What level of ETC is your first grader in?

[hsmom]

Also what level do you plan on being done with by the end of first grade?

[Satori]

We started ETC when my daughter was 4. She's 6 now and in what we call first grade. She's doing book 7 now, and will have the last book 8 finished later this summer. I think that's kinda fast, but she enjoys the books.

 

I expect you'll find first graders in the whole range of ETC books, from 1-8, but most likely somewhere in the 1-5 level.

[HollyM25]

My son (6) is technically in K (according to our public schools) but doing 1st grade phonics. We are about to start book 3 next week. I dont know if we will go beyond book 3, since our language arts will be full enough for next year without it.

[*Jen*]

My almost 6 year old (should be Kindy) has been working on ETC since the fall and we just completed book 3. We are starting Book 4 now and I hope to have through book 6 completed by next year at this time.

 

We are also using AAS so most of what we do in ETC is a written review of what we have already done in AAS.

[*Jessica*]

My 7-year-old first grader is in book 5, but it is way too easy for him. We've already finished books 3 and 4 this year. I think we'll finish up this book and book 6 by the end of the year. I don't have books 7 or 8, and I wasn't sure I would purchase them but seeing them on Angela's blog makes me think they might be more on Nik's level than the current book is. I probably should have saved boosk 3-5 for Nate to do when he gets to that level. Hindsight and all of that, right?

[Spy Car]

We also started at 4 (with the primers) and we are in 6 currently in 1st Grade.

 

Bill

[Shellydon]

My DD is about to finish level 3. My oldest was finishing 6 at the same age.

[In the Rain]

My 1st grader is in book 5. I think it will be our last. She already reads fluently, and she doesn't apply what she learns in ETC to her spelling and writing.

[snickelfritz]

My 5 year old, 6 in September, is in book 3. Her grade is... Well, she misses the school cutoff by 3 weeks. So, technically pre-k. Although I treat her as K.

 

I don't really plan ahead. We just plug along.

[mommyto4]

I thought we were doing well by having our first grader complete Book 2-4 this year. Is he behind????

 

I was planning to save book 5 for grade three, but perhaps I should have him start it as soon as he is done book 4.

[Spy Car]

I thought we were doing well by having our first grader complete Book 2-4 this year. Is he behind????

 

I was planning to save book 5 for grade three, but perhaps I should have him start it as soon as he is done book 4.

 

You are probably "ahead." Don't get caught in a "comparisons game." I could not find a ETC grade level chart (they keep getting new corporate parents) but I'm pretty sure you at or ahead of the standard recommendation. No stress.

 

Like Angela (Satori's mom) were started early. My son was ready, and because he was going to public school I wanted to be ahead of the curve in phonics just in case I did not fully like the methods he would face at school. So we are "accelerated" with ETC, and you are not behind :001_smile:

 

Bill

[Homeschooling6]

I thought we were doing well by having our first grader complete Book 2-4 this year. Is he behind????

 

I was planning to save book 5 for grade three, but perhaps I should have him start it as soon as he is done book 4.

 

In my book, you are on target (or ahead) ;) When I was using this with my oldest ds he used the Before the Code books in K and started books 1-3 in 1st grade.

 

If putting grade levels on the books, technically book 4 is 2nd grade.

[hsmom]

I agree. I asked to just judge kind of where everyone uses them.

 

My little guy is starting 4 today.

[Momling]

My first grader is halfway through book 5. I thought we'd be further along, but since adding CLE LA, I've cut back to only doing one page of ETC. So we're plodding slowly. I have books 6 and 7 ready to go - and thought we'd be through at least book 6 by the end of first grade, but I may decide not to do them, or do them selectively... she's really getting the hang of reading and I think CLE is taking over the phonics and spelling bit. We'll see though.

[Spy Car]

I agree. I asked to just judge kind of where everyone uses them.

 

My little guy is starting 4 today.

