Favorite Phonics Curriculum

[Guest]

What is your favorite curriculum to teach your children to read?  I know this has been asked before, but I also know that people change their opinions over time.  I would love to know what everyone enjoys using right now.

[blondchen]

I am still liking OPGTR (doing it with my third child now). It's not exciting, but all of my kids have enjoyed it well enough, and it has been very effective for us. I consider it to be a solid, no-frills program that gets it done efficiently.

 

We also supplement with buddy reading of Dr. Seuss, etc. pretty early on (once they can sound out CVC words). That adds the fun element, without bogging down the lessons themselves with a bunch of extra stuff.

[Guest]

I really like K12's reading. It is like LOE and AAR mixed together with an online part. It is pricey, though.

 

Truthfully, mine all taught themselves. Most kids actually do if you don't push reading too early {like 3 or 4 unless they are ready}. Just my experience. maybe I have wierd kids.

[Ellie]

My favorite method is Spalding, because it covers everything in one fells swoop: teaches children to read by teaching them to spell, penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, simple writing. One manual to buy (Writing Road to Reading), one set of phonogram cards, a composition book each year for children 8 and older, done.

[mommysanders]

I like OPGTR. I like that it's pick up and go and doesn't have all the bells and whistles that come with other programs. I'm on my second child using this program and still enjoying how easy it is to use. We got the magnetic letters to go with it.

 

 

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[KrissiK]

I taught my 3 oldest with A Beka and I still think it is an excellent program. My 4th child struggle and struggled with a strictly phonics approach and so last year I used CLE, which combines phonics and sight words and she did very well. I will use CLE for #5 this fall.

[73349]

Logic of English Foundations, levels B and C--sooo helpful for DS.

 

For a kid who is more excited about the process, Phonics Pathways is pretty good as well, and far less expensive.

[Slache]

Either Spell To Write and Read or Reading Lessons Through Literature.

[Kat w]

We used phonics pathways with the big kids , O-G.

We still use phonics pathways except, My 2 younger ones have learning challenges , we add All About reading and All About spelling.

 

The O-G method is solid proven. Even my dyslexic 24 y.o. still remembers phonics pathways lol.

 

That's all I had then , that I knew of for O-G. Now we have alot more to go along with.

But,dd24 learned on phonics pathways only.

Worked :)

 

Oh yea slache, we have that in there too. I like them. Mixes it up a bit and the readers for them Match what your doing in the program . the boys love the silly cute stories that practice their new skill.

More readers with the RLTL than with AAR. BUT, AAR have pre made flashcards that I like. Their flashcards have the spelling rules written on the back too.

 

And games, make it fun. I wish I had done all the games in PP when my dd24 was young.

Edited August 6, 2016 by Kat w

[LauraBeth475]

I've liked Little Angel Readers and Primary Phonics. Explode the Code once they are old enough to work through it independently on the computer.

[barnwife]

We use Webster's Speller as our main program, with a healthy side of Progressive Phonics as the kid requests. If those weren't working, I'd try Phonics Pathways.

[SnMomof7]

I've used CLE with my past two readers and it has worked very well. Abeka Handbook and readers for

My first and that was nice, too. Trying Progressive Phonics

With my 4th Who needs lots of cuddles and frustrates easily.

[WahM]

I also really enjoy OPGTR. It is open and go, effective, has some "games", and very thorough.

[UCF612]

We love AAR but I picked it, loved it, and never tried any other programs listed here.(we tried Sonlight but didn't like it for phonics).

[bensonduck]

We used Saxon Phonics K which was fantastic and got DS blending and reading. Saxon Phonics 1 was quickly overwhelming for him. Lots of writing, lots of small print worksheets, lessons were too long. (to be fair, he was 4, so it was obviously too much at his age, but might be better for an older kid!)

 

We put it away for a while and started about lesson 18 in AAR1. Wow! What a fun program! DS loved the games, readers, the fluency sheets were not his favorite but playing games with them helped make them fun, and his reading really took off. We will be starting AAR2 when we start back in a couple of weeks and we are both looking forward to it.

