Hkpiano Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 My DD5 (turns 6 in July) will be in "first grade" starting in the fall. We've been working through The Reading Lesson and she should be finishing that up by the end of the summer. She is just about finished with the first Explode the Code workbook and she just finished the third set of Bob books. For Language Arts next school year, I am planning on doing lots of reading with her as well as start on The Wand (Brave Writer) with her. But I'm wondering what to do for spelling/phonics? Should we keep going with Explode the Code (which she likes but doesn't love) or switch to Spelling Workout (which is what my son who is a grade ahead of her is working through, he just started book B), or do something else entirely?? Any ideas or recommendation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 Well, The Wand has a lot of phonics in there. Did she like ETC? In retrospect, I felt like it didn't do a lot for either of my kids. How's her reading? It's just so hard to say... I don't know The Reading Lesson really. The Brave Writer recommendation would be to put off spelling - she's really young, after all. However, I learned that for my kid who was struggling a little more with reading at that age, that I should have done a really solid O-G program like Spalding or AAR or LoE back when we were starting. It would have made a difference for him. On the other hand, my other son was fine not doing that and learning in context, like in The Wand, would have been fine for him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hkpiano Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 Well, The Wand has a lot of phonics in there. Did she like ETC? In retrospect, I felt like it didn't do a lot for either of my kids. How's her reading? It's just so hard to say... I don't know The Reading Lesson really. The Brave Writer recommendation would be to put off spelling - she's really young, after all. However, I learned that for my kid who was struggling a little more with reading at that age, that I should have done a really solid O-G program like Spalding or AAR or LoE back when we were starting. It would have made a difference for him. On the other hand, my other son was fine not doing that and learning in context, like in The Wand, would have been fine for him. She really doesn't love ETC. She hasn't really learned anything new in it so far, it just feels like another chance for her to practice what she already knows (reading and writing basic CVC words). I thought about doing AAS with both kids, but they seem to be reading well without it. DS7 is reading at a 5th grade level, according to the tests I've given him. I don't feel like she's struggling with reading, it's a little slower with her than with her brother but he was an old kindergartener (Nov birthday) and she's a young kindergartener (July birthday). Maybe we'll finish The Reading Lesson, which introduces all the phonemes, and see how she's doing at that point. If I feel like she still needs extra practice and instruction, we'll start AAR or AAS... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strawberryjam Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 I would keep going with ETC. It gets better. It was phenomenal for my older kid even though he didn't like it at first, together with AAR and AAS and now we're adding in Spelling Workout too. Language Arts takes up a bulk of the learning at this stage, I don't think that's too much at all. ETC and AAR work really well together. I have "The Reading Lesson" too and I don't think it goes in depth enough personally. AAR now goes up to Grade 4 level and I would highly recommend it. The ETC books are usually completed from Grade 1 to Grade 3/4 and they align pretty closely with AAR. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hkpiano Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 Thank you, barefootmommy!!! I agree that The Reading Lesson doesn't go into a lot of depth, I've been more using it as our spine, if that makes sense. I supplement a lot of what we do with games from another phonics program I have called Sound Town. I mostly use The Reading Lesson to help me know what to teach next, because Sound Town doesn't really have a set schedule of which sounds/letters to introduce first and my brain needs that LOL. I definitely don't think her phonics instruction will be complete when we finish the book. I keep going back and forth on AAR/AAS. I know it's a great program! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 She really doesn't love ETC. She hasn't really learned anything new in it so far, it just feels like another chance for her to practice what she already knows (reading and writing basic CVC words). I thought about doing AAS with both kids, but they seem to be reading well without it. DS7 is reading at a 5th grade level, according to the tests I've given him. I don't feel like she's struggling with reading, it's a little slower with her than with her brother but he was an old kindergartener (Nov birthday) and she's a young kindergartener (July birthday). Maybe we'll finish The Reading Lesson, which introduces all the phonemes, and see how she's doing at that point. If I feel like she still needs extra practice and instruction, we'll start AAR or AAS... I wouldn't do anything if that's the case. The Wand covers a lot of phonics. If she needs something else later, you can add in AAS or another spelling program. ETC is such a busy work program. I would