King Alfred Academy Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I am looking into using these next year (K) with my ds for phonics instruction, maybe along with Happy Phonics. Is this a "stand alone" program? What kind of readers, if any, did you use with them? Do I need the Teacher's Manuals? Is there a point where they would become helpful? Thanks for your help! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelda Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I think so much depends upon how much more phonics work you think your child needs. I'm using them with a proficient reader so that's all we do...kind of as a pre-spelling lesson. I don't think you need a teacher's manual. These are just workbook pages. Maybe the teacher's manual has additional teaching exercises, I don't know. I really like these books and will continue through Book 4 at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aletheia Academy Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 We are working throught the Get Ready, Get Set, and Go...for the Code levels. Definitely no teacher manual is required. The enjoyment level is high. It does have some minimal handwriting practice. I do not see it as a stand-alone series- there's not enough meat to it. We use it with Phonics Pathways very sucessfully. Where we are in ETC is behind where we are in PP, so the kids love that they know the material. It's a good review and confidence-builder. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy+2 Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I have never used the TM's. I do have the Code cards though and my boys like them. My oldest is on book 8. We didn't do ETC most of last year and he actually saw it on the shelf and requested to finish the series.:eek: I think that speaks volumes! I did, at the beginning, use AlphaPhonics with ETC and they worked together very well! I seriously just ordered Happy Phonics to use for my youngest. I used the primers of the ETC series with him, then went on to McRuffy Phonics and Reading, (loved it) but this year I am going to use ETC w/ Happy Phonics for him! I chose not to do McRuffy because it is a COMPLETE LA curricula and I am too into 'a little of this , and a little of that'. Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarcyM Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I use OPGTR as my teach kids to read & to teach basic phonics. But when that's done there seems to be a feeling of "what now?". I think ETC fills in the "what now?" very nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenora in MD Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 We have really enjoyed etc here. Along with it, I have used Bob Books and Pathway Readers. I have used PP and 100 ez lessons with it. It is a fine intro to spelling and you could continue with a more formal spelling program after reading is going well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I am looking into using these next year (K) with my ds for phonics instruction, maybe along with Happy Phonics. Is this a "stand alone" program? What kind of readers, if any, did you use with them? Do I need the Teacher's Manuals? Is there a point where they would become helpful? Thanks for your help! :) I like to use ETC in combination with several curriculum choices. It seems like my Ker's attention span and interest is short and if I rotate between differernt kinds of materials that teach the same kinds of things they're more engaged more of the time. kwim? With my Ker this year we're using MFW K, ETC, Bob Books, Pathway Readers, and OPTGR for Language Arts. I've also got several different kinds of lang. arts games that help too. It does help that he's my 3rd Ker so I didn't buy all of it this year for just him. Curriculum kinda accumulates, ya know? I've got 2 more ker's coming so I'm sure they'll have the most choices. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickelfritz Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 they would be helpful to round out ETC and Happy Phonics as a full program. I bought the TM for books 1-2. It gives suggestions about kinesthetic activities or when to use flashcards. Basically, turning each workbook assignment into a well-rounded lesson plan. Since I'm using OPGTR and I also have Happy Phonics, I didn't buy the TM for book 3. But, the TM does make it more than just a workbook. Oh, for readers...I have Bob books, Nora Gaydos, and the CLP Kindergarten set. For next year, I also bought the MFW Bible reader. Probably most phonics based readers would fit in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate CA Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 We are working throught the Get Ready, Get Set, and Go...for the Code levels. Definitely no teacher manual is required. The enjoyment level is high. It does have some minimal handwriting practice. I do not see it as a stand-alone series- there's not enough meat to it. We use it with Phonics Pathways very sucessfully. Where we are in ETC is behind where we are in PP, so the kids love that they know the material. It's a good review and confidence-builder. HTH! Yes, this is what we do too. We really enjoy the combo of PP and ETC and have seen it work for multiple children. No TM needed at all. Warmly, Kate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 I taught my 4 kids to read using _How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons_ , lots of books (like Bob books, Step into Reading) and ETC. I also had them memorize, gradually, the Dolch sight words, which I thought helped a lot. I didn't use teachers manuals for ETC. The kids liked ETC a lot and memorizing the sight words really helped them with their reading skills. I didn't use any other phonics programs along with ETC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 We used ETC, added in Bob books about ETC 2, as well as Dolch sight word cards and Dick and Jane books (through a happy coincidence, as Dick and Jane helped my daughter gain confidence). We added in other leveled readers and easy readers from the library as things progressed. Phonics Pathways and 100 EZ lessons were both total busts for us. ETC has been a great program and she loved it. She also played a bit with http://www.starfall.com. I think ETC is as much of a stand alone program as most others, but then my daughter picked up reading early and easily, so that may make a difference in my perception. We have now finished ETC all the way through level 8 and gone on to Spelling Power for spelling. We did an abbreviated form of FLL for grammar last year and now we are doing Growing with Grammar 3 for grammar. One thing that my daughter enjoyed that is easy to do---I made up silly little stories for her using pet and family names along with words she knew or could sound out, but with no illustrations (or let her illustrate them once she read them). This helped remove the visual cue of the pictures so that I knew she was really reading the words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 I only used this for one of my kids that needed further phonics help. My oldest didn't do them. I will be stopping at level 3 because he is doing so much better now. For me it was helpful for extra help. If your kid knows phonics really well and is a strong reader then no I do not see it necessary and do consider it busy work at that point. I will probably use them for my dd who has autism as soon as she starts to read. Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenKitty Posted February 10, 2008 Share Posted February 10, 2008 Yes, we use ETC. I also have several books to use as readers, such as Bob books and Nora Gaydos books. We really like ETC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 For the Get Ready, Get Set, Go For pre-primers, I DO like to use and think I "need" the teacher's manual. Years ago, each book included a 4-8 page instructors guide that gave you scripts for some of the pages where you really do need a script or not mind scratching your head to figure out what each picture is supposed to be (hat or head or cap?) and making up appropriate instructions -- not hard to do I suppose but more thinking than I like to have to do on the fly in the middle of schooling . . . More recently, the books don't include that mini TM and so you need to buy the one TM that covers those three pre-primers. I haven't seen and haven't needed any TMs for the ETC1 & up books. I use ETC as a supplement for our basic phonics instruction in 100EZL. I love ETC. I haven't tried using it as the "spine" but I suppose you could. You WOULD want some actual story reading experience daily. You could use Bob books (which we also use) or something similar. I just think it's vital that the child experiences reading=story as opposed to just the sentence reading in ETC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneRoomHomeSchool Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 Is this a "stand alone" program? What kind of readers, if any, did you use with them? Do I need the Teacher's Manuals? Is there a point where they would become helpful? Yes, ETC, could be a stand alone (as with anything depends on child) but definitely get some Bob Books, Nora Gaydos Books and Itty Bitty Books. Must have readers. ;) No TM's here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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