twilkin Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 So I've been reading reviews till my eyes bug. I taught my girls to read with 100 EZ lessons and Abeka and they did fine but my 6ds seems to trip on the loopholes. I'm looking for a "fun" program for him and his 4 year old brother to use. I get bored easy so WRTR and SWR are out. These are programs that got good reviews that are possibilities so if you have any input I would appreciate it. 1. Explode the Code Series 2. Phonics Pathways 3. Ordinary Parents Guide 4. Saxon Phonics 5. Sing Spell Read and Write (gasp, gulp, cough, is it worth the pricetag) I've been leaning towards this one because it seems like one my boys would enjoy with the games and music and bright colors. Aagh! Too many choices. I need to thumb through them to make a decision but there are no bookstores locally that sell them and I missed the curriculum show. :confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lettucepatchkids Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 I just ordered All About Reading pre level 1 for my 5 year old to use to learn her letters and letter sounds... just in case you want another option lol... level 1 is suppose to come out in Aug... not sure on the scope & sequence of it though. I'm also using AAS 1 for my DD (almost 7) and we are loving it... she thinks it's fun! What exactly are you looking for a program to cover? What do you and your DS consider "fun"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morosophe Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 I, too, taught my son to read with 100EZ, and am now "catching up" his phonics with All About Spelling. I personally don't see anything wrong with doing it this way: 100EZ lets the kids actually start reading a lot sooner than many heavy phonics programs do, and that makes reading fun instead of a boring chore involving a lot of rote memorization. On the other hand, spelling is always going to be a boring chore involving a lot of rote memorization, so doing your phonics there just makes sense to me. And for a boring chore involving a lot of rote memorization, AAS sure tries to keep it fun! Which is why, like SSRW, it's expensive. Wow, I'm really not helping you out much here, am I? (I've never used Abeka--at least not on the teaching side--so I don't know how thorough their phonics are. I also don't know much about All About Reading, and am not terribly interested, either, because of the reading-then-phonics-through-spelling philosophy explained above and the fact that it's PRICEY.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyR Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 You could try Sing Spell Read and Write. It is pricey though but there are many that have used it successfully. You could also looked into Hooked on Phonics too. I haven't used it but it looks 'fun'. LOL and it costs less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorrelZG Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I, too, taught my son to read with 100EZ, and am now "catching up" his phonics with All About Spelling. I personally don't see anything wrong with doing it this way: 100EZ lets the kids actually start reading a lot sooner than many heavy phonics programs do, and that makes reading fun instead of a boring chore involving a lot of rote memorization. On the other hand, spelling is always going to be a boring chore involving a lot of rote memorization, so doing your phonics there just makes sense to me. And for a boring chore involving a lot of rote memorization, AAS sure tries to keep it fun! Which is why, like SSRW, it's expensive. Wow, I'm really not helping you out much here, am I? (I've never used Abeka--at least not on the teaching side--so I don't know how thorough their phonics are. I also don't know much about All About Reading, and am not terribly interested, either, because of the reading-then-phonics-through-spelling philosophy explained above and the fact that it's PRICEY.) This was helpful to me although I can't put my finger on why exactly at the moment. I just know I feel better for having read it. I think I have been carrying some guilt issues over not following through with SWR, WRTR and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WishboneDawn Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Dancing Bears is worth a look. It's affordable and is the one programthat finally clicked for my son. You can review the entire book and series online for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Robyn Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I have used SSRW and it is not particularly fun. There were two or three songs that we liked. The games are not great (think bingo). I like K more than I like grade 1 (but I have used K for preschool and grade 1 for K). Their K workbooks have more coloring, cut and paste, circle things in the picture that start with 'p'... Their grade one workbooks I will never use again. I still have all the readers and we may use them if it seems like my youngest really needs focused phonics readers and the other I have aren't enough, but using SSRW killed the love of reading for both my olders. (They got it back, but there was a while there for each of them when I thought maybe they would forever hate reading.) It did work. However there are lists of words for the child to write that are soooo long. My boys hated it. I ended up having them do only some of the words, but they still hated it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for a girl or any child who just enjoys writing words. If you're looking for games and color take a look at McRuffy, and I bet there are some other great options. I'm sure SSRW has worked better for some. Just giving our experience with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 1. Explode the Code Series Wonderful and inexpensive. I used these more for spelling and reading. It is more for practice than actual instruction, but it is fun and works well. There is a "pre-explode" program, called "Get Ready", "Get Set" and "Go" for the Code, which introduces the basic letter sounds, if you need that. There is also Explode the Code online, if your child prefers interactive computer instruction. 2. Phonics Pathways Great, no frills, clear and concise phonics program. Black and white, no graphics, just a simple incremental presentation of phonics. No written exercises, only reading. 3. Ordinary Parents Guide Similar to Phonics Pathways, but scripted, and with quite small print. Also only reading, no written exercises. Did not have enough practice/review for us. (Did not use the other programs) May I also suggest using www.starfall.com It's free, colorful, interactive, and fun! If your child seems to need additional practice with whichever program you choose, there are the Merrill Readers, which are phonics-controlled. HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jrb Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 My son (now 8) did well at age 5 with Hooked on Phonics (just the first level) and Bob Books. He thought they were fun and was excited to be reading (very short!) books. Then, we moved onto Ordinary Parents Guide and worked slowly and systematically through that over about 2 years. At some point in OPG his reading really took off, and we probably didn't need to finish the whole book, but I did have him finish all the lessons to make sure he had a strong phonics base. I would classify him as able to read well, but he doesn't love to just sit and read for fun (his younger sister always has a book in hand). I also had SSRW that I purchased used, but we only really used some of the readers and games for reinforcement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smillard00 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Another vote for http://www.starfall.com :) All three of my kids have enjoyed it and benefited from it. They even have some printed materials that you can order very inexpensively or I think you can print them out, maybe. I have 100 Easy Lessons but I just couldn't get into it and my kids ended up taking off reading before I had to force myself. :lol: I also like the little Classical Phonics book from Memoria Press. It's this simple little book with lists of words on each page and you read through them together. They will have words listed together that are very similar, but you have to read them carefully because the vowel changes or a consonant might change. lit...let...get... We also have their copybook for handwriting practice. And we have some letter tiles that they play with and see how changing out a letter changes the word. We keep it kind of simple and then practice reading a lot. The tougher phonics are reinforced through reading and copywork and dictation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 For fun I recommend Leapfrog Letter Factory and Word Factory with Jolly Phonics (all you really need is the TM). You can also look at starfall.com, Reading Eggs, and Time4Learning for extras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rai B. Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I have used SSRW and it is not particularly fun. There were two or three songs that we liked. The games are not great (think bingo). I like K more than I like grade 1 (but I have used K for preschool and grade 1 for K). Their K workbooks have more coloring, cut and paste, circle things in the picture that start with 'p'... Their grade one workbooks I will never use again. :iagree:It killed the love of coloring for my dd. And it (SSRW) is very expensive for what you get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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