First Grade Reading

[Guest lydiathekicker]

We did Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons last year. My son is reading, but only on a very low level. What should I do this year? Can we just read a lot together (him reading to me and me reading to him)? Am I supposed to follow a "reading program?" Would anyone recommend more phonics or can we get that just by reading? Thank you for your advice!

[Walking-Iris]

I like to continue some phonics instruction until 2nd-3rd grade. You could use some Explode The Code, Starfall, a phonics based spelling program, some beginning grammar, Writing Road to Reading, review lessons from 100EZ that he needs to review, play some phonics games, start some WWE or some other writing program, do some fun literature activities, such as FIAR or PWB or Caldecott etc. Ideally all the language arts would be integrated.

 

And read aloud every day and have him practice his reading every day out loud to you.

 

I'm not sure about the lessons in 100EZ, but Ordinary Parents Guide to Reading has lessons that are about a 3rd-4th grade reading level. You could also read from the McGuffey readers.

 

It just depends on what other 1st grade lang arts you plan on doing.

[IceFairy]

We love Explode the Code here! DS is reading well but will continue phonics in first because I think they are very important.

[Tanikit]

I would probably make sure I had a book/program that had phonics up to a 4th grade level in it (I also used OPGTR for this) and then I might see if I could get the rules in with our general reading time and limit the phonics time to only about 5 minutes per day. The problem with just reading at a low level and phonics is that those low level readers often do not have the advanced phonics in them so it is hard to progress. However if you use a good phonics program and let your child learn a rule then you can point out that same rule in the books you read to him as well as in his readers or anywhere else you see the sound/phonogram being used.

But you probably should also have him reading aloud to you daily from a variety of readers.

[PentecostalMom]

We went through 100EZ as well, then jumped into OPGTR at about Lesson 75 I think? I don't recall exactly. Yes, just reading does help, but I agree that you need continued phonics. We will finish OPG, then will probably be done with phonics. We are alterating with Reading Pathways and together they have improved my daughter's fluency. She is reading quite well now, though it seemed we were somewhat "stuck" for a few months. My older dc were in school until the end of 1st & 2nd grades, respectively, so this is my first time teaching a child to read. I had doubts in myself, but just staying the course has won!

[Ellie]

We did Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons last year. My son is reading, but only on a very low level. What should I do this year? Can we just read a lot together (him reading to me and me reading to him)? Am I supposed to follow a "reading program?" Would anyone recommend more phonics or can we get that just by reading? Thank you for your advice!

 

You are "supposed" to do whatever helps your ds to read as well as he can. :-)

 

For some children, 100 EZ Lessons is enough. Others need more comprehensive phonics instruction.

 

You could do Spalding or one of its spin-offs, which will improve his reading skills by teaching him to spell, and will include penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, and simple writing.

[pitterpatter]

DD has completed Hooked on Phonics K, 1st and 2nd now...to the end of the traditional program. She is reading pretty fluently between an early to mid first grade level. She can decode words that are more advanced, but she is still quite slow when there are a lot of them together. We are reviewing phonics instruction, then will continue on with new phonics instruction as well as working on fluency and increasing reading level. Right now, we are using Evan-Moor Daily Phonics, Grade 1 for review. (It's pretty easy...probably too easy at Grade 1 level, but I wanted to let her have some easy weeks during the summer.) I think we'll continue on with the series after that too. At some point (this fall probably), we will add All About Spelling. I use http://www.arbookfind.com/ to find books at her level. I will slowly add books at higher levels. She can read books that are second grade level or above, but they have to be short and those get harder to find at that level. She can also read books like "Little Bear" pretty well that are at a little higher level (ATOS 2.4), but repeat a lot of words even though they are longer. We're trying to find a happy medium right now. I would be interested in reading a book on improving reading fluency, if anyone has one recommend.

 

Oh, we are also doing Evan-Moor Daily Reading Comprehension, Grade 1. I have DD read the stories twice and then I read the questions and she answers them. She does really well with those. Each Evan-Moor book takes about 5-7 minutes a day, if that. She likes them and doesn't realize she's "reading." LOL!

[thebacabunch]

Pick books at her level that are things she is interested in. WOrks like a charm. Also, read aloud to her. Get a book a bit above her level and have 2 copies. One for you to read and one for her to follow. We followed the 100 ez lessons with the bob books and lots of dr seuss.

[Tanikit]

Pitterpatter while I have not read this book myself I have seen it recommended in a number of places:

 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Fluent-Reader-Edition-Comprehension/dp/0545108365/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372747765&sr=8-1&keywords=the+fluent+reader

[duckens]

We also used 100EL.

