ExcitedMama Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 http://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/phonics-and-early-reading/first-start-reading I just saw these and I am very curious about them. DS has started trying to copy simple words on his own so I think this type of instruction might appeal to him. Any experience with them? Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocjets Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 It's on my list for next year. Hopefully someone can give us a review! :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn E Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I loved it and felt like it was a very gentle yet effective introduction to reading. My son was writing his letters before we started, so the combination of reading instruction with writing was not too much. He was reading before he even realized...without much struggle or stress. Every child is different, so it won't be the perfect fit for everyone. However, it was just right for us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Openhearted Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 My twins are using it now. We are in the middle of book c. I am very happy with first start reading. I was so intimidated, and I did not think I could teach reading to them, however this program has made it easy. They are reading very well. Sometimes I am even surprised by how well they are doing. My son sounded out the word "lesson" perfectly yesterday justt because it was written on the top of our workbook. They are so proud when they complete each workbook. I like the writing instruction too. It is very well done, and I would use it again. The people on the MP forum are very helpful as well, and Tanya is a gem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcitedMama Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Thanks! I really like the look of the program. The other thread about the cons of AAR really has me second guessing it since this program seems to go more conventionally in the words they start sounding out. Anyone else used it? Trying to figure out which age would be best to start it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 We tried it last year for K with my DS who had just turned 5. (He had previously completed AAR Pre-Reading) First Start is a really lovely program, but we only made it through Book A, and a little bit of B. The writing was too much for my DS. They say you can move forward without the writing, which is what we did for the last half of Book A. But then we found the I See Sam books and DS loved reading them a lot more than the First Start stories in the workbooks. Without the writing, it just seemed pointless to continue if we were reading the Sam books. So even though it didn't exactly *work* for us, I still like it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Bumping an old thread. Anyone else used First Start Reading now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcitedMama Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 I did end up buying it along with the lesson plans. You could just start with the FSR Book A and use that. The lesson plans skip around in Core Phonics K and 1, a nature reader animal A-Z book and animal coloring book for the first 4 weeks. The Core Phonic pages reinforce whatever letter is being learned in the FSR book. It really does start off very gently. Coloring page and introducing a letter and its sounds. Very little blending at the beginning. For DS it's still too easy for him but he really likes it. He's doing AAR1 and about a third of the way through it now and it's really working great for him. He was always trying to copy words down so I thought he'd like to have something with more of a phonics based writing and he really likes that about FSR. He wants to write words and sentences. Previously he had finished and loved the ETC getting started books and I was going to move him on to ETC1 but I'm holding off on that since I was afraid it would be too much with the Core Phonics book which are in the lesson plans. There was a big thread before I started this thread about the cons of AAR which was when we had just started AAR1 and it freaked me out! I was worried I had made a wrong choice which was when I saw FSR and decided to look into it. Now I know AAR works great for DS but we are still happy with both, if anything I wish we had started FSR sooner since we haven't caught up with where he is now. It only takes him about 20 min. to do both AAR and FSR a day. I like that FSR is going to start teaching him grammar and other parts that we haven't seen in AAR. The next lesson in FSR when I looked ahead is going to talk about when to use a vs. an. The lesson plans have a lot of supplemental readers recommended too which I like since I won't have to worry about finding the right books for where he is at but I can't comment on them yet since we haven't reached that part yet. I think for the price it's been a great program so far. DS is not always interested in coloring but loves to color in FSR and the Core Phonics books so I think that's also great as far as his finer motor skill practice. He was even more resistant when he was younger so this would have been great when he was 4. Nothing we have done in the first 3 weeks of the lesson plans would have been too much for him at 4. He had done AAR pre-level at 4 and this would have been a great supplement to it or before starting AAR1. I had a hard time understanding the program since samples and reviews are hard to find so please let me know if you have any questions and I can try to answer them for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotherGoose Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I have never used it. My second daughter would have liked it because she likes to write. However, my oldest would have hated it because of the writing. That part depends on the child, and how old the child is when she's ready to learn to read. I wouldn't want to put writing in as a stumbling block to learning to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I bought it for dd1 but I didn't feel it was very thorough or systematic. I just wasn't a big fan at all, there wasn't much too it either, although to be fair it is fairly cheap. We moved to Logic of English and I thought it was miles better and worth the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PagesandFields Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 I use it off and on... I use it as reading reinforcement but also handwriting practice... My kiddo needs curriculum breaks and needs things to be changed up.... For phonics exclusively I love the incremental nature of OPGTR much better... But it turns out I have a kid who sometimes responds well to a workbook... Who knew!? â˜ºï¸ I did not have their classical phonics book to go with it... I do love their materials and will probably use some in the future... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aminuteorless Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 We use it here! I use it in conjunction with OPGTR. It reinforces phonics concepts for us and is our handwriting/beginning spelling. Very clean, simple, effective. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I like the idea of using it with OPGTR or Phonics Pathways. I have both, so that would work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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