100 EZ lessons

[IanSebast]

Have you used 100 EZ lessons for your dc? How did it work for you? Did you supplement with any other reading program? Did your dc get confused by the "funny" letters?

[QueenieReighn]

We used that with our girls. After we finished the book, I had them read a lot of books out loud while I told them how to say things properly with new rules and I started a spelling program that had the rules of how things are spelled for different sounds. They now do wonderfully reading and it was all very easy and natural to them. We also did a book of diagraphs with our younger daughter which helped her.

[Spetzi]

I've used it four times and I was surprised that the kids did NOT get confused by the funny letters. The odd font served as a cue to remind the child that the sounds go together (eg, sh) or that the letter in silent (eg, k, e.)

 

For each child we got to the middle of the book then dropped it because s/he was reading so well on her/his own. Obviously, I don't see that as a flaw in the book since I used it for each child, but they could re-name it to Teach Your Child to Read in 50 Easy Lessons. :D

 

I did not use the writing portion as my kids were young when we used the book. I didn't feel writing is nearly as important as reading for a young child. I used it w/three year olds and four year olds so it works w/little ones who are ready.

 

I think it's a great book!

[IanSebast]

Would having prior letter recognition confuse them? My ds knows all is letters, and I'm concerned that it would confuse him. Did your dc know his/her letters before starting the program?

[2smartones]

I didn't like it either. I like Explode the Code, though.

[QueenieReighn]

I always waited to start the book until my daughters knew their letters.

[kelpiegirl]

We have a copy. It wasn't an issue for DS but someone gave us a copy when he was 3. I looked at it and DS came over, read the last activity perfectly so never really used it. It sits on the shelf hoping that the next LO will use it :-)

[Musicmom]

I used 100 Easy Lessons with both my dc. It worked wonderfully well for one, not so well for the other.

 

Ds was 4 when I started the book with him. He was chomping at the bit to learn to read, and he definitely knew all his letters. The funny orthography didn't confuse him at all. He really enjoyed the lessons--especially getting to see the picture at the end. Halfway through the book he was up and reading (first found this out because he started correcting me if I deviated from the teacher script..."No, Mommy, it says..." and he was right! :lol:). I finished the book with him anyway, for the sake of completeness and because he enjoyed it. I don't recall a writing portion... but then again this was 15 years ago (ds just finished freshman year of college), so maybe it's been added. I probably would have skipped it anyway--ds wasn't ready to write at that time. 100 EZ lessons does not cover all the phonics, so I finished the rest using Alphaphonics, and then later used Explode the Code for review and for the writing.

 

Since 100 EZ lessons worked so well for ds, I naturally thought it would work great for dd when she was 4... wrong. She was intimidated by it, and was upset at not getting to see the picture right away. The first few lessons went okay, but as we went on, despite lots of encouragement, she became more and more intimidated until finally, about 1/4 of the way through, she hit a wall and simply could not go any further. I dropped it for awhile, then started over with Alphaphonics. This approach seemed to go better for her, and she got farther, but again after awhile she hit a wall and I had to stop. In retrospect, I think two things happened: 1) she was simply too young--not ready to read yet, and 2) 100 EZ lessons was not a good fit for her personality/learning style. (She did finally learn to read, at age 6, using mostly sight words as she and I worked our way through the Pathway readers together. Then we did phonics through Explode the Code.)

 

All this to say that it depends on the child. I'd definitely give 100 EZ lessons a try--I think it's a good curriculum, and a good start for very young readers (if they're ready). Just be alert to whether it seems to be a good fit for your particular child, and don't hesitate to switch if it's not.

 

HTH!

[Brenda in FL]

I used it with two children when they were 4. They knew their letters and the font did not confuse them. Both kids completed the book and were reading by the end; however, their experiences were different. We only supplemented with Bob books. Upon completion we went straight to daily reading of various readers. They needed no further phonics instruction.

[Donna]

I used 100 Easy Lessons with both my dc. It worked wonderfully well for one, not so well for the other.

 

I had the same experience.

