How to use 100 Easy Lessons

[Mrs Twain]

Rereading the "Worst Homeschool Purchases" thread, I was shocked by how many people listed 100EZ. I consider this the best homeschool purchase I ever made, and I attribute my kids being grade levels ahead in most subjects because they learned to read early with this book.

 

Just in case there is anyone left out there who is still interested to try 100EZ, I thought I would share what I did that I think helped 100EZ work well for teaching all of my kids to read.

 

1. We read books to our kids every day starting at six months old.

 

2. From ages 1-2 y.o., we taught them to recognize the letters and say the alphabet.

 

3. From about 3-4 y.o., we taught the letter sounds. I primarily used the picture on page 11 of What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know book, but you could use anything. I taught the letter sounds the way they are described in the 100EZ parent instructions.

 

4. From anywhere to 3.5 y.o. (only if ready) or 4 y.o. (more likely) to 5 y.o., I started using 100EZ. We did not do any of the writing, and we did the book for only 10-15 minutes maximum per day (unless my child wanted to do more). It took us 9-12 months to finish the book.

 

5. At the end of 100EZ, there are instructions on what to do next. I followed that as well as did a phonics review just to make sure the kids were solid in phonics. I checked out Phonics Pathways from the library, but I think lots of things could work well for phonics review. I made sure to keep practicing sounding out new words, as well as asking reading comprehension questions the same way as in 100EZ.

 

I would encourage people not to give up on this book, or to at least check it out from the library if you are interested. My preschooler is reading chapter books and Elson Readers level 3 for her reading practice now solely because of 100EZ.

 

Hope that helps someone out there in cyberland...

[4everHis]

I have to agree with you. I loved it and used it with five kids who are very different in their personalities and learning styles. I'm trying to imagine our life without 100Easy Lessons.

[Guest SinkorSwim]

I am just beginning with my 4 yr old boys and was surprised when I read the comments for 100EZ. People either seemed to love it or hate it. From the information that you've given it would at leat be a good resource even if I decided to go with something different. Thanks so much for the tips! :thumbup:

[MarieWith3]

It's worked for us as well. It wasn't thrilling (except for the fact that my kids learned to read), but it was steady and solid. The only problem I had was that I tried to push my first one too fast, but that was me, not the text.

 

We've also always skipped the writing. It was too much for the age my children were, both in that they couldn't physically do it well enough, plus if I only had 15 minutes of attention, I wanted to use it on reading, not writing.

[Mergath]

We've used it a bit. The way it has you move your finger under the letters and do the "say it fast" thing helped dd begin to understand how blending works. The problem was that it was just... so... repetitive. After about three sessions, dd started running and screaming when she saw it, lol. It probably didn't help that she knew all the letter sounds and I started at the very beginning.

 

I do think it's a great book. They way it teaches reading is ingenious. Just requires a bit of tweaking for the youngers. I'd love it if they'd come out with "100 EZ Lessons for the Shorter Attention Span." :tongue_smilie:

[Mandylubug]

It didn't work for us. However, my girls were already reading a little bit, recognized sight words and word families and got frustrated with the book. I would think it would work fine if this was what was taught first but wasn't a good choice coming in middle of the process

[pehp]

I SO appreciate this post! My 4.5 yo and I have worked with the book a little (toying around, mostly) but the writing the letters bit was sort of tedious and felt extraneous, and I didn't know what to skip (it's so scripted, I didn't want to 'mess up' and skip something even though he totally got it)---so I really appreciate your insight. Thank you!

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

Thanks for mentioning 100 EZ Lessons! I had to use it with 2 children while I was expecting, and it saved my son from his struggle!!

He was 5 and my dd 3 when I used it and they used magna doodles. We sat on the couch every afternoon and did the lessons. She was ahead of him so I slowed down for him, and she is a voracious reader. ( note: I did not force her to do it, she begged to do it) and she was already reading some words on her own. Now I have 7 children and honestly need to get it out again for a struggling reader.

 

I just read WTM recommendation for using it.. when lesson 60 comes and many 5 year olds get overwhelmed, switch to Phonic Pathways.;)

Hope it works, my dd really wants to read and is havin difficulty remembering phonics lessons.

[kiwimummy]

Yeah - I was amazed to read that thread today and see how many people hated it! I'm glad I didn't read that thread before I bought it, because it would definitely have put me off!

 

We are using this now and DS loves it. We've been very similar to the OP and taught all the letters and letter sounds before starting. DS has flown through it so far up to lesson 65. The first 1-30ish lessons we only spent about 10 minutes to get through them (doing the whole lesson) as it was easy for him and came together quickly. Now since around lesson 60+ we are slowing down and at an appropriately challenging level, the lessons take more like 20-25 min. I think the easy start and getting it all correct easily at the beginning gave him a sense of satisfaction.

 

We do the writing about 1/5th of the time only. We never read the story twice as his comprehension is brilliant and he hates having to do it again. But the book has been a great success and he loves uncovering the picture!

 

I was hesitant to use something scripted like this, that and the type were both off-putting, but it has really worked for us and I'm glad I got it.

 

My DS has just turned 5yrs, and has been wanting to read, and ready to learn for a while but it really wasn't clicking at all until we used this book :001_smile:

[Lily_Grace]

We've used it a bit. The way it has you move your finger under the letters and do the "say it fast" thing helped dd begin to understand how blending works. The problem was that it was just... so... repetitive. After about three sessions, dd started running and screaming when she saw it, lol. It probably didn't help that she knew all the letter sounds and I started at the very beginning.

 

I do think it's a great book. They way it teaches reading is ingenious. Just requires a bit of tweaking for the youngers. I'd love it if they'd come out with "100 EZ Lessons for the Shorter Attention Span." :tongue_smilie:

 

There is a very similar program for active children in the UK, but the mind escapes me now. Basically it's like Montessori and Distar rolled into one. Each child gets a set of a magnetic lowercase tiles to use and play around with during the lessons. They say the sound, trace the sound, hold the sound, put the sound next to another to make a blend.. There's a lot more movement than 100EZ lessons requires.

 

It has been reported to work especially well for boys since they have to be active participants.

[3Blessings]

But at the end of the day, I know that not every program works for every student. I have 2 children that read VERY well and I know that some of that credit goes to 110 EZ lessons. My third is on lesson 86 and she is really taking off. I am a bit obsessive about finishing things and we will go to lesson 100, but I'm not sure we would need to do that.

 

Honestly, I think the op hit on something even more important than which curriculum you use for teaching reading: read to your children from a very young age.

 

If they have positive experiences with reading at a young age, they will likely continue to read as they grow. It starts with the parents.

[MistyMountain]

I'm using it with dd right now and I like it. I started with funnix but my computer crashed and I found a copy of 100 EL at a thrift store. I started at the lesson where they started with words. The way they teach them to blend helped the switch go off for dd and she was able to finally sound out words. I am a little more than halfway through it. I don't know where dd will be when we end. She makes mistakes sometimes and needs to sound out most words but she is doing good overall and she doesn't mind doing it and the lesson don't take long at all. She is doing much better then before we started it. I like the scripted lessons. I also leave out the writing part and do handwriting during handwriting time not phonics instruction.

[happypamama]

I tried 100 Easy Lessons with my DD, but it wasn't really her thing. She took off reading on her own very quickly and at a very young age. I tried it this year with my 6yo son, and he thrived on it. We skipped the writing part, and I didn't necessarily read it just as it was scripted, but I really liked that pretty much right away, he could read a short word, and he was so proud of himself. He also appreciates that the stories are humorous.

[momto2Cs]

We're using ClickN'Read Phonics, which is based heavily off of 100 Easy Lessons, for my dd8 who has difficulties learning to read, and it is working! I tried the book, but for some reason she is doing far better with the computer/animated approach.

 

I too have seen a lot of negative comments on it, but since it is working where nothing else really has, I cannot complain.