[alisha]

Progressive Phonics-it isn't perfect, but it's funny enough they actually WANT to do it. Whereas others I've tried, have been fine, but in a just get it done way (from the kids perspective and mine).

[desertflower]

Phonics Pathways. It's cheap, thorough and open and go.

 

My second child loves Progressive Phonics. I guess it's the colorful illustrations.

[Peaceful Isle]

My first born was Abeka, my second was horizons, my third was BJU DL( which I love their approach) and my last is Mcruffy. I like variety.

[misty.warden]

DS and I have loved Rod and Staff. I didn't buy the first grade phonics workbooks, I read the lesson from the teachers manual (combined for the phonics and reading programs) and use a white board to model the rules.

 

OPGTR was a massive fail for us, DS was so bored reading word lists and sentences with no real story.

 

 

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[Dinsfamily]

Spell to Write and Read. I'm starting it with my 4th kiddo now. It gives them a solid foundation.

[Desert Strawberry]

Progressive Phonics or Explode the Code workbooks. Easy,fun, fast, effective.

[Vida Winter]

Reading Made Easy by Valerie Bendt.

[Openhearted]

I love Memoria Press First Start Reading. I was very intimidated teaching reading, but this gave me confidence. My twins are great readers.

[vaquitita]

My first born was Abeka, my second was horizons, my third was BJU DL( which I love their approach) and my last is Mcruffy. I like variety.

I think I need variety for phonics. Lol. My first born I used CM ideas with Treadwell readers, my second was AAR (though I couldn't stick it out for all five levels), my third was BOB books and some AAR for games. I have one more to teach and I find myself wanting to do something different.

[blendergal]

We're still new at this, but I absolutely love Primary Phonics! True love. DS4 is working through the K workbook, and DS6 is nearly finished with the level 2 workbook. I use the 1-2-3 teacher's guide to teach the lessons at the white board. (DS4 gets a kick out of it, so he tags along, too.) DS6 also uses the main set of readers and its matching reading comprehension workbook.

[happynurse]

We're only halfway through Level A, so grain of salt here, but we're really loving Logic of English Foundations. The games are fun and my son is progressing really well with it!

[purpleowl]

I like A Beka's approach for learning how to read, and it worked well for both my girls. I plan to use it for DS as well. While I switch away from their materials once the child has learned to read well, I think they provide a really strong foundation.

 

I'm sure plenty of other programs are equally solid, but this one has worked for us so I haven't felt the need to look for anything different. If DS struggles with it, I'll certainly explore other options.

[Hunter]

When Samuel Blumenfeld died, all his stuff became free. God bless him and his family.

http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/

 

Don Potter has been writing and freely giving away supplements for the REVISED Alpha-Phonics for years.

http://www.donpotter.net/reading_clinic.html

 

Phonics for Success is a smaller cheaper version of the revised Alpha-Phonics. I just love this book. I mean LOVE it.

:001_wub:   https://www.amazon.com/Phonics-Success-Samuel-L-Blumenfeld/dp/1495144216   :001_wub:

 

I like the Spalding HANDWRITING and I think if someone has TIME, doing Spalding LATER as  a SPELLING curriculum will improve an older child's spelling, but I VASTLY prefer teaching READING with a Blumenfeld book, even one of the older versions.

 

And I like the arithmetic section of How to Tutor as much as the phonics.

 

Sam is my hero.

 

When I last moved, taking only half a laundry basket of books, I took

 

Phonics for Success

First Readers Anthology

Checking Your Grammar by Marvin Terban

The Three R's by Ruth Beechick

The NIrV large print bible for copywork

 

The NIrV has short sentences that precisely follow the basic punctuation rules generally taught right now.

 

Those 4 little books, the NIrV, and Spalding handwriting are all I need for the first several years.

 

I'm getting as set on Blumenfeld as Ellie is about Spalding.