 

A famous early childhood educator was asked, "What is the best program to teach your child to read?" The answer: "The third one."

 

Most kids need information repeatedly introduced to them to learn it well, especially for reading. Reading English is highly symbolic, and there are a lot of rules. Yes, there are only 26 letters, but there are over 100 sounds to learn and recall easily from memory to read fluently. It is astounding that young children can do this.

 

As a follow up to 100EL, there are MANY good Phonics curriculum out there. I have used Abeka and Saxon personally, and both have been effective (although I think I secretly prefer Abeka. Don't tell anyone, or my atheist membership card may be revoked!) However, let me emphasize, there are MANY good Phonic curriculum out there.

 

Other things we used:

 

--YES! Read to and with your son every day!!!!

 

--Starfall.com (free)

 

--PBS Kids Island (free) or other PBS games

 

(You will need to set up a password for PBS Kids Island)

 

**If your child needs help maneuvering the mouse, use Reader Rabbit Babies and Toddlers.

 

--Reader Rabbit software

 

--Explode the Code(a must as supplement to any phonics program). Rainbow Resource probably has the best prices. You DO NOT need the teacher's manual.

 

--BOB Books: Put a post-it note in the back of each one, with the following listed:

1) Mom

2) Dad

3) [sibling's name]

4) Cats (or other pet)

5) Friend (or Grandpa, or Auntie, or babysitter).

 

Read the specific BOB Book to your child. Then, each day, your child reads the book to someone else. DO NOT have your child read the same book to three different people on the list in one day. The idea is that your child will read the same book 5 times on 5 different days to 5 different people. The child may read 3-5 different books to different (or the same person) in a day, but each specific book is only read once a day.

 

Reading to Mom and Dad is self-explanatory.

 

I had older dd read to our toddler and the cats under inspiration of the "read with a dog" program. The "dog" (or little sister, or the cat) doesn't really care if you get every word right. It is good practice, and very low stress for the child.

 

Reading to a "friend" is what we used because we don't have willing grandparents or relatives nearby. If your little reader has several siblings, then you are all set. Fill in person # 5 with what is convenient for you. If you have enough siblings in the house, you may not need to go out of the house for this.

 

Kids read to the people on the list in any order. Checkmark them off as your child completes each task.

 

Once the child has read to all 5 people, the put the BOB book in a shoebox beside his bed. These are books he can competently read to himself. He can stay up after Mom has tucked him into bed to read these books quietly to himself! You may not like him staying up after bedtime, but if he has 5 books in his little box, it will take him 5 minutes maximum if he reads them all. IMHO, 5 minutes is a small price to pay for him to be reading to himself.

 

--Introduce Sight Word Readers. The first time through, your child just reads the two sight words; you read the rest of the words. Attempt the system for BOB books, but your child may need to mature a little in his reading for this.

 

--Also use the BOB book system if there are little readers for whatever phonics system you choose.

[Clear Creek]

I have followed 100EZ lessons with Rod & Staff Phonics with all three of my children now, with great success.

[pitterpatter]

Thanks! I'll check it out.

 

Pitterpatter while I have not read this book myself I have seen it recommended in a number of places:

 

http://www.amazon.co...e fluent reader

[Peaceful Isle]

I used bju reading for my kiddos for 1st grade. I loved it because it has a wortext that goes along with the readers. Good solid program. It starts off using very simple words, but by the end of the year, my kids were reading wonderfully. You can go to the bju press website to see examples of the books.

Sonlight has their I can read books for first grade, that some people like as well.

[mom2bee]

We did Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons last year. My son is reading, but only on a very low level. What should I do this year? Can we just read a lot together (him reading to me and me reading to him)? Am I supposed to follow a "reading program?" Would anyone recommend more phonics or can we get that just by reading? Thank you for your advice!

 

I have a 7yo boy who is literally reading Lesson 100 of that book too me right now.Now, I personally love The Reading Lesson and it gets kids to a higher level of reading the 100 Easy Lessons, but this boy is going to need a lot more repetition and drill to read fluently. I don't know if TRL will work for him as successfully as it has in the past for some of the my other students and I don't want to drag him through tome after tome of phonics, though I think that we will do (most of) chapters 5-20 anyway.

 

But even TRL only gets you to a 2nd grade reading level. (I have had some students explode and be able to read anything up to a 5th grade level by using Library books to supplement the work that they did in TRL. But most get to a 2nd grade level)

 

Now, for a more far reaching program (something that takes you to the end of phonics instruction) I have my eye on Ultimate Phonics. The software is 100% education, no frills but I plan on doing a lot of reading to him and with him.

