rafiki Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChandlerMom Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 DD just started in a week ago and loves it. She was already thru lesson 60 in 100EL but I started her at the beginning of Funnix for review (skipping the first half of some lessons) and she loves it. She's done 16 lessons of FX this week. I can really see a bump in her reading fluency in her 100EL stories which tells me it's definitely worthwhile. In comparison, she also loves Starfall, but it doesn't seem to be translating into improving her reading, just fun. FX seems to be fun AND effective. Being from the 100EL camp, the strangest thing to me is she really does it independently. With 100EL I'm used to 100% parental involvement, but now I'm just "around" cleaning the kitchen or working with the other kids. VERY strange feeling! :lol: We're still doing 100EL together, but abbreviated and every other day since she's doing 2-4 lessons a day in Funnix (I only ask her to do one), and each of those lessons are longer than what we used to do with 100EL in a day. Ask me in another month! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We're in week 3 of using Funnix 2 with 7 yo DD. She's very strong at decoding, but needs help increasing her fluency and building her confidence when facing a whole page of words. I originally started at lesson 1 in F2, but after awhile it became apparent that it was way too easy for her, so I did the assessment and she placed at lesson 57, I think. We'll start at the new level tomorrow. So... so far, so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewingmama Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We flopped out after 6 lessons :( DD hates the lessons - she hates the repetitiveness of it . I have to admit I was dreading each lesson as well - 30 minutes of boredom for me too. We are going to switch to something else and continue with Funnix just a few times a week instead of every day. I still want to use it- DD is not so keen. I have to bribe her with rewards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LND1218 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Both dd and ds love it! I have one doing each level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Dd8 is loving Funnix 2. She placed farther into the lessons but insisted on starting at the beginning. I love that she can do it pretty independently...I just need to be within earshot. I've been wanting ds4 to start with Funnix 1 but haven't had time to sit down with him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelBee Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I can't get it downloaded right. I have tried 2-3 times. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We tried it several times with no luck. Dd says it talks down to her and is boooooooooring. I went back to The Reading Lesson with her instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Since it was free and it's usually so expensive, I thought we'd give it a try. I found it to be really just bad. The graphics, the lessons, the set up... It was so old school, I thought for a moment I'd been taken back in time to a computer running Windows 3.1. I just uninstalled it and never bothered to show it to the kid I had considered it for. Not for us. If I'm going to use something on the computer, it needs to be actually interactive and interesting because otherwise I can do a better job myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 My three year old begs to do it! I'm surprised, because it is so formulaic, but I suppose some kids like to know what to expect. A monkey could lead a child through the lessons, so it fills a niche in the school market, and as a parent it's even kind of nice to be led and not have to do too much thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairie rose Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I never could get it to install on my computer or dh's computer but I did finally get it to install on the laptop....the laptop is running Vista while the other two computers are running Windows 7. I even tried taking the file that I downloaded on the laptop and transferring it to one of the other computers since the only reason the company would give for the unsuccessful installs was a corrupted file. Even the file that successfully installed on the laptop would not install on the other computers. Not impressed. So we took a look at it on the laptop and it is very very old school (which makes me think that there is some kind of compatibility issue with some installations of Windows 7 but the tech support won't even research the issue, they just told me to keep redownloading the same file that wouldn't install) I have no problem with old school, my kids love the old school learning games on Virtual Apple. But as the others said, these lessons were just plain boring and repetitive. Even though the child I was considering this for loves repetition, even she didn't like how much repetition there was. Overall, we didn't like it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Both my kids used Funnix 1 and 2 years ago and they both enjoyed it and learned to read well. Sure, sometimes they found parts boring, but I think we could say that about most things. Overall, I think it is a wonderful program and something to consider if you have a child who is struggling to read at all. I had one struggler, who could sound out anything by the end of Funnix and one who just easily picked up everything. I'm have to say I'm surprised by so many negative comments, but I think that often happens when things are given to us for free. There are probably a lot of people trying the program who never would have just because it's free, so it's not a good fit. I'm sure the technical difficulties people are experiencing don't help either. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Ds5 is on lesson 10, and he enjoys it. I think it's fine, and even though it takes 30 minutes I like that it just requires me to make sure he responds correctly, so it's pretty frustration free for me (I really dislike teaching reading, especially in the beginning when they're learning to blend). Right now I plan to use it until he can blend, then we'll switch to Phonics Pathways (because the lessons are shorter). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have it installed, but still haven't tried it with the kid yet. I agree that it's very old school, and I just felt like I was being clicker trained when I tried it, but I'll see what the 4 year old thinks. He might like being clicker trained. :D We'll probably try it in a couple weeks when we take a week off school for the first grader. Thanks for reminding me about this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Ds5 is on lesson 10, and he enjoys it. I think it's fine, and even though it takes 30 minutes I like that it just requires me to make sure he responds correctly, so it's pretty frustration free for me (I really dislike teaching reading, especially in the beginning when they're learning to blend). Right now I plan to use it until he can blend, then we'll switch to Phonics Pathways (because the lessons are shorter). :iagree: I could have written this - my DS 5 is on Lesson 10 today, third week. I only "allow" a lesson every other day, in between I am doing OPGTR and HWO when he shows interest in doing school. (Last week it wasn't too often :P) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have it installed, but still haven't tried it with the kid yet. I agree that it's very old school, and I just felt like I was being clicker trained when I tried it, but I'll see what the 4 year old thinks. He might like being clicker trained. :D We'll probably try it in a couple weeks when we take a week off school for the first grader. Thanks for reminding me about this! :lol: My ds5 is flunking the clicker training part (much like my dog did). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug_1976 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We are still using it with dd3 (level 1) & dd8 (level 2 to help w/fluency). We have had a couple crazy weeks, so its been put on the back burner a couple times, but we're going to pick it up again this week. Dd3 loves it, but we only get through 1/2 a lesson a day (that works for me...anything at this age is great!). Dd8 is not sure she is going to like it. We have only done the 1st lesson of level 2 (I really think she just was having one of those bummer days where she doesn't like anything), though, so I told her we will go through several more lessons and if she still doesn't like it we'll talk about it again. Is there a seperate workbook I was supposed to download for level 2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChandlerMom Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I have it installed, but still haven't tried it with the kid yet. I agree that it's very old school, and I just felt like I was being clicker trained when I tried it, but I'll see what the 4 year old thinks. He might like being clicker trained. :D We'll probably try it in a couple weeks when we take a week off school for the first grader. Thanks for reminding me about this! Ha! I installed it right after seeing the "House, MD" episode where House clicker-trained his girlfriend's daughter to try to get her into a prestigious preschool. When we heard the "clicks" in Funnix dh and I shared a good laugh. Maybe I need to go get a clicker for my kids? Seems to do the trick! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Is there a seperate workbook I was supposed to download for level 2? You just need to download the story pages. When the lessons says to go ahead and read your story they show a small version of it on the screen, but it is way to small for dd to read. I agree that it is old school and I certainly couldn't sit there and do it, but dd likes it, and better yet it gives her an additional (this hasn't replaced our existing reading\phonics work) 30 minutes of reading and comprehension practice that she wouldn't get during the day otherwise. If I only had one or two dc I probably wouldn't use it, but old school or not, it fills a need in our house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhornby56 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We are still using it and I like it SO much better than 100 EZ lessons. It is old school but that doesn't bother me or my daughter. I prefer to have a reading lesson without a bunch of animation and flashing colors and sound effects. I just needed something to replace 100 ez lessons because the book wasn't working for us anymore. I have seen a huge improvement in my daughter's reading and in her attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trying my best Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 DD (3) is on level 1 lesson 6 and i like how every day its repeating time. She knows a lot of letters now :) She enjoys it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnL Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We just finally downloaded it last night, and I hope to try it this week. We'll see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 For us it came at good timing, when nothing else was working for ds. Same here for older DD. She just couldn't seem to get over the hump from decoding to really reading. I'm so grateful the makers of Funnix made this available. I've seen HUGE improvement in DD's fluency and confidence just in the 10 lessons or so that we've done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamamaloca Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 We're still using it. My 4 1/2 year old is doing the beginning to read lessons. I find these lessons boring and not exciting at all, but she asks to do it. My first grader is doing Funnix 2 and I actually quite like this level. For those with negative experiences due to repetition, did you read in the teacher's manual the information on accelerating the program? You skip to lesson 10, and then only do selected exercises. I think, like 100 Easy Lessons, much of the beginning work is based on building skills that many homeschooled kids can pick up easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug_1976 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 You just need to download the story pages. When the lessons says to go ahead and read your story they show a small version of it on the screen, but it is way to small for dd to read. I agree that it is old school and I certainly couldn't sit there and do it, but dd likes it, and better yet it gives her an additional (this hasn't replaced our existing reading\phonics work) 30 minutes of reading and comprehension practice that she wouldn't get during the day otherwise. If I only had one or two dc I probably wouldn't use it, but old school or not, it fills a need in our house. Found it! I missed that link when I downloaded the program. Thank you :0) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo2 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 My 8yo hated it. Totally hated it. I was disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleWMN Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Is it more repetitive than other computer phonics programs? DD5 has special needs and needs lots of repetition. :) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i.love.lucy Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 We're still using it and like it. I'm still doing SSRW with him, but this is just a different fun thing to do on the computer. I am grateful for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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