Sell me (or talk me out of) Dancing Bears

[Amy Jo]

My 10yo (as many know) has struggled with every step of reading. We've done V/V, Blend Phonics, SWR, Elizabeth's Phonics Lessons, and some word visualization. I want to get to fluency for him. He knows many short words by sight (esp. SWR ones) and can blend. He's not as good with longer words or less common phonograms. Sometimes he will guess based on the first letter. I'm not sure if it's fluency (sight reading) or word-attack skills he needs. He does read with expression, but very slowly. He has read some Boxcar Children books and is currently reading Animal Stories by Emma Serl. We are using AO year 4, and either I read aloud or he uses an audio book - his comprehension is good.

 

Personality wise, he doesn't do directions, he doesn't slow down and observe. He builds massive, intricate things with legos (currently a ship 2+ ft long and over a foot high) from what he sees in books or on the computer. He made a complete knight suit with cardboard and baling twine last summer. He is a hands-on type of boy (but not wiggly - he can focus very well).

 

So...

Is Dancing Bears a miracle cure?

Is it better than buddy readings or Webster's Speller?

Is Dancing Bears easy to use? I can grab the book, call DS over and start without planning/preparing/etc.?

Will DB interfere with SWR? (SWR is working for him.)

If you've used DB (I'm looking at Fast Track) what books was your child able to read aloud comfortably upon finishing?

How long did it take to finish?

Did you go onto book C, and if so, what were the results?

 

If you have a great idea other than DB, please tell me. But keep in mind the ~$30 for DB is probably close to all I can pull from the next paycheck.

 

Oh, and DS's eyes have been checked by a COVD doctor. I haven't done other testing because he has made slow, steady progress. I really need him to be reading, and I think he needs some success in this area too. I have read about the stories in DB, and don't think they will bother us. I'd like DS to have a few chuckles actually.

[Gentlemommy]

:lurk5:Because I'm looking at all the material from that site...

[Cynful]

Not sure if it will help, but I will tell you what we're doing and the progress.

 

My son, like yours, has always struggled with reading and spelling. He does have learning disabilities though due to being born 10 weeks early. He's 15 now and doing better though still working hard at it. We had tried lots of different programs too. Since he's 15 and coming down to the wire, I decided to cover all bases and use Barton Reading and Spelling *AND* Dancing Bears/Apples and Pears. While we are using both and I can't say definitively which has helped the most, I feel that Dancing Bears/Apples and Pears has been the most helpful for him of the two.

 

One of the things you do with DB is to use a cursor card to isolate the individual sounds as he goes along - this might help your son focus on the little details that he needs. It slows everything down at first, but has really helped my son and it stops guessing. For example, "meet" you would show the m then the ee then the t as he blends them together slowly. It gets faster but that's just to show you.

 

My son just has so much trouble remembering all of the rules in Barton though I think the phonemic awareness exercises at Level 1 were fantastic. I'd recommend that to anyone just to make sure they've got it though I really like Literacy Leaders better for phonemic awareness.

 

Hope that helps. Good luck.

[coffeegal]

My 10yo (as many know) has struggled with every step of reading. We've done V/V, Blend Phonics, SWR, Elizabeth's Phonics Lessons, and some word visualization. I want to get to fluency for him. He knows many short words by sight (esp. SWR ones) and can blend. He's not as good with longer words or less common phonograms. Sometimes he will guess based on the first letter. I'm not sure if it's fluency (sight reading) or word-attack skills he needs. He does read with expression, but very slowly. He has read some Boxcar Children books and is currently reading Animal Stories by Emma Serl. We are using AO year 4, and either I read aloud or he uses an audio book - his comprehension is good.

 

So...

Is Dancing Bears a miracle cure? :grouphug:No, but it does work.

 

Is Dancing Bears easy to use? I can grab the book, call DS over and start without planning/preparing/etc.? Yes, it's very easy to use. There are flash cards to be used with the book, but dd and I set those up as we went.

 

Will DB interfere with SWR? (SWR is working for him.) I don't think so. When we switched to DB, I also moved dd in Apples and Pears spelling because nothing was working for her.