 

4 is a departure. I came to understand (after we were well into it) that many people skip it and return to it after 6. I didn't mind it in the end, but I think 4 1/2 may be the only 1/2 book I may use down the line as a "review."

 

Bill

[abbeyej]

The "average" breakdown is: books 1-3 (K-1st), books 4-6 (1st-2nd), books 7-8 (2nd-3rd). Kids do these earlier or later all the time, and ultimately, if they learn to read fluently and well, it doesn't matter so much *when* they read them.

[redsquirrel]

I thought we were doing well by having our first grader complete Book 2-4 this year. Is he behind????

 

I was planning to save book 5 for grade three, but perhaps I should have him start it as soon as he is done book 4.

 

Two thoughts:

#1) don't even worry a second about being 'behind' unless you think your child has a problem with reading.

 

#2) I would not 'hold back' on a book, waiting for a certain age. Reading is a skill and it needs constant work. If you take a break, then skill will be lost. If you don't think your child is ready for the next book, then go to half book. Now, maybe you have other reading materials you use to work on those skills, and it's not a break at all. If that is the case, then ignore what I just said.

 

Interesting to hear about book 4. My son, turned 6 in January, Just started book 4 and I am feeling lukewarm about it. That said, when we finished book 3 was the the first time I thought maybe we needed one of the halfway books. But, I didn't have 3.5 and I did have book 4 so I just went ahead. So far it has been ok.

[Spy Car]

Two thoughts:

#1) don't even worry a second about being 'behind' unless you think your child has a problem with reading.

 

#2) I would not 'hold back' on a book, waiting for a certain age. Reading is a skill and it needs constant work. If you take a break, then skill will be lost. If you don't think your child is ready for the next book, then go to half book. Now, maybe you have other reading materials you use to work on those skills, and it's not a break at all. If that is the case, then ignore what I just said.

 

Interesting to hear about book 4. My son, turned 6 in January, Just started book 4 and I am feeling lukewarm about it. That said, when we finished book 3 was the the first time I thought maybe we needed one of the halfway books. But, I didn't have 3.5 and I did have book 4 so I just went ahead. So far it has been ok.

 

The syllabification rules in 4 are a bit of a departure from the standard progression. We mushed straight through, but many parents I since learned do by-pass 4 and come back to it later. I don't have strong feeling on the matter.

 

Bill

[redsquirrel]

Yeah, I noticed the syllable thing.

 

I just skip those instructions and have him read the words. That is enough for me.

 

My 5th grader is doing syllables in his spelling workout book. I think it was a bit much for a 6 year old. I don't make him do any of the writing in the ETC either. I just want him to read. I'll deal with writing on it's own terms

[RootAnn]

When I looked at adding ETC as a supplement for my struggling-to-read-fluently 2nd child ("2nd grade"), I started at Book 3 in the fall as that is where she "was" skill/need wise. She is about a day away from finishing Book 4 & I don't see her doing any beyond this. (We'll go back to WWE 2 around Week 10 during this time slot instead of ETC.)

 

I believe the info I read said Book 3 is considered 2nd semester 1st grade & Book 4 is 1st semester 2nd grade-ish. I can't remember where I saw that, however.

[jewel7123]

4 is a departure. I came to understand (after we were well into it) that many people skip it and return to it after 6. I didn't mind it in the end, but I think 4 1/2 may be the only 1/2 book I may use down the line as a "review."

 

Bill

 

Really? That is interesting. My dd who is 5, amost 6 is currently about 2/3 of the way through book 2. I had imagined we would complete books 3 and 4 in 1st grade. Should I be skipping book 4, move on to books 5 and 6, and THEN come back to 4? This is the first time I have heard anything about this. :bigear:

[mlktwins]

My boys (6 in June) are working on Book 4. Book 4 has been very easy for DS2 and a little harder for DS1. We will do Books 5-8 next year for 1st.

