BLHFHG--RME or The Reading Lesson

[momofede]

I will be hschooling my son next fall. Currently, in public school, he has been doing Saxon Phonics with success. I have already ordered BLHFHG teacher's guide. I'm trying to decided which part(s) of the program to order. After having a year of Kindergarten Saxon Phonics in public school this year, would you recommend The Reading Lesson, RME, or something else?

 

Thanks for any ideas!

[Chelli]

FWIW, Here is my review of RME that I posted on the HOD board:

 

I just finished RME with my dd earlier this year. Here are my opinions: I started RME with my daughter when she was 5 (officially kindergarten). I tried starting earlier with her (prek), but she was not ready to blend yet (very frustrating for me and her), so we shelved it until K. The CD didn't exist when we bought RME and I haven't missed a thing without it. My dd is reading on a 3rd grade level after finishing the book. However, I'm not sure if I will use it with my other dc for one reason: my dd does not know the phonics rules! In RME, they code the words so that children can read them, but books are not coded like RME, so for the longest time dd would come across a word in beginning readers and not know how to pronounce it (it wasn't coded). We started All About Spelling when we finised RME for the express purpose of learning phonics rules since they are not taught in RME. I guess if I knew the phonics rules myself I could have taught her as we went, but I learned to read using whole words, so I am learning phonics right along with her.

 

The list at the back of RME is some extra digraphs and blends that RME doesn't cover. The author suggets moving on to Learning Language Arts Through Literature Red book to learn the other phonics rules. I am considering using Phonics Pathways or The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading with my other dc just to fill in the gaps that RME has. This is my opinion. Did RME teach my dd to read? Yes. Is she a good reader? Yes. Would I use RME again? Maybe. Clear as mud, right?

[Sue G in PA]

I'm not familiar with Saxon Phonics so I don't know where it leaves off and what your Ker will have learned or not learned. TRL is what I use with my Ker and 8yo slow reader. I like the large print and uncluttered pages for my 8yo who gets very distracted. He is learning a lot and progressing at a slow, but comfortable pace. My 5yo is almost finished the book but she is an advanced reader. TRL does start out very basic, so you might be able to skip a lot or go quickly through it as review. Another program to consider would be Phonics Road, which is rather pricey but also very thorough and complete. HOD doesn't list it as one of their rec's. I plan to start my dd with it in Sept. and already use it with ds8 and ds9. Wonderful program.

[2squared]

I am a devoted RME user, but I haven't used either of the other two programs you listed. My dc have learned to read rather painlessly with RME. It's a cuddle-on-the-couch reading program, and my kids actually enjoyed the little pictures and stories. Now that I'm almost through the book for the second time, I am explicity teaching more phonics than I did the first time through. The words are coded so the kids can pick up phonics implicitly (like my first dc), but I think it is a good idea to teach them explicity as well.

 

I skip the copywork in RME since we use Getty-Dubay for our handwriting. But, you shouldn't skip having your dc read through the copywork. The copywork isn't coded, so it provides practice with reading uncoded words. I also alternate using RME and reading "real" books for their reading lessons once they get over half way in the book. These two things have probably helped them transition smoothly to reading without the coding.

 

I've also figured out that studied dictation is very effective for our spelling success, so I have my 6yo doing studied dictation from the beginning lessons in RME. I am using the dictation to explicity teach phonics as well.

 

I foolishly bought the accompany CD this year. If you want it, I will sell it to you for a good price. :D

[mom24boys]

Loved TRL! Simple/plain pages...clean looking. Worked great for my son. There are a couple of hints, but it isn't a separate code to learn.

 

My son, however, does not know any "rules" like c says the k sound if it is next to an a, o, or u and it says the s sound when it is next to i or e. (I think that's right.) I've been thinking about doing something else with him now (even though he is a good reader).

 

HTH.

[abrightmom]

I'm not familiar with Saxon Phonics so I don't know where it leaves off and what your Ker will have learned or not learned. TRL is what I use with my Ker and 8yo slow reader. I like the large print and uncluttered pages for my 8yo who gets very distracted. He is learning a lot and progressing at a slow, but comfortable pace. My 5yo is almost finished the book but she is an advanced reader. TRL does start out very basic, so you might be able to skip a lot or go quickly through it as review. Another program to consider would be Phonics Road, which is rather pricey but also very thorough and complete. HOD doesn't list it as one of their rec's. I plan to start my dd with it in Sept. and already use it with ds8 and ds9. Wonderful program.

 

Sue,

 

Are your PR kiddos also using HOD? We adore Phonics Road here but I pretty much decided that PR and HOD don't mix since LA is so well integrated in HOD. Thoughts? I'd love to hear the details about how you do this..... I'd rather stay pretty tight with Carrie's recommendations because she is masterful at planning the guides to cover all needed skills. If I start cutting things out of HOD then it isn't HOD!

 

However, PR is just so fun to teach spelling with and my boys would absolutely LOVE to do the lit studies via PR. DITHOR looks good too and we're planning to use it but it IS something that could wait if PR and HOD are doable.

 

Share, share!!!!

[abrightmom]

I chose to use The Reading Lesson with DD4 and I like it. However, I consider it a gentle introduction to learning to read for a young kiddo (or a kiddo distracted by visual clutter).....we'll most definitely continue phonics instruction via another method. We have had rip roaring success with The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading along with Explode the Code. We are also going to dabble in Rod & Staff Phonics (not their reading stuff, just the phonics workbooks which are VERY thorough; I prefer their layout to ETC so we're giving it a whirl for my kiddos who are still in phonics).:001_smile: