100EZ lessons: problems already

[lorrainejmc]

My 5.5yr old ds started 100EZ lessons a few weeks back. Before that, we spent a lot of time learning the letters/sounds and I was certain he was well prepared. Today on lesson 18 (sentences with a black square between each word and all these lines and arrows showing reading direction) he became increasingly confused. He seemed unsure of everything but he also started randomly guessing words he already had read correctly. He struggled through the lesson but we will have to repeat it. Now I'm feeling like I made the wrong choice with this.

 

I don't know what to do now:confused:

[Miss Tick]

Isn't it crazy that they don't always learn things in a step-by-step process? I remember being amazed at this when they were potty training - "But last week was accident free!!??"

 

We went through 100 EZ lessons, but I ended up breaking it into something like 300 easy lessons. Yours is older, so perhaps it won't take that long. Also, there is nothing wrong with reviewing/repeating. With one of mine we dropped back 30 or 40 lessons and started over. It took a lot of frustration for me to get to the point of doing these things but they worked for us. (Maybe you can avoid some of the frustration part).

 

Another thing that helped was to mix in other early readers from the library once in a while that covered words we had already done (any words they hadn't done I just pointed to and read). One of mine in particular liked the accomplishment of finishing a book. Around lesson 85 that one refused to use the 100 EZ book at all and we switched to some hand-me-down "I See Sam" books. Again we were reviewing a lot up front, but the transition to new material was smooth.

 

hth

[JadeOrchidSong]

Remember that 100 Easy Lessons doesn't work for every learner. I tried several time with the copy I got from the library to teach my ds. I gave up after a few lessons (with several tries) and ended up using Explode the Code instead, which was a perfect fit for both my dc.

So if you or your dc is frustrated, it might not be a good fit for you. People usually either LOVE it or HATE it. We belong to the second camp. So don't be too concerned if you or your dc happens to be in the second group. I don't like the strange symbols and the different sizes of letters the book uses. I figure that would take some time or confusion when you transition to the regular printing without any symbols for crutches.

[LisaKinVA]

100EZ lessons made my son cry. Literally. We switched to Abeka (there were a couple of other failures for us... mostly, because I couldn't figure out how to speed up the lessons for him. He enjoyed the songs and stuff, but was BORED beyond belief. Abeka's handbook for reading made speeding up painless). Abeka worked very well for my oldest 3 (along with Leapfrog videos)

 

My rising Ker doesn't seem to be responding as well to Abeka (it's like pulling teeth to get through one page of blending). I had her do some samples from OPGR that were online and she flew through them, sounding out and reading CVC words with little effort. So, now I'm on the hunt for OPGR...lol

[lorrainejmc]

This afternoon, I repeated the lesson from this morning and he went through it with ease:001_smile:

 

I made one small change to the script. I did NOT say "this story is harder than the ones you have read" Why does the script tell you to tell the poor kid it's going to be hard? Some kids just give up IMO.

 

So, I've learned a couple of lessons too, today. If the script feels wrong for your child, then change it, and don't move on until your child can do the current lesson:D

[Miss Tick]

lorrainejmc: If the script feels wrong for your child, then change it

:iagree:

 

I feel strongly that the script (in language, math, reading, whatever) is there for guidance. If my kids get it, we don't waste time with the script. I do try to pay close attention that they actually do get it, and that I'm not leaving out something that will be used later and I'll have to go back and find it to explain it, but other than that I don't feel tied to the script.

[johnandtinagilbert]

If you decide to stick with 100ezl, try typing up the stories on your computer, printing them out, adding a picture or two and create your own reading books for continued practice with words already read. It will help with fluency and you can remove any marks you choose.

[momofabcd]

I started out with 100 Easy Lessons. My dd hated the book. I think it was too busy for her. So I pretended like we weren't using the book and did the lessons with her on a white board, even the sentences. When the stories got to be a little longer, I typed them out and made a copy of the picture in the book. She cut the picture. colored and glued it in after reading the story. I never bothered with the special symbols and markings. I just used the dots and arrows for the words only. It worked well, but we switched programs at about lesson 50.