OPGTR vs 100 EZ Lessons for a 4.5 Year Old

[Bloggermom]

I am wondering which of the two would work better for a 4 1/2 year old boy. Anyone have experience using these with younger kids?

[Lots of boys]

I started OPGTR when my son had just turned 5 (that same month). I skipped through the first 30 lessons as he knew his letter sounds really well. It has gone fine - he is picking up on everything really well. It is a little dry for him so I write the words on a white board (and the small stories and he gets to erase them as he reads them (which keeps him interested). He hated reading directly from the book!!

 

I have no experience with 100 easy lessons but I think you could use OPGTR with a 4.5 year old successfully.

[caedmyn]

I don't think 100 EZ is popular around here, but it worked well for us. I taught her the sounds using OPGTR and went through maybe 20 lessons after that, but she didn't like the book. The stories aren't really geared for young kids IMO and she just wasn't very interested in them. We switched to 100 EZ and she was much happier with it--I think the pictures really helped. Plus the stories are more interesting. I did modify the lessons some so as not to be reading the same thing over and over.

[chepyl]

I only have experience with 100EZ lessons. I used in with my 4 year old. We flew through the first 20 lessons or so. I skipped all of the writing and most of the back and forth scripted portion. We just did the sounds and other reading. We read the Bob Books with it as well. He was done with the book within a couple of months and reading at a second grade level. I followed the suggestions for transition reading in the back of the book and now, 2 years later he is at an 6th-7th grade reading level.

[Mrs Twain]

I did 100 EZ with all of my kids, including my youngest who started it at 3.5 years old. I didn't do any of the writing portion, and I only spent 10-15 minutes per day maximum working on it so as not to get my kids tired or frustrated with it. It took 9-12 months to complete the book that way, which is a fine amount of time IMO since the child will be at about the 1st-2nd grade reading level after finishing the book.

 

I think 100EZ is fabulous! My kids are all voracious readers.

 

Some people say that the phonics is somewhat incomplete in 100EZ. After finishing 100EZ, I checked out Phonics Pathways from the library and tested my kids' knowledge of phonics to see if there were any areas in which we needed extra practice.

 

HTH

[birchbark]

We are happy 100EZ users. I used it with great success with my 10yo when he was learning and I am currently going through it with my 4 1/2 yr old. They love the silly stories and the picture. We also skip the writing lessons.

[3Blessings]

I have used 100 EZ Lessons for the oldest two and they are both excellent readers. I am now using it with dd4 and she is really coming along (we're on lesson 70). It will depend on the child, but it took us almost no time to complete it. We did skip the writing portion.

 

I also use Bob Books to give her a sense of "reading a book". She loves it. Lately she's been sounding out things on water bottles, cereal boxes, billboards as we go down the highway, etc.

 

I know it isn't popular here on the boards, and I would suggest that you'll need to continue with some phonics (suggestion: Explode The Code) after you are done. But the goal for me has been: get them reading fast and well. 100 EZ Lessons has done that for us.

[RootAnn]

I think whichever one you pick (or if you pick another option not named up to this point), the important thing is to realize you don't have to follow it exactly as written.

 

I've used 100EZ with my three kids. I didn't completely finish it with my second. My first kid finished it, but wasn't really "reading" like they figured she would be at the end. My third is on Lesson 81.

 

I, too, skip the writing stuff completely.

 

Don't feel compelled to do everything exactly the way it says to do it - either with OPGTR or 100EZ. There are a lot of other phonics programs out there. If you have a good library, check out some books & see which method resonates with you. That's a good first step. Then, adapt it to your kid's preferred learning method.

 

And stick to 15 minutes MAX (unless they are begging for more) each sit-down. If it doesn't seem to be "working," give it a rest for a month or three.

 

Good luck!

[TengoFive]

I've used both with different kids, 100 EZ Lessons with the first two and OPGTTR for the next two. I have had much better results with OPGTTR. With 100 EZ Lessons, it was like they hit a brick wall at one point or another. With OPGTTR there was never what felt like a dead end, they just took off with it.

[Murrayshire]

We have used both and are still using OPGTR. My sons own words, "Do we have to do the Big Yellow Book?" So, that was occuring quite frequently when I decided to end 100EZ and start with OPGTR....No problems now! He is learning alot and now enjoys going to the library with his sisters to pick out his own reading books....Before using OPGTR, he wasn't interested in reading, just being read to. Now, he's taking off with it and I'm loving the change!

Every program works differently for each child, as you know....I like the approach in OPGTR....we also use Fun Tales, BoB books, sight word readers, and any early reader from the library that interests ds, now 6 years old in K!

[Mommie_Jen]

I Am doing OPGTR with my 4 yr old who will be 5 in March. He knows all his letters and sounds, but we are still going over the beginning lessons to help boost his confidence. I am making the change to doing the lessons on our board as well, and can't wait until Christmas for him to get his whiteboard easel so we can use that!

[morosophe]

I'm doing 100EZ for the second time with my second son, who just turned four. I agree with the time limits, with not repeating things, etc. I did buy my son the Wikki Stix alphabet cards so that he could have practice making the shapes. I'm not giving him those until Christmas, though--until then, he's practicing by tracing the shape of the letter on an index card with his pointer finger. (I got that idea from Teach Your Child to Read in Just Ten Minutes a Day.)

 

As a previous poster suggested, we did some Explode the Code (books 4-6) after 100EZ (because it was suggested by SL LA, actually,) but although he enjoyed doing the workbooks, I'm not sure he actually learned anything from them. Now we're doing All About Spelling, so I'm not too worried about him "missing out" on phonics.

[go_go_gadget]

My daughter started OPGTR at 4.5 with no problems, and my son started at 5.5 but could easily have started sooner. I have no experience with 100EZ, though.

[KristenR]

I started OPGTR with my dd when she had just turned 4. She skipped the first lessons on letter sounds since she already knew them. We LOVE it and are getting close to finishing the book up. I am amazed with how wonderfully she reads, comprehends, and retains.

[Sarah CB]

I think the OPGTR looks great, but I had already used 100 EZ with great success when it first came out. I'm using 100 EZ for the fourth time right now and he's enjoying the stories and getting near the end of the book. It can be dry if you let it. We always had a fun time with it - dd loved the say-it-slow/say-it-fast parts. All of them have loved guessing what is going to be in the picture. Ds thinks the stories are really funny and loves it when there is a part 2 to look forward to.

 

My three older kids are dedicated readers. They read daily, for long periods of time, for pleasure.