 

If you've used DB (I'm looking at Fast Track) what books was your child able to read aloud comfortably upon finishing? We finished Fast Track AB in Spring of 2011, and Dd's reading had definitely improved. :001_smile: She read 5 books that summer.

 

How long did it take to finish? We took about a school year with Fast Track AB, and a school year with C.

 

Did you go onto book C, and if so, what were the results? We finished C this last school year. Results: :party: She's reading well! Read 30 or 40 books (I forget) for the summer reading program! Doing great with TOG's reading and reading books on her own. Reading isn't a concern any longer.

 

Oh, and DS's eyes have been checked by a COVD doctor. I haven't done other testing because he has made slow, steady progress. I really need him to be reading, and I think he needs some success in this area too. I have read about the stories in DB, and don't think they will bother us. I'd like DS to have a few chuckles actually.

DD and I enjoyed the stories. They motivated dd to read up to the story, so we could read the next 'chapter'. :D

[woolybear]

:lurk5: since I have an almost 10 yo struggling reader. I don't know anything about this program so I can't help there. I do know with my older ds (similar time frame) he struggled and struggled and then one day just got it. He was 10+ by then. I'm not sure if I should wait this one out or do something like DB. Off to check out DB.......:auto:

[woolybear]

Back again. Hope this isn't hijacking. Sorry if it is. If you get the Fast Track AB will you definitely end up needing the C book down the line? Also, is it really important to do Apples and Pears concurrently or would it make sense to do that later? I'm not sure if I want to add both in at this time, due to $$ and time and just being new stuff.

 

:bigear: Thanks for any help.

[coffeegal]

Back again. Hope this isn't hijacking. Sorry if it is. If you get the Fast Track AB will you definitely end up needing the C book down the line? Also, is it really important to do Apples and Pears concurrently or would it make sense to do that later? I'm not sure if I want to add both in at this time, due to $$ and time and just being new stuff.

 

:bigear: Thanks for any help.

 

C completes the reading program that Fast Track AB begins. It teaches the advance phonics. Personally, I wouldn't skip it.

 

I don't believe it is important to do Apples and Pears concurrently. We did, but I didn't think one required the other. :001_smile:

[kitten18]

I don't have any experience with it yet, but I just ordered Dancing Bears A for DS (7) and Apples and Pears A for DD (9).

 

DD seems to read well but sometimes I'm just not sure about her word attack skills.:confused: I do plan on having her go quickly through Dancing Bears (I didn't order Fast Track since I need the full program for DS).

 

My order will come next week and I wrote up a couple lessons for DS on notebook paper for DS this week and it went really well.

 

 

I have high hopes for Apples and Pears, I really think that this is how *I* spell and I soooo hope it works for DD. AAS is not working for her at all. Too many rules and she has no confidence in her spelling.

 

***Crossing my fingers***

[mothergooseof4]

My 10yo (as many know) has struggled with every step of reading. We've done V/V, Blend Phonics, SWR, Elizabeth's Phonics Lessons, and some word visualization. I want to get to fluency for him. He knows many short words by sight (esp. SWR ones) and can blend. He's not as good with longer words or less common phonograms. Sometimes he will guess based on the first letter. I'm not sure if it's fluency (sight reading) or word-attack skills he needs. He does read with expression, but very slowly. He has read some Boxcar Children books and is currently reading Animal Stories by Emma Serl. We are using AO year 4, and either I read aloud or he uses an audio book - his comprehension is good.

 

Personality wise, he doesn't do directions, he doesn't slow down and observe. He builds massive, intricate things with legos (currently a ship 2+ ft long and over a foot high) from what he sees in books or on the computer. He made a complete knight suit with cardboard and baling twine last summer. He is a hands-on type of boy (but not wiggly - he can focus very well).

