looking for phonics curriculum

[A home for their hearts]

I've been using OPGTR with my dd7 and he is just not enjoying it. Every time he sees me pull the book out he groans. I know I need to find something different. Maybe something a little more colorful with games and activities. I'm on a very stitch budget so I'm looking for something around $20. I know that is probably a tall order, but if there is something that costs more than that but you love, tell me about it, maybe down the road I might be able to afford it.

Thanks!

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

I tried OPG, Phonics Pathways and Alpha Phonics for my son (they are all set up to be done orally for the most part) and my son hated all of them.

 

We are now using Explode the Code, 3 pages per day and he has not complained once. Games and activities though...hmmm, never tried any. ;)

[Claire]

I've been using OPGTR with my dd7 and he is just not enjoying it. Every time he sees me pull the book out he groans. I know I need to find something different. Maybe something a little more colorful with games and activities. I'm on a very stitch budget so I'm looking for something around $20. I know that is probably a tall order, but if there is something that costs more than that but you love, tell me about it, maybe down the road I might be able to afford it.

Thanks!

 

Check your library for the book "Reading Reflex" by McGuinness. This is a sound-to-sight approach that most children enjoy. It includes games and exercises that are quite fun. (My dd especially enjoyed Sound Bingo.) If your library doesn't have a copy (most do), it is carried in bookstores for about $20. Sometimes you can find it remaindered online for $5 plus shipping.

 

Instead of cutting up all the manipulatives, I highly recommend getting an inexpensive set of plastic tiles and using those for the manipulatives. You can make copies of the Sound Bingo cards. Also, I highly recommend purchasing a small white board, marker and eraser (about $10 total at Walmart) for the writing exercises. Most children enjoy writing on a white board a lot more than writing on paper.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

FWIW, groans aren't necessarily a reason to switch curriculum. Learning to read is hard work. Groans are inevitable, no matter what curriculum you use. Just hide the book! Look at the days lesson, jot it down on a sheet of scratch paper, and don't let your ds see it. You won't have the script, but you probably don't need it anyway.

 

I used Phonics Pathways successfully with both of my children. There were lots of groans from both of them (especially ds), but they both learned to read incredibly well by the time we finished. We took a year and a half to go through the book. I didn't push to finish anything on a given day. We simply worked for a set amount of time (5 minutes when we first started, up to 20 by the time we go to the end of the book). Then, we stopped for the day and picked it up the next day. After they got to CVC words, we added phonics readers.

 

Phonics Pathways costs around $20. You can probably look at it at your library before deciding if you want to buy it. The library might have an older edition, but it will still work. It's not colorful, but there are games you can play.

 

Reading Reflex is another one you can check out of the library. It is game based, but you have to make the games by copying them from the book. It's not colorful either.

 

I added color and interest and fun by using dry erase markers on a white board, the tile countertops, the sliding glass door, and chalk on the driveway. You can make up games like BINGO. Look at the main page of this website for the Complete Article Index. There is an article there called something like Games to Play With Phonics. You can find some free ideas there.

 

A

[A home for their hearts]

FWIW, groans aren't necessarily a reason to switch curriculum. Learning to read is hard work. Groans are inevitable, no matter what curriculum you use. Just hide the book! Look at the days lesson, jot it down on a sheet of scratch paper, and don't let your ds see it. You won't have the script, but you probably don't need it anyway.

 

I used Phonics Pathways successfully with both of my children. There were lots of groans from both of them (especially ds), but they both learned to read incredibly well by the time we finished. We took a year and a half to go through the book. I didn't push to finish anything on a given day. We simply worked for a set amount of time (5 minutes when we first started, up to 20 by the time we go to the end of the book). Then, we stopped for the day and picked it up the next day. After they got to CVC words, we added phonics readers.

 

Phonics Pathways costs around $20. You can probably look at it at your library before deciding if you want to buy it. The library might have an older edition, but it will still work. It's not colorful, but there are games you can play.

 

Reading Reflex is another one you can check out of the library. It is game based, but you have to make the games by copying them from the book. It's not colorful either.

 

I added color and interest and fun by using dry erase markers on a white board, the tile countertops, the sliding glass door, and chalk on the driveway. You can make up games like BINGO. Look at the main page of this website for the Complete Article Index. There is an article there called something like Games to Play With Phonics. You can find some free ideas there.

 

A

 

I understand what you mean about groaning. I know it's ok for them not to get excited about everything they are learning. I don't think it's ok for them to groan all the time because they are getting frustrated with it and I believe my son is. I don't think the approach used in OPGTR is working for my son. I also have phonics pathways and I'm not too sure about that either. As for Reading Reflex, I checked with a couple of the librarys in my area and neither of them have it :( I think the games recommanded at the main site are a little below where my son is. He can read 3 letter words already so I think that would just be back tracking.

