eloquacious Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 My son, who is 3.5 and has been known to decode individual words as complex as sailboat but has previously snubbed his nose at books, is in love with the Sam Books. He begs me for more. He reads them almost as quickly as I print them out (via Readinglessons.com). He is very nearly through the first two series/first 52 books, so I ordered BRI 3 and ARI 1 from 3rsplus.com I only wish they weren't so expensive! Sigh. Need to get my hands on ARI 2-5 used. ;) Anywho, from someone who looked at them and thought they were a) lame and b) sight words based, they are totally not. They are far better organized than the Bob books, though we are now using the Sam books in conjunction with the Bob books. They are super gentle. Because they aren't super challenging, we don't read each book more than once. I am mildly concerned about the jump from BRI 3 to ARI 1 (or set 3 to set 4 from Iseesam.com), but otherwise, I love, love, love them ... mainly because my son loves them. I thought the pictures were pointless, but they really aren't. When your vocabulary is limited to "He needs it," etc., that can be made to mean SO MANY things in context - and that's what makes those basic sentences so fun for him. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joy at Home Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 Do you have a link:001_smile: My son, who is 3.5 and has been known to decode individual words as complex as sailboat but has previously snubbed his nose at books, is in love with the Sam Books. He begs me for more. He reads them almost as quickly as I print them out (via Readinglessons.com). He is very nearly through the first two series/first 52 books, so I ordered BRI 3 and ARI 1 from 3rsplus.com I only wish they weren't so expensive! Sigh. Need to get my hands on ARI 2-5 used. ;) Anywho, from someone who looked at them and thought they were a) lame and b) sight words based, they are totally not. They are far better organized than the Bob books, though we are now using the Sam books in conjunction with the Bob books. They are super gentle. Because they aren't super challenging, we don't read each book more than once. I am mildly concerned about the jump from BRI 3 to ARI 1 (or set 3 to set 4 from Iseesam.com), but otherwise, I love, love, love them ... mainly because my son loves them. I thought the pictures were pointless, but they really aren't. When your vocabulary is limited to "He needs it," etc., that can be made to mean SO MANY things in context - and that's what makes those basic sentences so fun for him. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted November 9, 2011 Share Posted November 9, 2011 I just started these also. I was surprised that even when the only words used are "I", "see", and "Sam", my son is still interested. That wasn't the case with Bob books. I am reading them more than once, as I want to build fluency as we move forward. Today, on the first book, my son started to add inflection when there was a question mark. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eloquacious Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 (edited) Yes, the question mark expression, and exclamation mark expression, is awesome! I find that we don't need to read them more than once because the words themselves repeat so much, but then my son does read them on his own in the wee hours. Yes, he is a nice apprentice nerd: he gets up at 5:15 or 5:20, long before his brother and parents, and reads his Sam and Bob books, and "reads" other books. The books can be purchased here: http://www.iseesam.com, or here: 3rsplus.com (I bought sets 3 and 4 from the latter). The first 52 books (roughly equivalent to sets 1 and 2 from IseeSam.com and BRI 1 and 2 from 3rsplus.com can also be printed for free via readinglessons.com (sign up for free, follow the links) or http://www.marriottmd.com/sam/index.html (scanned copies of original books) I am such a nerd that I am going through the free downloads and reformatting them to be a nicer booklet, with a colored card stock cover to match the booklets I bought via 3rsplus.com Because it's quite a bit of work, I'm printing out five sets and giving some to friends for Christmas. Even after buying a long-reach stapler and using nice card stock and nice printer paper, I'm still waaay ahead. (About $7 or $8 for each set of 52 books, or $10 after I add in the cost of the stapler.) Edited November 10, 2011 by eloquacious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eloquacious Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 So it looks like my son will finish ARI 1 before Christmas, and I went ahead and ordered the remaining book sets. I estimate they will take us until next September or thereabouts, and will leave him (according to this scope and sequence, put out by the other Sam Books publisher http://iseesam.com/downloads/LB_scope_sequence.pdf) at a mid third-grade reading level. Add in the Master Reader stories we've got and some more advanced work with OPGTR, and he should be at a mid-4th to 5th grade level before he enters Kindergarten. (My husband does not support homeschooling, only before- and after-schooling.) Given that the school we intend to send him to uses Riggs Phonics (a Spalding spin-off), I wasn't really concerned about their teaching methods, but I do think he'll be sufficiently "school-proofed" by then, at least as far as reading. :) I LOVE the Sam Books, and yes it required some Christmas money to get them, but I'm okay with that. We have at least one other son, and hopefully there'll be another child soon. After that, we can resell (or hold on to them to tutor other children). :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbkaren Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 My son is 6, and loves them! There's just a bit of humor in the pictures vs the words on the page that he really enjoys. In other books I have to stop him and repeat the "punchline" before he'll get the humor in something because he's busy with the mechanics of reading and can't just enjoy what he's reading about. These books allow him to read, comprehend, and be "in on the joke". