MyLittleBears Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 (edited) I was so excited to see the package arrive today from Sound Foundations. My son has had a lot of trouble reading and we were ready to give this a try. Well, I opened the box and started going through the materials. I felt as if I was kicked in stomach. Stories about boys putting on dresses, drinking beer, actually getting drunk, having tatoos, etc... Okay, If you want to read these types of things as an adult but in children's stories? Why oh why would you put this content into a reading programs meant for elementary aged children? There will be plenty of time for children to see or hear about "other" lifestyles as they grow up and if we as parents want to teach them at an appropriate age, but putting it in a program meant for reading instruction that begins at age four? Is the innocence of our children not valuable anymore? Does the Apples and Pears spelling have similar content? I was going to try this next but now I'm not so sure. I'm just glad I didn't go for the whole package. Edited March 16, 2011 by MyLittleBears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 I am utterly at a loss. I was so excited to see the package arrive today from Sound Foundations. My son has had a lot of trouble reading and we were ready to give this a try. Well, I opened the box and started going through the materials. I felt as if I was kicked in stomach. Stories about boys putting on dresses, drinking beer, actually getting drunk, having tatoos, vampires, etc... Okay, If you want to read these types of things as an adult but in children's stories? Why oh why would you put this content into a reading programs meant for elementary aged children? I truly make me question the motive here. There will be plenty of time for children to see or hear about "other" lifestyles as they grow up and if we as parents want to teach them at an appropriate age, but putting it in a program meant for reading instruction that begins at age four? Is the innocence of our children not valuable anymore? Ugh, just Ugh!!! Does the Apples and Pears spelling have similar content? I was going to try this next but now I'm not so sure. I'm just glad I didn't go for the whole package. I don't have Dancing Bears but I just looked at the samples to see what you were talking about. I personally am not offended by these stories. It's a pirate story, and pirates drink cider in lots of stories & movies (even Disney). The only tattoo part I found was in reference to Sue, the gruesome stoker, who had a tattoo on her arm. Mark wore a dress because he got filthy and that was the only clothing he was given, and it is just a silly storyline. The only vampire reference I found was when Sue called the maid a vampire as an insult. I wouldn't say any of this is promoting cross-dressing, children getting drunk, or any "alternative lifestyle." :chillpill: Perhaps Pathway Readers would be more your cup of tea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 I agree with Ondreeuh. It's part of a silly storyline, and doesn't, IMO, in any way try to promote these ideas as a lifestyle. Just flipping through the first level of A&P book A, there doesn't appear to be any storyline. As an example, some of the sentences are "Needless to say, we all know how to do the right thing." and "I can see it is dark." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted March 15, 2011 Author Share Posted March 15, 2011 (edited) I have all three levels and went through each individual page. I don't think the website shows all the pages. At the very end an odd goulish woman beats some of the characters over the head with with a club to save the day as well as holds them up with a gun. Also in the first book one of the stories is titled Beer with Bart and it literally says that they drank the beer,and could not stand up!. I disagree, this is more than just a storyline it seems to me that there are better stories to tell our young children without having to go over the top in either gruesomeness or squeakiness like the pathway readers. Perhaps I should just stick with good old Dr. Suess.:confused1: Edited March 16, 2011 by MyLittleBears Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 Actually, the entire books are online. You can look through all of A&P to see what it covers. The boys who are drinking beer remind me very much of the boys in Pinnochio who smoke cigars. Their behavior is not glorified. Mark is a good boy who asks for milk - isn't that the lesson? That drinking is NOT the right thing to do? The actual message of the stories is what is important, not just the words they use. Plenty of good stories have "bad" characters, including pretty much every Disney movies. Definitely don't read your children Grimm's fairy tales! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepymommy Posted March 15, 2011 Share Posted March 15, 2011 I'll admit I was a little :001_huh: when I first read some of the stories, but I agree with Ondreeuh and Aurelia, they are just silly stories. When ds6 and I read it together we just laugh at all the silliness. I don't see it as promoting anything. My kids know what beer and tattoos are. We don't shield them from knowing what it is. And as has already been said, the part where the boy had to put on a dress was because his clothes were dirty and those were the clothes given to him. It was funny, my ds thought it was hilarious. The story line is certainly different from what you might find in other reading programs, but I think that is one of the things that makes it so interesting for some kids and keeps their attention and focus while having fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 I do see what you all mean about the stories not promoting anything and I truly don't shield my children from the differences their are in the world. We read (unabriged) Treasure Island to the children as well as Grim's Fairy Tales, Peter Pan, the Hobbit, etc. I guess my issue is that it is not what I expected. I was expecting story lines that were more along the lines of bob books. I wanted the option of exposing or not exsposing my children to beer drinking, pirates, boys in dresses etc, on our own timeline, not from a reading program. I guess I should have looked a little more closely at the online samples. Live and learn I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 They keep my DS attention and make him laugh, we have completed levels A&B, started C. So we still have a level to do, and ds has been self directing trying to tackle the 'how to train a dragon' books by Cowell of his own volition! Dancing Bears reading program has been good for us and I would recommend it and as noted by others the website does offer extensive previews :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Sound Foundations writes programs for struggling students. I assume that their "mature" storyline is designed to appeal to older students who would find Bob books waaaay too babyish. Does it really say that they are appropriate for 4 year olds? All the stuff about using their program talks about dyslexia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeegal Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 Sound Foundations writes programs for struggling students. I assume that their "mature" storyline is designed to appeal to older students who would find Bob books waaaay too babyish. Does it really say that they are appropriate for 4 year olds? All the stuff about using their program talks about dyslexia. :iagree: I'm using it to remediate my 11 yo's reading. Bob books, Dick and Jane readers, etc. would be insulting to her, but we're finding the stories rather amusing and are a well deserved treat. I must admit that I will not be using these books to teach my littles to read when they're 4-6 yo. We'll stick with Phonics Pathways, Bob books, and Dick and Jane readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted March 16, 2011 Author Share Posted March 16, 2011 It does say suitable for pupils ages 4+ on the back of all the books. Also, just found at the end of book C in the one of last stories where they are talking about beer drinking again the line "Do you think that (so and so) will have a hangover?" is asked directly to the student. I have discussed this topic with my 10 yr old but I would prefer not to ask my 5 and 7yr olds this question. I guess, I'll have to scan ahead for content. I just did not think this was something I was going to need to do when teaching my children to read. I keep thinking I'm making too much of it, but every time I go back to it I see something else that seems totally unsuitable and Psalm 119: 37 keeps coming to mind. I'll just have to look into those sweaky clean pathway readers I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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