 

My ds sounds very much like yours. He is 10 and has struggled with reading. I used SWR in the past, and started teaching him this way in K. It wasn't getting us past cvc words. In first, he did CLE's Learning to Read, but I did it in an O-G manner teaching the phonograms up front and sounding out their star(sight) words. He improved, but when it was time to move on to their Reading program, it was way too much of a jump for him. He did OPGTR, again with O-G methods. He could read the book, but it didn't carry over to IRL reading. All of this time we were also using AAS for spelling which he did wonderfully with, but was just learning the pattern of the lesson and not applying it to other writing. After all of that, he did Phonics Road 1 and I saw absolutely no improvement. He has never read for pleasure, until now.

 

I researched, but no LD or vision issues fit. He knew all of the phonograms, and could sound out the words, but just wasn't moving on to fluency or pleasure reading. He had excellent comprehension even when he struggled through a book.

 

He hates FastTrack, but it has really improved his reading and only lasts ten minutes. We started with reading the stories, but he REALLY disliked them and I don't like the theme of them either, so we skip them. Before, he knew all of the phonograms and rules for breaking a word into syllables to sound it out, but he didn't carry that over into reading. Stopping him to MAKE him only frustrated him. He guesses at words even though he KNEW how to sound them out. With the combination of the cursor and the way they break words into parts, showing him how a long word is just many smaller pieces put together, he rarely guesses anymore.

 

So...

Is Dancing Bears a miracle cure? No, but my ds is doing wonderfully.

Is it better than buddy readings or Webster's Speller? I think so because it gets done.

Is Dancing Bears easy to use? I can grab the book, call DS over and start without planning/preparing/etc.? Yes, after you cut up the flashcards there is no prep.

Will DB interfere with SWR? (SWR is working for him.) No, I use the O-G phonograms instead of doing DB cards anyway.

If you've used DB (I'm looking at Fast Track) what books was your child able to read aloud comfortably upon finishing? He is almost done with FastTrack and is reading the Diary of a Whimpy Kid series for fun and just read Stone Fox for school. These are a little light for him, but are building his confidence. I also don't want to push too hard because he is just learning that reading is fun, so I don't want to frustrate him.

How long did it take to finish? He started FastTrack in August, and is almost done with it. We will move into Book C afterwards.

Did you go onto book C, and if so, what were the results? We will. Looking at it I think this is where the advanced skills are taught.

 

If you have a great idea other than DB, please tell me. But keep in mind the ~$30 for DB is probably close to all I can pull from the next paycheck.

 

Oh, and DS's eyes have been checked by a COVD doctor. I haven't done other testing because he has made slow, steady progress. I really need him to be reading, and I think he needs some success in this area too. I have read about the stories in DB, and don't think they will bother us. I'd like DS to have a few chuckles actually.

 

 

Back again. Hope this isn't hijacking. Sorry if it is. If you get the Fast Track AB will you definitely end up needing the C book down the line? Also, is it really important to do Apples and Pears concurrently or would it make sense to do that later? I'm not sure if I want to add both in at this time, due to $$ and time and just being new stuff.

 

:bigear: Thanks for any help.

 

I would do book C. I do not think that you have to use Apples and Pears, but I do think it helps. I actually started A&P first, so they do not have to be used concurrently. Together, they are great!

[Amy Jo]

Thank you for all the responses so far. And your question was good too woolybear - not a hijack. I think you save $5 for ordering together, I will if I can since it seems book C is very important. I really need something that just gets done!

 

Any other experience? It seems it pretty much works for everyone who uses it?

[boscopup]

It is definitely a program that "gets done" here, though I do not have a 10 year old, so I haven't used Fast Track. I'm using regular old Book A with my 6 year old. The cursor has been VERY helpful to him. He is a child that understands phonics well, but couldn't remember a word that he just sounded out, even if he saw it again on the same line. We spend 10 minutes a day on DB (I'd probably do more like 15-20 minutes with an older child maybe?), and with the repetition and the use of the cursor, he's now remembering words. He also loves the Tim the Dim Cop stories (haven't gotten to the cross dressing boy hanging out with drunks story yet :lol:).

 

I assume you have looked at the full text samples available online? I love that they put the ENTIRE book on there. You really know what you're getting before you buy.