ETC questions

[Targhee]

DD flew through 100EZ, doesn't really like Phonics Pathways, but is a great reader - comprehension and retention are just as good or better than her decoding. I am thinking of ordering some ETC workbooks for DD to use over the summer. She's already reading about 2.5-3 grade level (according to the AR Books reading levels). However, I think she needs some more drill, as she relies a lot on her sight vocabulary.

 

How many pages are these books (20?, 50?, 100?, more?)

 

Are the teacher's manuals necessary, or do the workbooks speak for themselves (for review/drill)?

 

I hear some people say their kids burn out after about book 4 or 5. For those who have experienced this, did you use all the exercises in each book?

 

Any other suggestions for me?

 

TIA!

[jananc]

I never used a teacher's manual with ETC. They are pretty self-explanatory. And yes, my dc both got burned out on them. I think it's because the exercises are all so similar. While they are good for what they're good for :glare: they do get boring after a few books. We only got through 3 or 4, and then I don't think we needed them after that.

 

I think the key now it to read, read, read!

 

Have fun!

[TheCoffeeChick]

My ds just finished up the Ready, Get Set, Go For the Code books in the ETC series. I bought the TM that goes with them, but it was not needed. If there are pages you have no idea what to do, just make up something, or dare I say, skip it ;).

 

I plan on only using books 1 & 2 and then relying on just OPG. My ds likes OPG better, he already gets pretty bored with ETC. I made up a weekly plan that aligns them with OPG lessons (mostly using ETC as review for what we've learned in OPG, but going in the order ETC introduces lessons). Then when books 1 & 2 are finished we'll just keep on going in OPG.

 

After saying all this, I feel I didn't give ETC enough credit. I love :001_wub: these books, they really get the job done. My ds has really picked up a lot, and his handwriting has improved too. If he likes books 1 & 2 enough, we will keep on using the series until such time they become more of a chore.

[Myrtle]

DD flew through 100EZ, doesn't really like Phonics Pathways, but is a great reader - comprehension and retention are just as good or better than her decoding. I am thinking of ordering some ETC workbooks for DD to use over the summer. She's already reading about 2.5-3 grade level (according to the AR Books reading levels). However, I think she needs some more drill, as she relies a lot on her sight vocabulary.

 

How many pages are these books (20?, 50?, 100?, more?)

 

Are the teacher's manuals necessary, or do the workbooks speak for themselves (for review/drill)?

 

I hear some people say their kids burn out after about book 4 or 5. For those who have experienced this, did you use all the exercises in each book?

 

Any other suggestions for me?

 

TIA!

 

About two pages per lesson has been about right. As the level increases so does the amount of work per page so it always is about two pages. There are about 180 worksheets in the books.

[KarenNC]

I actually stopped after book 5, I think it was, and started with Spelling Power because I figured she would rather do the pretest/study words you don't know rather than the ETC exercises. She did okay with SP, but then saw the ETC books and actually begged to go back because "they're my favorites!" So we did.:001_smile: We picked up SP again after book 8 of ETC and have been doing well with them.

 

We went all the way through to 8 and didn't use the teacher's manual at all with any of them. There were occasions when the picture was a bit hard to decipher, but not very many overall. We did skip the open/closed syllable exercises in book 4 as they didn't seem necessary for our situation. Some folks will skip book 4 and come back to it because of that. Once you get up to, I believe it was book 6, they add in additional reading comprehension work, which I found helpful. Part of the appeal, I think, is that she could do them independently once we were past book 3.

 

I skipped a lot of the "check the box for the correct sentence" exercises and "circle the correct word" ones once I could see that she knew them cold (in the upper levels) . I was using it more as a spelling tool at that point.

[JABarney]

I paid 60.00 for a years access. The computer makes it fun and while we do not allow any of the reward settings for various web sites the immediate feedback they receive for completing each unit makes it fun for them.

We used HOP K-2 and ETC online to supplement. I have seen the ETC workbooks and can see why kids might burn out. Maybe the online plan will give the same material that extra boost to get past the "boringness" of the print version.

just a thought, good luck

[TundraAcademy]

We were in a similar situation. I was nervous that my son had gaps in his phonics so we breezed through Alphaphonics (about 10 min. per day) to cover it all. We supplemented with Spectrum workbooks and ETC but didn't do it all. He wasn't writing well and I didn't want that to hold him back from learning to read well.

 

With my younger son I'm going all the way through OPG with Spectrum and ETC worksheets. I feel good knowing we are thoroughly covering phonics without having to do a bunch of games or twaddle work!