alansrock Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 What do you recommend? I have 4-yr old twin boys and I have been using Learning to Read in 100 Easy lessons but the lessons seem to be a little too advanced for them. Looking for something that is a little more basic. I have been thinking of using Spell to Write and Read or the Bob Books. Thanks! Jami Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Jami, I would start with the Get Ready, Set and Go for the Code books as well as a pre-school learning to write book (Handwriting Without Tears has a Pre-K book that is done with crayons). With children who are 4 they may not be developmentally ready yet, so feel free to back off and not do much of anything. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Year Round Mom Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 The LeapFrog Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory DVDs are GREAT! My ds was three when he learned his letter sounds because of them! We followed up with Phonics Pathways because it was cheap and straight-forward. I ordered Bob books last week because Phonics Pathways gets a bit boring and doesn't feel very rewarding. I'm hoping ds will get excited when he reads his first books! Wow, twins! How cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 How about the LeapFrog videos (Letter Factory and Word Factory). The videos will help them memorize the letters and their sounds, and introduce blending, all fairly effortlessly. If you want to try Spell to Write and Read, I'd suggest doing only the preschool activitives in the book, not any of the spelling lists or the log with 4 year old boys. However, unless you plan on continuing with SWR, it's not worth the money for just the chapter on preschool stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alansrock Posted September 30, 2008 Author Share Posted September 30, 2008 My boys know the letter sounds as they actually learned them from the Letter Factory video. Just trying to find a method for the whole word thing to click with them! Lots of great advice so far, keep it coming please!!!!! And even if the advice is to try something else or back off that is ok too. It's easy to want to push them to do everything now before they are ready! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 My favorite resource for learning to read is Reading Reflex. Just the book and a whiteboard is all you need. When they could read a little, I used Bob books and other early phonic readers (I just got them from the library). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 I used A Beka's K4 phonics program. It was good and user friendly. Also, just make sure you're reading aloud to them a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 No one's mentioned Phonics Pathways, so I will! If your kiddos know the sounds, they will do fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kuovonne Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 My boys know the letter sounds as they actually learned them from the Letter Factory video. Just trying to find a method for the whole word thing to click with them! Do you have Word Factory as well as Letter Factory? If not, give it a try. Just as Letter Factory is great for learning letter sounds, Word Factory is good for exposure to blending letter sounds into words. I think that blending letter sounds into words is something that has to "click" in the child's brain, but lots of exposure to the process can help it click sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus.Two.Five Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 My 4.5 year old used the Leapfrog DVD's and knows all the letter names/sounds and is now writing some letters as well. We are going to try Alphaphonics along with Bob Books, Nora Gaydos, and Itty Bitty Books soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Definitely the LeapFrog Letter Factory/Talking Words Factory DVDs and Bob books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Starfall.com Bob Books and Charlotte Mason's Advice-especially about making little word cards once they start understanding http://www.amblesideonline.org/Phonics.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay in Cal Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Phonics Pathways is a hit here... my ds 4 has known his letter sounds for a while, and PP has smoothly transitioned him into blending. Since this is our first "teaching" to read experience, I've been pleased, and excited by how quickly he's progressed with the exercises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosy Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 DD5 knows her letter sounds and is just starting with Phonics Pathways. She likes it and it makes learning blending really easy. DD6 is further along and hates it, so we use Bob Books with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 My favorite resource for learning to read is Reading Reflex. Just the book and a whiteboard is all you need. When they could read a little, I used Bob books and other early phonic readers (I just got them from the library). Dh used Reading Reflex with ds years ago when ds was 5. Worked wonderfully. Inexpensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvergreenEclecticAcademy Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 My almost 4yo dd is an eager beaver in the area of learning to read. What I have found that has helped tremendously is the Leap Frog Fridge Phonics set. We have both upper-case & lower-case letters. It ties in nicely with the SWR methodology--which I use very loosely. One of her favorite activities is to sound out words (with my help, when needed) and spell them on the fridge while I'm cooking dinner, etc. We have been doing this for several months, and she now is able to sound out most 3-letter words that she sees in books or that she hears. We are also working slowly thru the Bob books. Since she is so young, I haven't used a "formal" learn-to-read curriculum. Right now I'm just trying to keep it FUN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovedtodeath Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) Don't buy a thing!! Play games!! Scrabble tiles. DC puts a vowel and you put a consonant on either side. DC sounds it out. Then you put a vowel and DC puts the consonants, you sound it out. Keep track of score on the board for more fun. Foam letters and magnets work well with this too. You can also put one letter down at a time to really get the left to right sounding out going. Go fish you can play this with letter cards, or word cards. You say "do you have a /t/ sound? and if the other player has a word with that sound... You can do this with rhyming words too. Do you have a word that rhymes with... ? This will work all the way through any sound you are teaching. Make the words from the OPG list into cards and have fun. Bingo works well with sight words, words you know they can read, or sounds. Fishing whatever words you are working on are written on some fish made out of construction paper. They have paperclips for mouths. Make a fishing pole with a magnet on the end. When you catch a word, you have to read it, or the fish gets thrown back. DD learned how to read with games and only games. Edited October 1, 2008 by Lovedtodeath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 (edited) We use Montessori Read & Write as a pre-school level to SWR. The two methods do not totally agree (and in some aspects completely disagree) so I've had to make some adjustments. IMO, though, MRW does an excellent job of fleshing out what I feel is a much needed primer level to SWR. The pre-reader chapter in SWR didn't provide enough structure or activities to help me. The sound game, my favorite activity in MRW, teaches the child how to distinguish the different sounds in a word using oral games. Because of this game, dd can now spell any CVC word and some slightly more complicated words using the movable alphabet. Good luck finding something that works for you and your boys! Edited October 1, 2008 by Lisa in the UP of MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda...inOwasso Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Alpha-Phonics by Samuel Blumfield. $30 I opened this book with my 3 1/2 yo dd and a year later she's reading at a 2nd grade level. It's not complicated... there's no learning curve for the teacher. You literally OPEN THE BOOK and day 1 start teaching your child to READ. Priceless! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Bob books are great. We use Simple Phonics. Heres a great website to teach reading: http://www.starfall.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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