Phonics Pathways/OPGTTP/Phonics programs...

[hollyh]

So... I got the book. Don't know what I think about it. I feel like it doesn't really give me instruction on what to do... Am I missing something?

 

It seems like it just has a bunch of lists of words and I'm just supposed to make sure that they can read them well before going to the next page?

 

Help... I want a comprehensive program where they learn the rules and get the chance to practice them and read them. Is this going to work? Is there a different program I should be looking at?

 

How is OPG different? From reviews I thought this one would be a bit more fun - but really I don't see how...

 

FYI: I don't want The Reading Lesson or 100 EZ Lessons.

 

Any input would be useful.

Thanks!

[kristinannie]

I have never used Phonics Pathways, but loved the way it looked at the convention. However, I liked OPGTTR better because it gave me a script to follow. Now that I am using the book though, I rarely follow the script at all so I don't know that I even needed it!

[TXMary2]

I love, love, love OPGTR. I like the script and I like the methodical pattern it follows. Teaching my youngest to read was weighing on me and stressing me out until I found OPGTR. It saved my sanity and lowered my stress level considerably! You can go look inside the book at Amazon to see how simple it is to use. It is no frills and it works.

[MeganW]

I had read on here that Phonics Pathways & Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading were both great resources for teaching a kid to read. OPGTR was dry & scripted & boring, but very effective. PP was the fun equivalent!

 

Of course I chose PP. But I've never taught a kid to read before. I looked at it for ridiculous amounts of time, but I just could not figure out exactly what I was supposed to do with it! So we hopped to OPGTR. Yep, it's boring, but I am a lot more confident that I am not screwing up something so important!

[boscopup]

I recommend doing it on a white board, whichever one you choose. It makes it more fun. :) My son had a hard time reading out of the OPGTR book, since he's only 4 and the print is a bit small for his age (it's not written for his age, so this is not a bash of the book). I write the sentences on the white board, and it's so much more entertaining for some reason! :D

[kristinannie]

I also highly recommend getting some magnetic letters for your white board and having him do some of the reading off of there. My DS5 is now begging for reading lessons since we started doing that. For example, I will say, "Spell ad." He will do it. Then we see how many letters we can put in front of ad to make words. He loves it!

[robsiew]

You might be trying to make things more complicated than they need to be!:001_smile:

 

I used PP with 3 children. The rules are written in the front of each new section. Just read the lists of words. We did 1-2 pages a day. Really, phonics is nothing more than teaching how words are put together. We kept our lessons short because it wasn't my kids' favorite thing.

 

I don't think I ever made it all the way through PP with any of the kids... once they were reading well enough I just let them read real books to me. (I think we made it about 3/4 of the way through for most of the kids) Much more exciting and motivating. They pick up any unusual rules through spelling instruction later. All of my kids (including my 5 y/o) read above grade level.

 

I supplemented PP with Bob books and other phonics readers. That made things a bit more enjoyable. In order to read a "book" they had to complete their 1-2 pages in PP.

 

I dislike most scripted programs so I knew the OPGTR wasn't for me. PP got it done. simple. I don't know that I would have used the word "fun" to describe it, but it does the job well.