[ScoutTN]

Phonics Pathways

[vaquitita]

Now I'm researching for a new phonics program for my last kiddo! Nevermind that he's only 2.5. :laugh:  I've never heard of some of these. What I really want in a phonics program is to be able to teach a rule and then have a book or two for them to read, teach a new rule, another book or two, etc. Being able to read a 'real book' is highly motivating to my kids. I kind of did this with the BOB books, but it was up to me to figure out what to teach so it was too unorganized. And they moved too fast for my slow learner. AAR was sort of like this, only there were a dozen not-fun-activities to do with the same ten words before you get to the story, and the stories quickly got too long in level two. Maybe for some kids they'd be fine, but I had two totally opposite kids and it didn't work well for either of them. My slow reader was overwhelmed by the number of words on each page and the length of the stories, and my early reader was so young that even though he could easily read the story he was bored by the lack of pictures.

 

I kind of like the looks of Primary Phonics. I'm not seeing a lot of reviews of it though. I've only used reading only programs in the past, no writing involved, but I can see how it could help cement things. I wouldn't want too much writing. Doing the main workbook should be ok, but i'd skip the MORE workbook and the comprehension workbook. I like that there are two sets of readers for each of the first two levels. Having more books so they can get more practice before moving on is nice. And reading a little book is way more fun than words and sentences from a manual or workbook. 

[homeschoolmama37]

Before we started homeschooling, our son learned to read at a small private Christian school with letter people (I don't know if that's a curriculum or not) and Saxon phonics. When we switched schools for 1st and 2nd, it was all Abeka. He was an excellent reader and always has been.

 

With my daughter, who I taught to read because we were exclusively homeschooling at that point, we found the most success with CLE's Learning to Read program. We used their Language Arts 1 to go with it, and I also used All About Spelling. We read through the Abeka readers as well and I checked out a lot of leveled readers from the library.  She is also an excellent reader and loves to read.

 

I think the trick is just finding what works best for your child. I tried a couple of different methods/books with my daughter before we settled on CLE and then she just flew with it.

 

If I was teaching a child to read now, I would still choose CLE's Learning to Read, and my 2nd choice would be All About Reading/Spelling.

[Guest]

AAR was sort of like this, only there were a dozen not-fun-activities to do with the same ten words before you get to the story, and the stories quickly got too long in level two. Maybe for some kids they'd be fine, but I had two totally opposite kids and it didn't work well for either of them. My slow reader was overwhelmed by the number of words on each page and the length of the stories, and my early reader was so young that even though he could easily read the story he was bored by the lack of pictures.

 

 

 

 

Oh darn, AAR was one that I was seriously considering.  I wonder if Logic of English Foundations would be better.  I want something fun, and I like that all the rules are explained.  

[ReadingMama1214]

Now I'm researching for a new phonics program for my last kiddo! Nevermind that he's only 2.5. :laugh: I've never heard of some of these. What I really want in a phonics program is to be able to teach a rule and then have a book or two for them to read, teach a new rule, another book or two, etc. Being able to read a 'real book' is highly motivating to my kids. I kind of did this with the BOB books, but it was up to me to figure out what to teach so it was too unorganized. And they moved too fast for my slow learner. AAR was sort of like this, only there were a dozen not-fun-activities to do with the same ten words before you get to the story, and the stories quickly got too long in level two. Maybe for some kids they'd be fine, but I had two totally opposite kids and it didn't work well for either of them. My slow reader was overwhelmed by the number of words on each page and the length of the stories, and my early reader was so young that even though he could easily read the story he was bored by the lack of pictures.

 

I kind of like the looks of Primary Phonics. I'm not seeing a lot of reviews of it though. I've only used reading only programs in the past, no writing involved, but I can see how it could help cement things. I wouldn't want too much writing. Doing the main workbook should be ok, but i'd skip the MORE workbook and the comprehension workbook. I like that there are two sets of readers for each of the first two levels. Having more books so they can get more practice before moving on is nice. And reading a little book is way more fun than words and sentences from a manual or workbook.

Progressive phonics kind of does this. There's a rule and stories that add it in. And it's all free!

[Eagle]

My first Ds learned to read almost on his own. We used The Reading Lesson for five minutes each morning and he was reading novels in 3-4 months. I thought it was the best program ever until I discovered that those results aren't typical (for any reading program).

