AimeeM Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 My 3 year old DS has flown through his letters and much of his phonics. I'm not really sure where to go after this. I have the Explode books but they are FAR too writing intensive for him (he has typical fine motor skills for a young 3 year old). What programs are there (other than Starfall) that can give him *more* in phonics (as he wants) but isn't writing intensive? In other words, I'm not looking for a program that requires him draw a circle around "fish" or write the letter "F"; I have a program for that when he is ready - he just isn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOver Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 My three year old started Explode the Code, if she can't just mark the answers I will scribe for her. I haven't let her writing hold her back. She is just starting to write now at 4.6 years old. She has completed ETC through 4, and is reading at a solid 2nd grade level. She is doing Singapore 1 math, and All About Spelling 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleAMom Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Sounds like he's ready to start reading early readers, working on sight words, and learning word families. At his age, IMO, you don't need a program to move him ahead. I think he'd benefit more from games and activities to further his pre-reading skills. I did a write-up on my blog about activities and games you can do to progress a child from phonics to reading, if you're interested here is the link. I'm sure there are lots wonderful blogs out there with tons of resources. Good Luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennynd Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 My younger also start ETC at age 3. She scribble whatever she want as long as she answer the question orally correctly. We didn't keep going because I found it getting quite boring. We started Hooked on Phonic shortly before she turned 4 and she did really really well with it. She finished the whole set (1st through second grade) in 6 months. you can find the older version on ebay quite cheap. I bought both new and old version because the newer version has better and longer story than old version. She really love those story books and award chart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Yep, we did ETC either completely orally or I would scribe for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy_of_4 Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 You might look at phonics pathways. It is all done orally and only around $25 or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbotoast Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 DS liked this game a lot when he was about 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Hooked on Phonics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 I have some ideas for you here on my blog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Reading Bear requires no handwriting. It doesn't even require you to know how to sound out words. You can adjust the settings to your child's level. At the most basic level it will demonstrate how to sound out simple CVC words. It is free too. http://www.readingbear.org My daughter loves it. FWIW, I also use a phonics workbook with her. However, I do require writing so it is more on her writing level than her reading level. Using both works well here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2smartones Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 My kids flew through ETC at that age. We just didn't do the writing. If an answer needed to be circled or X'd, they could scribble that part down, but otherwise, we hopped and skipped through all the whole-numbered books, doing only about 1/4 of each lesson if necessary. Those books have a ton of unnecessary repetition for fast learners. I knew if they could do the review and the post tests, there wasn't much point in doing the lessons. We skipped huge chunks at the beginning and slowed down on the last couple of books. From there, we never did phonics instruction again. I started working on tricky spelling words with them (non-phonetic or multiple pre/suffixes, for example) when they were 4. I LOVE ETC, but that doesn't mean we plodded along through every single page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syllieann Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Your reasoning is exactly why we're using AAR for my 3yo ds. It doesn't require writing. The activity book is cut and paste or bingo or other such games. I usually cut them out myself and when there is pasting (or taping if you wish) involved he takes great pleasure in doing that part. OPGTR also doesn't require writing from the student but ds would freak out if he had to do his reading right in the parent page so that was a definite no for us but you might consider it. I *think* one could use dancing bears without writing. There is a bit of tracing in level A but it doesn't appear to be integral to the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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