is similar but I liked it better.