keep going with ETC. It gets better. It was phenomenal for my older kid even though he didn't like it at first, together with AAR and AAS and now we're adding in Spelling Workout too. Language Arts takes up a bulk of the learning at this stage, I don't think that's too much at all. ETC and AAR work really well together. I have "The Reading Lesson" too and I don't think it goes in depth enough personally. AAR now goes up to Grade 4 level and I would highly recommend it. The ETC books are usually completed from Grade 1 to Grade 3/4 and they align pretty closely with AAR. I sort of disagree with this. I haven't used AAR, just AAS, but I think doing both would be overkill. And they have really different focuses - AAR is focused on the rules and learning in a multisensory way while ETC focuses more on patterns and just makes kids write as the only way of learning. I think they're just really different approaches. But also, I've just come to see ETC as mostly busy work, like I said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Just for a different opinion: I think ETC is pretty brilliant. All of my kids have used it and have been very strong, early readers. Incidentally, all appear to be natural spellers and do not mind writing, so YMMV. I like it because while it is not our primary learn to read program (I use real books and just teach on the fly), it helps ensure we've covered everything explicitly. It's cheap, quick and gets done at our house. I think it would pair nicely with the Wand because they're so different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 My DD5 (turns 6 in July) will be in "first grade" starting in the fall. We've been working through The Reading Lesson and she should be finishing that up by the end of the summer. She is just about finished with the first Explode the Code workbook and she just finished the third set of Bob books. For Language Arts next school year, I am planning on doing lots of reading with her as well as start on The Wand (Brave Writer) with her. But I'm wondering what to do for spelling/phonics? Should we keep going with Explode the Code (which she likes but doesn't love) or switch to Spelling Workout (which is what my son who is a grade ahead of her is working through, he just started book B), or do something else entirely?? Any ideas or recommendation? Spelling and phonics are not the same thing. :-) I would say to let her finish ETC, then do Spelling Workout, but I wouldn't even do that until she's 8ish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purduemeche Posted April 27, 2015 Share Posted April 27, 2015 Spelling and phonics are not the same - I would do both. We love ETC for phonics practice after completing Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Steps, and also use Rod and Staff spelling beginning in 2nd grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hkpiano Posted April 27, 2015 Author Share Posted April 27, 2015 Thank you, everyone! I guess I realized that phonics and spelling technically aren't the same but kind of had lumped them together in my mind. I suppose what I was asking was if we could just move on to spelling or if we needed to keep working on the phonics. It seems like the general consensus is to continue with the phonics (ETC or AAR) until she is a strong reader then worry about spelling, is that right? I definitely think The Wand will be a great tool but ETC gets done consistently so we'll probably continue with it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapper4life Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I have not used ETC yet, but I am strongly leaning towards it in the future. For those who responded that you've used it, what do you do daily? I have all the books on loan from library resource section and I was a bit amazed that there are 14 pages per unit/letter. Do you need to do all the pages and, if so, how many each day? I know it will depend on the child, but I am just looking for feedback. Is it reasonable to spend a week on one letter sound? Perhaps your ideas will help the OP incorporate it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I have not used ETC yet, but I am strongly leaning towards it in the future. For those who responded that you've used it, what do you do daily? I have all the books on loan from library resource section and I was a bit amazed that there are 14 pages per unit/letter. Do you need to do all the pages and, if so, how many each day? I know it will depend on the child, but I am just looking for feedback. Is it reasonable to spend a week on one letter sound? Perhaps your ideas will help the OP incorporate it as well. Sorry, I can't help with the early books. We always began it as the kids were learning to blend (already knew all letter sounds). As for the higher books (from Book 1 on), we generally do 3-4 pages in one sitting, maybe twice per week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 We use Spelling Workout and I like it, with a little modification...It has a section that asks children to choose the correct spelling from a list of misspelled words...We skip that part of every week because I don't like them looking at misspelled words...It is more beneficial in my opinion to see the word spelled correctly whenever you encounter it...Better for the memory... We do both phonics and spelling, so I agree that they are different and can be done together... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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