 

I may just use the Word lists and sentences from Ultimate Phonics (free, here.) as a guide (You don't need the list and OPGTR).

We are going to be reading daily for the rest of the year and he'll start his very own Reading Log tomorrow.

 

I am considering Ultimate Phonics, Hooked on Phonics (early 90's edition so no frills) and possibly WRTR. I will no for certain by this weekend.

[La Texican]

After my kid was reading a 1st/2nd grade level we spent the summer with him reading a book or two a day in my lap, like it or not. Most days he liked it alright. This was last summer. He didn't really start reading for pleasure until only a few months ago. All year I had him read one or two Little Golden Books three times a week. Maybe this will help give an idea of how many hours, books, and how long it takes to get from learning to read and really starting to read.

I tried to pick books that took about half an hour to read.

[NASDAQ]

Try Funnix 2. It takes off in the same style as 100EZ Lessons.

[All3Boys]

I am in the same boat.  My 6 yo doesn't like to read because of the time it takes him to sound everything out.  He is at the "graduated 100 EZ, now what? phase"  I was thinking of doing All About Spelling or Reading (still can't figure out the difference), or Spell to Read and Write, or possibly Spelling Workout (the one recommended in WTM).  Does anyone have experience with more than one of these who can compare them?  

We did Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons last year. My son is reading, but only on a very low level. What should I do this year? Can we just read a lot together (him reading to me and me reading to him)? Am I supposed to follow a "reading program?" Would anyone recommend more phonics or can we get that just by reading? Thank you for your advice!

 

[coffeefreak]

With my youngest I did a combination of Phonics Pathways, A Beka's A Handbook for Reading, and CLP's Noah Webster's Reading Handbook.  We would use one for a week or two depending on her interest, keep it to short lessons, and then switch.  I would go to the library and check out 5-10 books in the Easy Reader section and read one a day with her.  Sometimes, if I noticed one concept tripping her up, I would work on that concept with her that week. I did add in ETC, but not until later, when she was reading a little better.  She found the added written work frustrating.

 

I think the key is to keep reading REAL books alongside whatever phonics program you decide to use.  Switch it up.  You read a page, they read a page.  Have them pick out some of the books and help them read it.  Have them read their favorite book of the week to their dad.  Many reading programs don't have them reading real books and I think that defeats the joy and purpose of learning to read.

 

As a little side note, I used Rod and Staff with my oldest and, while I like their phonics, I hesitate with their reading program.  Because they only use Bible references and stories, I did not notice until my oldest was almost in 3rd grade that her reading comprehension skills were VERY poor.  We're talking she had none at all.  Because of this, I did not use Rod and Staff with my youngest until 2nd grade, and then, I only used the phonics.

 

HTH!

 

[stayathomelibrarian]

We're done with 1st grade!  Hooray!  My daughter is a natural reader, but we only made it through book 4 of ETC last year.  We started out with OPGTR, but didn't make it too far before she complained when I brought it out.   She also does the online version of ETC, so we could've probably made it through more workbooks, we just didn't.

 

I want to echo reading REAL books.  We started with BOB books in prek and just worked our way up  We're reading RASCAL together right now.  The vocabulary is above her head, so we read it together.  She's reading the 1st Harry Potter (can I say that?) independently, but she can't write a sentence without difficulty.  Find something your child enjoys reading and buy as many of those books as you can find.  Mine LOVES mysteries.  She's got some newer stuff, like Cam Jensen, and A to Z mysteries, but her favorites are Nancy Drew, Boxcar Children, and Happy Hollisters. 

We used WWE as our writing program for 1st grade, but we actually took the titles from which we were summarizing and getting copywork and read them that week.  Sometimes we read them aloud during school time.  I was able to find a few titles on audio (librivox is my most FAVORITE resource), but mainly she read them to her little sister.  We didn't make it all the way through level 1, but we read more than half of the books.  It has been a tremendous resource for us to really get my girls into reading.  Now I just have to even out the writing part of it.  Not to say that I think she's behind in writing and grammar, just uneven. 

[Tidbits of Learning]

We normally do a mix of 1. The Reading Lesson (alongside something like Reading Eggs)  2. MCP Plaid Phonics and 3. Emerging Readers.  A quick and easy follow up after initial phonics that has been painless and cheap for us is MCP Plaid Phonics. :)

[Prahl]

I would say the logic of English.

[reign]

My two oldest did 100ezl followed by OPGTR. We used a white board for most of OPGTR which really helped with my oldest's motivation. The book was a bit overwhelming for her once it became more difficult.