[Spy Car]

Really? That is interesting. My dd who is 5, amost 6 is currently about 2/3 of the way through book 2. I had imagined we would complete books 3 and 4 in 1st grade. Should I be skipping book 4, move on to books 5 and 6, and THEN come back to 4? This is the first time I have heard anything about this. :bigear:

 

I don't have a strong feeling about it. The sequence seems slightly odd, but we mushed through and I think my son benefited. But I also don't think the got the typical level of "mastery" that he did for the other books in the series.

 

Only when we were deep into 4 did I learn that some parents do 4 out of order. Is that "best"? I don't know.

 

Bill (who is unused to not being opinionated about something :tongue_smilie:)

[hsmom]

Now 4 does start off like the McRuffy LA 2nd grade. I have not looked at 5 and 6 yet, but might want want to, maybe.

 

Either way all of it will get done sometime.

[nov05mama]

My 5 year old, 6 in September, is in book 3. Her grade is... Well, she misses the school cutoff by 3 weeks. So, technically pre-k. Although I treat her as K. I don't really plan ahead. We just plug along.

This is us as well. We have taken things really slowly, but are picking up the pace and will be starting book 2 any day now and hope to move quickly to book 3. I set it aside for handwriting sake (just to have some maturity in that department since I felt that he was a little young to do so much...HWT, ETC and others...). He is also 'technically' pre-K since he misses the cut-off, but I consider it the K year really...and by the Fall, "1st grade" he should be on book 3 or 4.

[alpidarkomama]

DS5 is almost done with Book 2. In first grade, we'll finish as much as he finishes (maybe 4 to 6?). I really let them set the pace for what they're ready for. Oldest DD did NOT like ETC (too heavy a focus on writing), so we only did OPGTR and handwriting separately. Worked great that way too, and now she does both very well. Chanoch l'naar al pi darko! Teach the child according to his way! :)

[snipsnsnailsx5]

I didn't know about levels, so I just started him with book 1 at the start of first grade. He's now about half-way through book 2. I would like to finish book 3 by the end of the year. I think I figured that it takes us about 5-6 weeks to finish a book...however we haven't been very diligent staying on task. lol

Oh and he breezes through them, but book 2 has been getting a tad harder. Often I have to just tell him what the picture is. I.e. he's never heard the word "trot" before, so he sees a horse and thinks they want him to write horse. I'll give him the word as long as he's able to figure out the correct sound/spelling himself.

[ChrisB]

Just to give you an idea, we use ETC with readers. DC complete the primers, the whole books and only 4.5 for the half books. I don't ask for more than 2/3 pages per day for our 1st grader and 1 page per day for the younger DC. We also went right through book 4 and 4.5 instead of skipping ahead. I noticed that our 1st grader really improved her reading after completing book 4, so for us, I was really glad that we didn't skip ahead. Considering all of that, DD is currently working on book 7. We are on track for her to finish mid-summer at the latest.

 

ETA: Our kids start the primers once they've turned 4.

Edited March 11, 2011 by ChrisB

[nono]

4 is a departure. I came to understand (after we were well into it) that many people skip it and return to it after 6. I didn't mind it in the end, but I think 4 1/2 may be the only 1/2 book I may use down the line as a "review."

 

Bill

 

I think I remember you saying this before. The funny thing for my reluctant reader dd (she's a total math & art-head at this point!) is that book 4 is the one that seems to have helped her reading the most. I think the syllabary rules helped her. She's hasn't had the lightbulb moment yet with reading where fluency comes, but book 4 has totally helped her confidence and sorting "it" all out. I'm not sure whether to go order 4 1/2 or go straight to 5, which we already own.

Edited March 11, 2011 by nono

[Spy Car]

I think I remember you saying this before. The funny thing for my reluctant reader dd (she's a total math & art-head at this point!) is that book 4 is the one that seems to have helped her reading the most. She's hasn't had the lightbulb moment yet with reading where fluency comes, but book 4 has totally helped her confidence and sorting "it" all out. I'm not sure whether to go order 4 1/2 or go straight to 5, which we already own.

