Guest IdahoMtnMom Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 DS4 is reading CVC words. He has bee using Starfall for about 6 weeks. What is the most logical step for him to follow the WAY he has been taught on Starfall... since it seems to be working. I have been looking at McRuffy K, Rod and Staff Reading/Phonics 1, and (hiding) SCM Delightful Reading... I need to buy something this week so we can start the day after halloween! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 My oldest learned to read using starfall. I personally wouldn't recommend using a curriculum exactly like starfall, as you'll be missing some phonics. I use Webster's Speller (free!) with my 4 year old, and he also plays starfall, but I want the phonics to be first and foremost. He can do open and closed syllables, as well as cvc words now. We'll get to silent e soon, and I don't think he'll have trouble with the long vowel sounds because of Webster's. Starfall teaches some things that aren't true, like the two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking. That's why I'm filing in with real phonics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JABarney Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 (edited) I agree with the pp. I first used Hooked on Phonics for my then 4 years olds, but it too, was missing things. We then did Explode the Code online and they LOVED, it and so did I. They are both 8 now and reading at 7th grade plus. I belive Explode the Code is only 65.00 a year and maybe cheaper through the homeschool buyers coop. (that membership is free and has saved us tons here) Best of luck! Edited October 25, 2011 by JABarney should proof for spelling as I insist dc do! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Cat phonics has a lot of games and is free, you could try it out! http://www.catphonics.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/contents.htm I also like Webster's Speller from a white board in big letters for a young student, supplemented with games. At 4, both of my children were also capable (but my son had no interest, he waited until 5!) of supplementing with the online game/phonics program of Read, write, type, they both enjoyed it. It goes a bit further than starfall. My phonics concentration game is also good to start at that age: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristinannie Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I cannot recommend Struggling Reader highly enough. You teach phonics through games. DS5 has made giant leaps in reading through this program. You can buy it complete with testing created by a reading specialist to look for holes in their phonics, but you don't need that if you don't want it. You can buy the activity book seperately. We were slogging through MCP Plaid Phonics and also attempted ETC which DS5 completely hated. I had already purchased Struggling Reader Phonics, but kids need to be able to read CVC words before it is really helpful. So, I shelved it for a few months. It is amazing. I am so shocked by how quickly he is picking up reading with little or no effort! I think it is a great way for a younger child to learn to read. Their phonemic awareness and sight words programs are also great. I know a lot of people are completely against sight words, but I am going to start teaching those after he has a little bit of a stronger hold on the phonics. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Here are a couple of examples of the games: For beginning consonant blends, we play the flashlight game. I wrote the blends (fr, cl, bl, dr, etc) on notecards and we go in a big walking closet. We turn out the lights and he moves the flashlight around until he hits a card. He says a word that begins with that blend. For silent e words, we play red light green light. If the word is a silent e word, he takes a step forward. If it is not, he stays put. He was having a lot of trouble with long vowel and short vowel sounds before we started playing some of the silent e games. After a couple of weeks, he just knows how they sound. He can sound out a lot of words using the blends as well and he can easily blend other letters in the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jallison25 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 we've done a combination of things but we did really like www.headsprout.com my son is very technology oriented and was in tears every day when we would do OPGTR. after doing the first 40 in headsprout he was ready and more importanly willing to go back to OPGTR :) and, he did know all his letters and sounds when we originally tried OPGTR, just didn't work for him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aloha2U Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 DS4 is reading CVC words. He has bee using Starfall for about 6 weeks. What is the most logical step for him to follow the WAY he has been taught on Starfall... since it seems to be working. I have been looking at McRuffy K, Rod and Staff Reading/Phonics 1, and (hiding) SCM Delightful Reading... I need to buy something this week so we can start the day after halloween! Hello, neighbor! Well, sort of. We're up in the panhandle. ;) Have you considered Spell to Write and Read? SWR is what we've used from the very beginning, and still continue to use. I highly recommend it, and have many links about it on my blog (click on Links --> scroll to Phonics/Handwriting/Spelling/Beginning Reading located under Language Arts). No... I'm not an affiliate, in case you're wondering, I'm just a big fan. :thumbup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PRTGSw2K Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 We're enjoying using Phonics Pathways and the ETC books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 We're using ETC 1 and some Happy Phonics/similar games with The Drama who is in the same place. I also bought the first set of BOB books, and she is thrilled to have books she can read by herself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 The I See Sam books are also good for that age: http://www.marriottmd.com/sam/index.html My son likes to color them in after he reads them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acurtis75 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Another vote for ETC. It's inexpensive and easy to use and very effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 I like Phonics Pathways and ETC. Very straightforward, thorough and it gets the job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeymama07 Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 We have Phonics Pathway which so far is working well for us. And I signed up today for Explode the Code online - I signed up ON A homeschool coop thing thats free to sign up for and paid half price for it (I think there is only 10 months of membership enstead of 12 but for the savings its still an awesome deal :001_smile:) heres the co-op thingy I signed on its free to join https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/index.php?option=com_hsbc_epp_order&Itemid=896&c=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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