Thanks for all the info though!

 

What about hooked on phonics? Has anyone used it?

[Claire]

As for Reading Reflex, I checked with a couple of the librarys in my area and neither of them have it :( I think the games recommanded at the main site are a little below where my son is. He can read 3 letter words already so I think that would just be back tracking.

 

I don't know about the main site, but the book itself takes a child through advanced code. The white board exercises, especially, are very helpful. The next step after 3 letter words is adjacent consonants, which I think is chapter 6 in the book (about halfway through).

 

Half.com has new copies of Reading Reflex for $6 plus shipping ($3.50, I think).

[SandraDumas]

Happy Phonics looks like so much fun! I wish I had it last year!

[Melora in NC]

I used HOP with my ds, and am now using it with my kindergarten daughter. The set I have has a 1998 publication date. We also use Phonics Pathways and the Bob books, along with various readers. Both my kids much prefer the HOP program to working in PP -- the books are nicely laid out, and there is variety in what they read. They really enjoy the little readers that go with the program. I got HOP used, and I suspect it is expensive to buy new, but if you can find it used it might be just what you are looking for!

[LillianinAL]

I Can Read It books from Sonlight. Also look at their lists of readers from Grade 1 and 2. You can probably find many of these at the library. Also, the Pathway Readers are cheap, hardback, and have been a hit here. Sometimes it's nice just to take a break from OPG for awhile and read something else. I have found that ETC books go well with it for two dc so far. HTH, Lillian

[Closeacademy]

Some ideas.

 

A lot of the phonics books are dull, dull, dull.

 

What we are doing to make it more fun and colorful.

 

We concentrate on 2 phonograms (letter or combination of letters that make certain sounds) per week. I make up silly sentences that incorporates all the sounds for that phonogram and draw a picture to go with it. We use the silly sentence for copywork as well as to help trigger the memory as to what sound(s) a certain letter combo makes. Example--for "oo" our sentence is "Cook good food." I do review of letter sound quickly twice a week with flash cards. BTW I use SWR phonograms and spelling rules in 3rd grade we will begin the WISE list.

 

On my blog there is a list of links to websites that have phonics worksheets. A lot of these are fun. I mix mine up add in some math, mazes, word decodes, search a words, and coloring pages and give my child a binder each week to "play" with. She loves it and picks and choses what she wants to do.

 

Also, http://www.starfall.com/ is a lot of fun with little books, activities and movies.

 

Once he shows signs of taking off on his own. Drop everything phonics related for a few months and stick him in a corner with too easy to read books and let him read on his own for 15 to 30 minutes each day. You go and do something else where he can ask you if he needs help with a word. If he wants an audience pets are great. This method has worked for my oldest and several other people I know get their kids off and reading on their own.

 

Oh, and it is ok to take a break from your phonics program and do something else for a few weeks and come back to it again when he seems ready to move on.

 

Hope this helps. :)

[Tonia]

I'm using OPG with my dd. Here are some of the things we are doing to "change it up"

 

- write the words on a white board or chalk board and let her erase or cross them out when she reads them.

- type the words in a big font on the computer screen and let her read them.

- write the words on index cards and lay them on the floor. Say a word and she has to "jump" onto the card. We do this when she is especially wiggly.

 

I've got lots of games and resources linked from my blog - just click on the link in my signature and scroll through the right column to look at stuff.

 

I would stick with OPG and just add in other things to make it more interesting - we are enjoying the ETC series, but she really enjoys it when I turn her lesson into a game.

[Audrey]

We tried a couple of programs before picking up Explode the Code. I hadn't bothered with them before because I stupidly thought they were too "light." Ds loved them and was reading in no time. We zipped through Books A,B,C in a matter of weeks and Books 1, 2, 3 shortly thereafter. By then he was reading just about anything you put in front of him. We still use them (on Book 6 now) for extra practise in spelling, vocabulary and more advanced phonics reinforcement.

[Alice]

My son is young (4) but also hated OPGTR. In fairness to the book, I probably started too young. I just restarted after a 6 month break with Explode the Code and he is loving it. I got the teacher's edition which probably isn't necessary but does have ideas for games and such.

 

Things we do that he likes:

Make words with magnetic letters on the fridge

 

I play a game that I started when I taught him letters and sounds. I put flashcards with words on the table (cat, hat, sat, bat, etc) and then give him a pile of M&M's. Then I say the word and he has to put the M&M on the flashcard. Then to pick it up and eat it he has to say the word on his own. It works well and usually only gets him less than 10 M&M's which is ok to me but I guess you could do it with something healthier (less motivating though. :)).

 

We have a big letter mat/floor puzzle. Sometimes we get it out and he hops out words.