 

It wasn't really a "light-bulb moment" type book for us, but he did learn (and incorporate lessons into his reading) so that is why I'm not sure it isn't OK as published. I do not think we "nailed" every bit of it, so 4.5 is in the back of my mind as a trail-sweep.

 

Bill

[nono]

It wasn't really a "light-bulb moment" type book for us, but he did learn (and incorporate lessons into his reading) so that is why I'm not sure it isn't OK as published. I do not think we "nailed" every bit of it, so 4.5 is in the back of my mind as a trail-sweep.

 

Bill

 

Oh, to clarify, no lightbulb moment with her reading overall. She can spell like the dickens. Reading has been a lot harder for her! :) Interesting idea to use 4.5 later. Definitely an idea worth considering!

[DragonflyAcademy]

We started book 1 1/2 way through last school year (grade K) and are now nearly done with book 4 at the end of our first grade year. She also did book 1 1/2 in between books 1 and 2..but has not done other 1/2 books.. She completes 1 lesson per week..

[Satori]

Book 4.5 is the only half book I decided to get for my daughter. We got through book 4, but there were a few wrong per page on the multi-syllable stuff, and I wasn't comfortable with that. So we did books 5 and 6, and came back later to 4.5. Worked out great!

 

Keep in mind that that was probably very early first grade when we first tackled Book 4. Actually, technically my daughter is a kindergartner, so I suppose that would've been preschool age at the time. (Her peers at school are learning how to write and sound out the letter A, hehe.)

[teachmejoy]

My 1st grader is in book 5. I think it will be our last. She already reads fluently, and she doesn't apply what she learns in ETC to her spelling and writing.

 

We are also finishing 6 & think we will stop. I think ds is getting bored with them.

[TheCoffeeChick]

We are also finishing 6 & think we will stop. I think ds is getting bored with them.

 

Ds stopped after 6 - he was bored stiff with it. ETC was his favorite thing to do before that book, so I knew it was time. I'm sure we'll do the same thing when dd gets there - she just did the last page in book 2 today. We're not starting book 3 for a couple weeks until she's introduced to long vowels in OPG.

[Amber in AUS]

I expect my DS to be in book 3 or 4 when he starts 1st.

[JadeOrchidSong]

My ds started before he turned 4 and was done (Book 7) when he was 5.5. My two dc did this most orally to learn to read. They both read well now. Older ds read The Wonderful Wizard of OZ by himself when he was 5. Similar for younger ds.

[abacus2]

My 1st grader is struggling with reading and is working on book 1 material. She has just started with Explode the Code online which we really like. She likes the feedback she gets and that she can type instead of write where needed. I love that it automatically adjusts to her level and it makes it easy for me to make sure she is getting consistent practice.

[Amanda_Jo]

My current 1st grader finished book 8 in December. She started with book A of the Before the Code series when she turned 4. We just continued doing them in order all the way through at a pace she was comfortable with. In the early books she'd do 3 or more pages in a sitting, by the end of book 8 she did 2 pages a day. She was just a natural at writing and reading. By her 6th birthday she could pick up an NIV Bible and read almost perfectly.

My second daughter is a Kindergartener. I also started her on Book A soon after turning 4 (not realizing at the time that the first daughter was really not normal in her reading ability). I realized that for her, we started too early so we put the books away after a few lessons in Book 1 when I noticed her getting really discouraged and frustrated. Several months later we came back to it. She still can only do one page a day. The pages that are many sentences she doesn't even do the whole page in a day. It just overwhelms her. She is currently half way through book 2. I think she'll finish book 2 this year. I'm planning books 3 and 4 for first grade for her. I think she may be working through this series all the way into 3rd grade, but I'm okay with that!