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 Yep, we love them here too! Because they have lots of phonetic reading practice. They are a little spendy, but have been worth it. They are a little cheaper from 3R's Plus, because they print on demand. It does take more time through, because you have both printing and shipping time. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flaura Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I love these books as well! My dd and 2nd ds both learned to read with them and it was a fun and gentle way to get them reading well in K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted December 10, 2011 Share Posted December 10, 2011 I learned to read with Sam books when I was four. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eloquacious Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 The remaining Sam Books series, a present from great-grandparents, are on their way. I received my shipping notice yesterday, and you can bet I'll be stalking the mail box. A little sad that I'm SO EXCITED about a simple curriculum mail delivery. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eloquacious Posted December 15, 2011 Author Share Posted December 15, 2011 Be careful if they are a surprise and you ordered directly from ISEESAM.com as SAM is written and pictured on the side of the box. Ha! Thanks, but they are a Christmas present only in the sense of being funded by great grandparents' money. Also, we ordered from 3rsplus.com, as they are a little cheaper and have a great online community (Yahoo groups). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 My DS is almost 6 and we are LOVING these books. I wrote a blog post about them for anyone interested, here. There are pictures of the higher level books too. I bought directly from I See Sam and found them very helpful and efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tammyw Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 My DS is almost 6 and we are LOVING these books. I wrote a blog post about them for anyone interested, here. There are pictures of the higher level books too. I bought directly from I See Sam and found them very helpful and efficient. My son is 5.5 and less interested in learning to read. DD was very interested and now an excellent reader. She did Bob books and online programs. He's not that interested in either :( I wonder if I should try these? If yes, what should I buy to start with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eloquacious Posted December 20, 2011 Author Share Posted December 20, 2011 To try them, I'd look into the free ones. There are various places, ranging from photocopied originals (http://www.marriottmd.com/sam/) to nicer re-scanned ones at readinglessons.com, to an in-process digital/online version at readingteacher.com That being said, the first 52 are more... confidence builders? We zoomed through those, sometimes reading 5 or 6 a day. After that, you can buy further sets at iseesam.com or 3rsplus.com. I purchased sets 3-8 at 3rsplus.com, and the last four sets just arrived today. You can see samples of the later books on their web site, and it's cool to see where the series goes after the introductory sets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanMom Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I learned to read from these books before I started school! I do love them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Kiddos Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I am so grateful to you ladies for posting all of this. My 3 1/2 year old son has been begging me to learn to read and I was wondering if these books might be just the things for him. And, if so, how do you use them? Do you follow the lessons on readinglessons.com? Do you use the guide iseesams.com? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littleWMN Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 I'm using these for my special needs daughter (just turned 6). We are only on the second book but I'm STUNNED she can blend the words. Stunned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 (edited) I also am a big fan. My son has taken 6 months to get through the first 3 sets of books. A book every week or so and then review has been his speed. He is successful and he is reading! He is more of a struggling reader but he doesn't seem like a struggling reader with these books. They don't go too fast for him. I am also a member of the yahoo group Beginning-Reading-Instruction. I don't do any guides. My son just reads the books. I tell him a sound if he doesn't know it, and will cover up a word and uncover sounds one at a time if he is having trouble blending. He can get flustered sometimes and just start saying sounds in random order. Edited December 20, 2011 by Lecka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 I am so grateful to you ladies for posting all of this. My 3 1/2 year old son