 

With little Ds I'm waiting to see how fast he catches on. We are using AAR-pre simply to give him something to do during school time. He already knew all the letter sounds before we started, so I wasn't sure it would be worth it, but we have found it really worthwhile and he really enjoys it. He has learned rhyming, recognizing beginning sounds in words, counting words in a sentence, and clapping syllables. So far so good. When it gets to blending, if everything just clicks like it did for his brother, we will use The Reading Lesson. But if he needs more assistance we will continue with AAR.

[Ravin]

Word Mastery (available as a free pdf on Don Potter's website). It's what I used with DD when 100 Easy Lessons proved too stressful and Hooked on Phonics put too much in front of her at once.

 

I've started using Word Mastery now with DS.

[ExcitedMama]

AAR! It is great. It is systematic and easy to follow. It's all laid out for you and it's super easy to adjust the speed as needed. We started super slow as DS couldn't blend and then once he got it we sped up.its super easy to do everything quickly. DS loves all the games but does them quickly. I'm amazed that in level 4 the games are still new and interesting to him. He's an amazing reader now.

[rose]

When Samuel Blumenfeld died, all his stuff became free. God bless him and his family.

http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/

 

Don Potter has been writing and freely giving away supplements for the REVISED Alpha-Phonics for years.

http://www.donpotter.net/reading_clinic.html

 

Phonics for Success is a smaller cheaper version of the revised Alpha-Phonics. I just love this book. I mean LOVE it.

:001_wub:   https://www.amazon.com/Phonics-Success-Samuel-L-Blumenfeld/dp/1495144216   :001_wub:

 

I like the Spalding HANDWRITING and I think if someone has TIME, doing Spalding LATER as  a SPELLING curriculum will improve an older child's spelling, but I VASTLY prefer teaching READING with a Blumenfeld book, even one of the older versions.

 

And I like the arithmetic section of How to Tutor as much as the phonics.

 

Sam is my hero.

 

When I last moved, taking only half a laundry basket of books, I took

 

Phonics for Success

First Readers Anthology

Checking Your Grammar by Marvin Terban

The Three R's by Ruth Beechick

The NIrV large print bible for copywork

 

The NIrV has short sentences that precisely follow the basic punctuation rules generally taught right now.

 

Those 4 little books, the NIrV, and Spalding handwriting are all I need for the first several years.

 

I'm getting as set on Blumenfeld as Ellie is about Spalding.

 

I didn't know those were all available for free! I'm so excited. I've been fumbling along with just the workbook for a couple of months now and I'm sooooo excited to get to see the other books too. Thanks!

 

[Hunter]

I didn't know those were all available for free! I'm so excited. I've been fumbling along with just the workbook for a couple of months now and I'm sooooo excited to get to see the other books too. Thanks!

 

 

Yup, this is just an amazing resource. I don't think there is ANYTHING I'd rather see free. I have had nothing but success with Blumenfeld stuff. He was totally OCD and like stuff written by OCD people. And he is narrow and sticks to the priority topics.

 

Before he was free, and the revised version was not available at Amazon, I could not 100% endorse Blumenfeld as my ONLY suggestion. Once he went free and the smaller cheaper paperback popped up at Amazon, I am Blumenfeld all the way.

[Guest]

First start reading from mem press followed up with phonics review from bju.

[kalusignan]

I did extensive research when my dd was preschool aged and finally decided on All About Reading. *I haven't tried any other program other than the ETC pre reading.* BUT, I haven't been disappointed by AAR! It's been fantastic, actually. My dd was a reluctant reader, and it fit her perfectly.

 

Major pros:

• Extremely thorough phonics instruction
• Fun! She loved the games and enjoyed working with the tiles
• The readers! The stories are expertly written so that adults aren't bored to tears listening to their child read. They are also expertly illustrated (no stick figures). 

She went through all 4 levels and tested well above grade level for reading by the end of 2nd grade. I'm now using it with my younger, very eager, somewhat advanced reader, and it's been equally amazing for her.