 

It worked just like it was supposed to with my oldest. He asked to learn to read a few months before turning 4, I bought the book and used it daily, and 100 days later he was reading like a pro. From then on I just had him read to me. It took awhile, maybe 6-8 months, before he had the endurance to read books with lots of words on each page (like Harry Potter or something similar). I don't know if he was intimidated by so many words per page or if he just wanted to hear the story and got frustrated at not reading as quickly as me. So, I'd have him read the 1st page of the chapter then I would read the rest.

 

Since it worked so well for the oldest, I tried it with the middle but he just had no interest in books or learning to read at 4 or 5. We used it for a couple weeks then put it away. I later used Phonics Pathways with him.

 

My youngest brought 100 EZ lessons to me when she was 2. I did a few lessons with her then she lost interest and stopped bringing it out. We never tried it again or any other program because she learned to read on her own when she was 3.

[JeanM]

I used 100 EZ lessons with both of my dc. It worked really well for both dc, although they both knew their letters and sounds before starting the program. Neither of them were confused at all by the "funny letters" or the lack of funny letters in other books. The pace varied a lot though, sometimes we'd do two lessons a day, but sometimes we'd take a break for a week or two if it was getting frustrating. The only supplement we used were easy to read books (Bob books, little books I wrote myself, and some other little books that I can't remember).

[LisaKinVA]

It made my oldest cry. Literally cry. Couldn't get him into Frontline Phonics or SSR&W either... wound up using Abeka, which he enjoyed, and have used.

[IanSebast]

I'm going to give it a try, if he seems bored or confused I'll stop and/or switch to something else!

[KarenNC]

We loathed both this and Phonics Pathways (the recommended books at the time from WTM). My daughter desperately wanted to read right around her 4th birthday, so we tried both of these---tears, etc every time she saw either book. We switched to Explode the Code and she begged to do it and to do more. Convinced me.:) So we had a mix of ETC, Bob books and other easy readers, Dolch sight word flashcards and Dick and Jane. Worked like a charm, she was well over 2nd grade level before she turned 5, and she continues to test many years ahead of level on the WJIII in all areas of language (except grammar:banghead:).

 

Now if I could, at almost 11, get her excited about reading something other than manga on a regular basis.....but that's another issue:).

[mom-2-1]

Very helpful thread!

[kochanyk]

It also made my DS cry- literally cry. It's a good program in the aspect that it works but the cost for us was a year of loss of interest in reading and not worth it. We switched to OPG (much MUCH better) then happily to AAS.

[chepyl]

I used it with the Bob Books. My son could write the alphabet at 18 months. I tried teaching him to read at 3, but failed. A friend gave me 100EL and we started it. I skipped all of the back and forth questions and the writing. We focused on the letter sounds. He was never confused by the letters. We stopped after the last new sound and moved onto spelling and phones rules as weekly lessons with kindergarten last year. His reading ability is now at the 5-6th grade level and his comprehension is at a 3rd grade level.

 

We loved it!

[garddwr]

I'm using it with my son right now--he knows all his letters, we've done some basic reading (forming and reading 3 letter words) before. He's zipping through 100 Lessons. If he knows his letters already you can move really quickly through the first dozen lessons or so.

I used Reading Reflex with my older daughter to teach her to read. She also knew the letters and sounds when we started it, even though they tell you not to teach letter names. She did great.

[TracyR]

I've used it with all four of my girls and none of them had any problems with the font. I didn't use it as much with my youngest but she will pull it out and doesn't seem to have any problems differentiating between the two.

My 2nd and 3rd went through the whole program and are good readers. My oldest went through part of the program, and my youngest , we dibble through it but she learned to read with Your baby Can Read and she reads really well.

[ehommel]

I started using it with my ds, but we kind of got bored of it. We stopped around lesson 32. I have many friends who experienced the same thing. I used Abecedarian instead and loved it. My son really enjoyed the letter tiles.

[Calm37]

Have you used 100 EZ lessons for your dc? How did it work for you? Did you supplement with any other reading program? Did your dc get confused by the "funny" letters?

 

I used this to teach all 4 of my children how to read. We went on to the Pathway Readers and Explode the Code when we were done. I was in no hurry, so we did all 100 lessons. I'm sure we could have moved on sooner if we had wanted to. I always covered the picture for the story with a sheet of blank paper while the kids were reading. They loved the surprise of the picture. I didn't make them repeat the reading then, but had them curl up with Dad in the evening and share it with him.

 

Many good memories!