has been begging me to learn to read and I was wondering if these books might be just the things for him. And, if so, how do you use them? Do you follow the lessons on readinglessons.com? Do you use the guide iseesams.com? Thanks! Welcome to Hive! I have some ideas about how to start teaching 3 year olds to read here on my blog. I had mainly used Bob books when my son was that age, but only because I had forgotten about Sam books. Sam books were what my mom used to teach me. I might buy them for my daughter when she is ready, if the Bob books don't work out for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Well, we've done 7 of the first set, I think (we're taking it VERY slow - DS can blend all day long, but it's taking a lot longer to go from blending to READING). DS still loves these! :D He's doing great with them. How I use them... First, we've been through Webster's Syllabary (the beginning, not the whole thing!) up to the CVC words section, so he knows long vowel for open syllable ("me") and short vowel for closed syllable ("sis"). I just had to teach the "ee" phonogram that first day before we started, and then he was able to handle everything just fine. I use a "cursor" (card with a rectangle cut out of the corner) to show just the word we're reading. That helps him a lot. To learn more about using that, go read the materials on the Sound Foundations site for Dancing Bears (their samples are full books with info about using the cursor). We periodically pull out a book we've already read. It will be a while before we get through the first 52 free ones (I'm using the scanned version), but we're not in a hurry. He's just "K4" right now. ;) I haven't ordered anything yet, since I don't know if we'll need to. DS may take off by time he gets to book #52, or he may keep this slow turtle pace. If it's the latter, I'll go ahead and get the next couple sets. DS1 never even went through this slow, sounding out phase, so DS2 is making up for it. :D He's been able to blend for a year now. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEJE Posted December 23, 2011 Share Posted December 23, 2011 Thank you! My 4 year old wants to learn to read, and these look like a great addition to our Bob books :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lindsrae Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 Thank you for posting about this! I've been printing 2+ books a day for my four-year-old! I am so pleased by how much she is enjoying these and how the gentle review helps her move beyond painfully sounding out each word!! I don't know if anyone knows this, but if the first 53 books are in the public domain, what aren't the rest of them? Shouldn't we be able to download all of them for free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eloquacious Posted January 26, 2012 Author Share Posted January 26, 2012 Read the beginning of this article - I'm not sure how authoritative it is, but it's the best explanation I've seen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mitartep/draft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I think Dick Schultz was involved in the original I See Sam books, and his company now sells an expanded version. There is a bit about it here on his website: http://www.3rsplus.com/about_3rsplus.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 I have never heard of these but have been looking around for readers for my younger crowd. Thanks so much for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted January 26, 2012 Share Posted January 26, 2012 We loved these books SO much more than bob books! My dd6.5 responded SO well to these books! I will be pulling them out for ds to start using soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisMorgan Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 You may be interested to know that ReadingTeacher.com is in the process of updating the 'I See Sam' series for the digital age by producing animated interactive stories for the first 52 books. There are quizzes are the end of the stories to test comprehension and results for the quizzes can be tracked in the Teacher/Parent section of the website. There are currently 32 books for immediate access and they are free. You can also download the printed books as PDFs from the website, also free. http://www.readingteacher.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eloquacious Posted May 18, 2012 Author Share Posted May 18, 2012 You may be interested to know that ReadingTeacher.com is in the process of updating the 'I See Sam' series for the digital age by producing animated interactive stories for the first 52 books. There are quizzes are the end of the stories to test comprehension and results for the quizzes can be tracked in the Teacher/Parent section of the website. There are currently 32 books for immediate access and they are free. You can also download the printed books as PDFs from the website, also free. http://www.readingteacher.com We've discussed the online Sam books on this forum before. In fact, I was the one who mentioned them. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=325323&highlight=readingteacher There is some concern that they might read to sight reading the words, but I believe that, used in conjunction with the readers available at readinglessons.com and the Sam Marriott page, they could be a great motivational tool. (As in: read it here and then we'll read it online and see the characters move.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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