Is a reading program REALLY necessary??

[krwsmum]

Older DDs both had "reading" programs this past year, BJU Reading and the 1st grade Abeka readers. Both girls whizzed through them, and once they were finished (late winter) we just dropped it. They are both avid readers, often starting a Boxcar novel in the morning and finishing it by the end of the day (oldest dd, middle takes about a day or so). That is on a school day! Their comprehension is great, and I check by opening the book to a random page and asking questions.

We also do our SOTW, and get a bag of books from the library to coincide with what we're studying there.

Is that enough? I know we should be doing more read-alouds...I have Wind in the Willows on my kindle, I started it, but we never seem to get to it. I feel like a reading program will be "busy work", but a little of that is helpful for me to get some stuff done around here...am I missing some important aspect of a reading curriculum?

 

thanks

[Michelle My Bell]

I have never used one. I always just have them read real books. Phonics on the other hand is something I use a program for.

[blessedmom3]

A reading program is more than just decoding the words or comprehension. It teaches genres types, inferences ,prediction, sequencing, , fact vs opinion, main idea , character comparison , literary terms such as simile , onomatopoeia , metaphor , etc . You can still teach all these through reading living books . Or not teach these at all if you think it's not important . :)

With my older son , we just read books and talk about them. However , I think some dc need more systematic teaching than just talking about the books. I have one of these and I am starting either R&S reading or BJU . BJU looks the best , I think I'm going with it.

[krwsmum]

We used BJU Reading 2-it was fine, but I found their phonics to be confusing to dd b/c she had used Abeka the year before and the Mr & Mrs Short concept was strange to her. The comp. questions were good though, it definately felt like it was complete, just not sure it was necessary.

Thanks for the input though :)

[amyrjoy]

I am asking myself this same question for my 6 years old. He will be in first come fall. I did BJU with his sister this year for second and she moved quickly through it so we went into the third grade program already. The main reason for me is: vocabulary, thinking, comprehension, and phonics practice. But the latter is not because she isn't reading or I'm trying to teach her phonics but to understand the phonics way of thinking and asking on tests! She scored so high on everything else ( comprehension, vocabulary, reading, science ) on the ITBS test but that ( and math) and I know it's because I did NOT do a formal reading program for her in first.

[momto2Cs]

I've never used a reading program. My ds loves, loves, loves to read. We talk about what he is reading and has read. We discuss genres, compare characters and story lines, etc., without a formal program.

[WishboneDawn]

Never used one with my daughter. My son however wasn't picking things up the same way she did so we stumbled through several programs before finding the perfect fit.

[Barb_]

I'm beginning to believe nothing is necessary. Except maybe for Math :D There are only areas you feel more or less confident covering on your own.

[boscopup]

I started out with one, then found just reading real books worked better for us. We'll teach literary analysis later, and in the meantime, I occasionally mention genre names. The slides for SWB's literary analysis lecture list some terms to discuss in the early years. They're all terms that even I, as a math geek, feel like I can talk about without a program. (i haven't listened to the lecture yet, but plan to soon).

[VBoulden]

I don't use a reading program. The books designed with questions at the end of the stories are always really dull, in my opinion. And if you don't want to read it, why should your kids read it??? Why should your reading program teach them to dread reading???

 

You can check comprehension by asking your kids what the book was about (even if you didn't read the story yourself.) If they can't tell you the story, if they can't answer your questions and talk with you about the story, then they didn't get it and should read it again. But, this never really happens. If they are reading well once you "turn them loose" to read on their own then their comprehension is usually alright.

 

I just have my daughter read for thirty minutes a day. I use the Sonlight readers lists and other great series (The Magic Tree House, Let's Read and Find Out) making sure I am stocking up on the best books for her reading level.

 

I try and buy the Five in a Row books and read one everyday for a few days. I like this because these stories become part of my kid's hearts and souls.

 

And, when I get to it, I am reading a novel out loud. We have been reading out of Hinds Feet in High Places for about a year. Sad... But true. We have Wind in the Willows and A Dog Called Kitty, etc. I plan to get to those. :D :grouphug:

 

But, without fail, my daughter reads everyday for at least thirty minutes. Most of the time, she will continue reading for an hour past that. :001_smile:

[Penelope]

I am not using one for the lower grades. I have several reasons, but one big one is that I hated reading comprehension texts when I was in school, and felt it was mostly a waste of time. There aren't that many literary terms that need to be taught in elementary, and I just show them to my kids a few times and they learn them.

 

IF I some day have a child that needs to be explicitly taught inference and comprehension strategies, I would use one.

 

You could look at Teaching the Classics if you aren't familiar with literary elements yourself, so that you can teach them with books the children are already reading. If you had a good high school English class that included discussion of whole books and lit. analysis, you probably already know most of what is in TTC (at least that was my experience).

[G5052]

I didn't need a reading program until about four years ago. Then we swang into full-bore crises mode in our family with medical and eldercare issues, and I got one to keep us with a structured, accountable reading program. Now only my youngest is still doing it, but I have no regrets.

 

If you have the time and energy, a reading program is not necessary IMHO. If you don't, there are options that can be very good indeed.

[Medieval Mom]

FWIW, my avid reader *loves* CLE reading. When I suggested that we may not *need* this program, he asked if I could order it anyway, just for fun. :D Needless to say, we stuck with it. I'm glad we did. Now that we're finishing up CLE 200, I admit that this program is not busywork at all, nor has it hampered his love of reading. (He loves the stories!)

 

He reads for hours everyday; so we're not using CLE for practicing how to read. It's our "character" program, as well as teaching all those wonderful LA topics that are not covered with our other programs. For some reason, ds cringes when I asked for a narration in WWE, but joyfully writes narration-type sentences (several, and good ones at that!) in his CLE workbook. Go figure!

 

Here's the thread from my internal struggles about keeping our reading program, in case you're interested. I was surprised by the responses I got!

[robsiew]

We've never used a reading program (other than phonics). For my grammar stage kids I don't think it's necessary. I will start some literary discussions with my upcoming Logic stage child. I will follow the WTM recommendations for that.

[SnMomof7]

From your post it doesn't sound like you really need one. Children don't need deep literary analysis until the later years, honestly. The only time we use a 'reading program' is for phonically leveled readers for beginners, and SL readers to build fluency. They are real books though :). Once oldest DD is through building her fluency (she also reads on her own), then we'll just be reading for her schoolwork (history, science etc.), and her own pleasure reading :).