give_me_a_latte Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 My son finished HOP awhile ago. He does daily reading, and his reading level is quite advanced (I'm guessing high 3rd to mid 4th grade). But I'm noticing he's stumbling on big words. Sometimes I can get him to figure them out just by slowing down and taking it piece by piece. But others he isn't getting because he doesn't really know the "rules" for sounding them out. I plan to use AAS this Fall, and I know he'll get more exposure to rules there....but is there anything else that I can use to help him with advanced reading? I'm looking at HOP Master Reader (which I sort of hesitate on because I really wasn't impressed with the regular HOP)....or maybe Megawords (but I worry it may be a little too advanced). Oh! And I also have Wordly Wise 3000 which we'll start next week....so that may help too. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2smartones Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Explode the Code. I used it with both of mine, and they ate it up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALB Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I agree with Explode the Code. You may even want to go through the last 1/4 or so of OPGTR to build up those skills and fluency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
give_me_a_latte Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Thanks...I hadn't even thought about ETC but it really does look like it would fit our needs. I was also considering getting OPGTR, but wasn't sure if it would be overkill. But I think I will. It will at least show me the specific phonograms he needs work on, and then I can use ETC to help with that. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I used REWARDS Intermediate with my early reading son when he was at that stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
give_me_a_latte Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 I used REWARDS Intermediate with my early reading son when he was at that stage. Haven't heard of that one. I can't find any samples online...just a description (which sounds GREAT!) Can you tell me a little more about this program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 It reviews vowel sounds and then teaches common prefixes and suffixes in isolation (tion, re, pro, etc). Then it teaches kids to sound words out in chunks (rather than strict syllables). So they do this with words, then they read sentences and passages with these longer words in them. There is also a fluency component with repeated readings. It's a remedial program, but it works for accelerated kids too. It's short and sweet, with 25 lessons. The first 10-15 are easily done in one go, and the last ones have a longer passages which make them take longer (so I sometimes split those lessons over two days). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I used REWARDS Intermediate with my early reading son when he was at that stage. I'm looking at this too, do you need the pricey TM or can you do it with just the student book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 You need the TM as the student book doesn't make sense without it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
give_me_a_latte Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 Where is a good place to buy REWARDS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 I always bought it from the publisher (Sopris West, now called something else, I think). But I've seen used copies of the TM on Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2smartones Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 Let me also add that you won't need teacher manuals or half-level workbooks in ETC for a very gifted reader. Just go through the section and/or final reviews first, find any problem areas, back-track to the lessons that taught the problem skill, and move on. We started with book 4 when my oldest was 3 (already reading quite well, but I was worried there would be gaps, because I'd never heard of a 2 year old reader before). He finished 4 through 8 in about 8 weeks all on his own, after which we had him tested, and found that he was able to read (not comprehend) 10th grade material. When my younger came along, I started earlier, and started with the first book, but found that he learned better (due to attention span) by simply reading books aloud with me. After his attention span caught up, we were again able to start in the middle of the series like I did with the older one, and rush through to pick up the phonics that are used less often or have odd-ball rules. I was going to use MegaWords with my older, but once we finished ETC, I realized he didn't need MegaWords. He was bored with it. After about age 4, both kids could read and spell pretty much anything, so we never worked on that stuff again (other than spelling words that aren't phonetic). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
give_me_a_latte Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 Let me also add that you won't need teacher manuals or half-level workbooks in ETC for a very gifted reader. Thank you! I looked at the TOC for each book and I think we need to start around level 6. I was wondering about the TMs, but figured since I'm just using them for review I probably didn't need them. Thanks for the reassurance on that! I think I've finally decided to just get OPGTR and those last few ETC workbooks....and see where that takes us. It's a lot cheaper then REWARDS ;-) Interesting about your experience with Megawords being boring...I was thinking it would be a nice follow-up. I'll have to keep that in mind. My son can read pretty much anything you put in front of him....he just makes a lot of guesses with big words. I think since he flew through HOP at such a young age, and since HOP isn't really very thorough, he just needs a refresher on some of the phonics rules. And I don't want to wait until we get to each of those rules in AAS. So hopefully this combo will do the trick! Thanks everyone for your advice!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2smartones Posted April 14, 2012 Share Posted April 14, 2012 (edited) *I* didn't think it was boring, but my son did. :lol: Don't buy the whole set. Just get the first book and decide if you like it. Edited April 14, 2012 by 2smartones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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