Explode the Code????

[mommynluv]

I was thinking of going with Explode the Code this year. How solid is this phonics program? Does it have spelling words to go along with it?

 

Thanks!!

[Tarheel Heather]

Just phonics. Although, you could make up your own spelling words to go along with the concept that is taught during the lesson.

[Lori]

I think it is good but I also supplement with other stuff. We dont just do Explode the code.

[abbeyej]

I was thinking of going with Explode the Code this year. How solid is this phonics program? Does it have spelling words to go along with it?

 

It's a great workbook series to go along with whatever other phonics one is doing. It covers spelling in that it teaches phonics as a child is beginning to read. I guess I'd consider it "pre-spelling" for the learning-to-read crowd. I have gone with both kids from ETC to other 2nd or 3rd grade spelling programs (and neither of my kids finished all of ETC).

[Tonia]

I think it is good but I also supplement with other stuff. We dont just do Explode the code.

 

Ditto. Explode the code is a great supplement to a phonics program like Ordinary Parent's Guide.

[Jennefer@SSA]

all the way through starting with Get Ready, Get Set and Go for the Code in Pre-K. We just finished up book 8 a few months ago 1/2 way through first grade. For us, it was all we needed. We did not supplement with anything else nor did we begin formal spelling until we finished the entire series.

 

I think it totally depends on *your* dc as to how you use this series. My ds has a great memory and is very visual. The amount of review in ETC was just perfect for him. If he had needed more practice, I would have developed a short spelling list using the same rule as the lesson we were on and worked that way for more reinforcement.

 

I plan in using ETC with my second son in another year as well. I really enjoyed this series and highly recommend it.

[trust and obey]

Both my ds used it and they really enjoyed it. The illustrations are drawn by children, and they have lots of silly sentences to test comprehension, funny pictures to choose the correct word, etc. This was the one workbook they probably have liked doing. I think they learned their phonics pretty well from this, although we used Abeka's "A Handbook for Reading" (an old copy I got for free) and that really added a lot to their phonics awareness.

[momto2Cs]

We have really enjoyed ETC here, and I just use the words presented in each lesson as spelling words. I even give the Elf spelling "tests" on the last page of each lesson, as there are just pictures and a blank line to write on, so he figures out what the picture represents and writes the word for it.

[ChristusG]

At a homeschool convention this past weekend, I liked the Explode the Code books, but I was told this was not a phonics "program" and that these books should just be supplements to a program. Is this correct? My DD is 4 years old and I want to start her learning phonics and reading. Would this work?

[Ann@thebeach]

While most use it as a supplement to some other program, I've heard of more people using it as a stand alone program. We used it without any other official program.

I used ETC and the Nora Gaydos "Now I'm Reading" readers (others like the BOB books). We did a few ETC pages every day and read one of the early reader books. We also did some of the 1/2 books as needed which I thought was a great supplement.

We also did some copywork and I think that helped reinforce some of what he was learning.

 

So while it CAN be used as a stand alone program, it depends on your child's needs and what you want in a program. We were not in a hurry and found learning to read an enjoyable time. Others that might want the process to be move a little faster so another program might work better for them.

[Tonia]

At a homeschool convention this past weekend, I liked the Explode the Code books, but I was told this was not a phonics "program" and that these books should just be supplements to a program. Is this correct? My DD is 4 years old and I want to start her learning phonics and reading. Would this work?

 

If your child has no difficulty with writing then you could use it as your primary phonics program. My dd started reading before she could do the pencil work required in ETC so we opt to use it as a reinforcement for our other phonics program.

[Lovedtodeath]

I am using it now and through 1st grade and will switch to AAS for second grade, as I want a spelling program at that point and ETC is not one.

[probablytracy]

My kids used them all but the 1/2's. Not for spelling though! We used Spelling Workout....now just words from their readers and ones they mispell!

[Handmaiden]

We use Phonics Pathways as our main phonics program and ETC as a supplement. By the time my dd got through halfway through ETC 3 she was already a strong reader from PP and ETC suddenly seemed too easy and therefore busywork, so I dropped it.

 

My youngest is still working through PP and using ETC 2 as a supplement but I see that he is fast approaching the same issue as my dd so we will probably be dropping it soon also.

[KarenNC]

We used ETC as our primary program from the pre-primers through book 8 (just finished in December). It was the perfect program for my then 4-yo who desperately wanted to read but *hated* anything to do with Phonics Pathways or Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Both those were torture for us---crying, etc every time she saw the book. In comparison, she would beg for "just another few pages" of ETC.

 

We went through the preprimers at her pace, doing as few or as many pages as she wanted when she wanted, then started on the regular books on a more consistent basis, again doing the number of pages she wanted but regularly presenting it to her. I believe we pulled out the Bob books after ETC 1 and also used Dolch sight word cards to play games. After Bob books, we used a number of the leveled readers from the library. I also made up simple stories for her using the words she had learned along with a few things like names of our pets. I would let her illustrate them after she read them, so that I was certain she was reading from the words, not extrapolating from the illustrations.

 

Around the middle or so of level 2, I happened on a used copy of one of the Dick and Jane treasuries and picked it up on a whim. To my astonishment, this book was a *huge* turning point for my daughter, giving her the confidence to be willing to read aloud to anyone other than me. She did best with a combo of phonics and sight words.

 

We didn't do any additional spelling. After we ended ETC 8, we began Spelling Power and it's going wonderfully. She placed quite high in the series of placement tests. Now she is a natural speller and reading is definitely her strong point, but I think ETC gave her a perfectly good foundation for phonics.

[KarenNC]

We use Phonics Pathways as our main phonics program and ETC as a supplement. By the time my dd got through halfway through ETC 3 she was already a strong reader from PP and ETC suddenly seemed too easy and therefore busywork, so I dropped it.

 

My daughter was a strong reader early on as well (probably around ETC 3/early 4), and I did modify by dropping requiring some of the exercises. I didn't require (but did allow her to do for fun if she wanted) the one where you mark the sentence that fits the picture or the word that fits the picture once it was obvious that that was not something she needed. Sometimes she did them, sometimes not. She liked the silly sentences.

 

Once she was a strong reader, it became more of a spelling program for us. At the end of 4 or 5, I tried changing over to Spelling Power, but she asked to go back to ETC because "it's my favorite!" So we went on and finished the series then tried SP again a year later. SP was much more successful the second time around. It was nice that after about book 3 or so I could give it to her to do independently--a nice confidence boost for her and bit of a break for me.

 

We did also skip the open/closed syllable sections in ETC 4. At the time they were more confusing than helpful for her and we never felt the need to go back and do them.