Phonics

[Elizabeth86]

Trying to nail down my choice for phonics for 1st grade.  We completed The Reading Lesson this year.  It was good, but he does need some more, it wasn't complete.  I hear Abeka is just great, but I've also been told it is just really a lot of work.  I don't love that.  I know many swear by All About Reading, but for whatever reason it just does not appeal to me.  I am almost sure ds would HATE the letter tiles.  For whatever odd reason he doesn't care for hands on things like that.  So, what else is there that really gets the job done well, a really good solid phonics program?  Something maybe not so much as Abeka, but still more on the traditional side. 

[Ms.Ivy]

I like using Adventures in Phonics B as a follow-up to Alpha Phonics. I have the PDF so I can print out whichever pages I need for the kids to work on. I think it is a thorough intro to phonics for spelling, and it is very get-er-done and low prep.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Ms.Ivy

[ReadingMama1214]

What level does The Reading Lesson go to? We are finishing up Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and it goes to about a 4th grade level decoding wise. At the end DD is reading multi-syllable words with 5+ syllables. It is open and go, each lesson takes about 15 minutes, and it is cheap. I got our copy for about $15 used on Amazon.

[Elizabeth86]

What level does The Reading Lesson go to? We are finishing up Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and it goes to about a 4th grade level decoding wise. At the end DD is reading multi-syllable words with 5+ syllables. It is open and go, each lesson takes about 15 minutes, and it is cheap. I got our copy for about $15 used on Amazon.

It claims to bring your child to a second grade reading level.  Ds has read books on a 2nd grade reading level.  Not perfectly, but I'd say he reads any of the level 1 reader books I get from the library without much trouble at all. 

[Ellie]

Trying to nail down my choice for phonics for 1st grade.  We completed The Reading Lesson this year.  It was good, but he does need some more, it wasn't complete.  I hear Abeka is just great, but I've also been told it is just really a lot of work.  I don't love that.  I know many swear by All About Reading, but for whatever reason it just does not appeal to me.  I am almost sure ds would HATE the letter tiles.  For whatever odd reason he doesn't care for hands on things like that.  So, what else is there that really gets the job done well, a really good solid phonics program?  Something maybe not so much as Abeka, but still more on the traditional side. 

 

ABeka is good, but remember that it was intended for a classroom, so there are lots of parts. Probably some of the parts you don't need at home; it's just figuring out which ones that's bothersome.

 

PhonicsPathways and AlphaPhonics are both tried and true.

 

AAR and AAS have their roots in Spalding. Perhaps you should check it out. No tiles. :-) It does a great job, and it simultaneously teaches spelling, penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, and simple writing (it can be more complex writing as well as grammar, but most people like to change things around). Regardless of what the Spalding web site says, you only need the manual (Writing Road to Reading) and a set of phonogram cards.

Edited March 23, 2017 by Ellie

[ReadingMama1214]

It claims to bring your child to a second grade reading level.  Ds has read books on a 2nd grade reading level.  Not perfectly, but I'd say he reads any of the level 1 reader books I get from the library without much trouble at all. 

 

I think Ordinary Parents Guide would be an affordable way to bring his reading level up. While DD can decode at a higher level, her comfort level is Level 2 readers and just started Magic Tree House. Your library may have Ordinary Parents Guide.

[...................]

To me the work is worth it. I recommend abeka. And once you get into a groove you'll figure out what to streamline and cut to make it easier.

[Elizabeth86]

To me the work is worth it. I recommend abeka. And once you get into a groove you'll figure out what to streamline and cut to make it easier.

 

I would love to hear some examples of the things to cut.  Do you have suggestions or point me in the direction of some advice on how to cut back on abeka if I go this route.

[mountains27]

I'll suggest Explode the Code though I'm not sure how it compares to the other programs mentioned because I haven't used those. I have used this program steadily with my son from 1st grade on and it has worked for him. I noticed this year that everything about reading, spelling, sounding out words has really clicked for him and he is reading like crazy now and able to spell out words he doesn't know by sounding them out. I did buy the Reading Lessons Through Literature level one book last year and used it a bit so have to give that book some credit too, I think it helped him out with sounds even though we didn't use it more then a few weeks, and also used Making Words and Climbing to Good English here and there but ETC has been his steady spine in phonics and I've been very happy with it. It's easy for him and he never complains about doing it. He is finishing book 4 now and I will continue using it right through to however many books there are :)

[MyLife]

I would love to hear some examples of the things to cut. Do you have suggestions or point me in the direction of some advice on how to cut back on abeka if I go this route.

For first grade Abeka phonics, we use the Letters and Sounds 1 book, the Spelling 1 book, the Handbook for Reading, and four or five of the readers. FWIW, Abeka has a very strong phonics program.

 

ETA: I own the teachers manual, but I absolutely do not need it. I basically look at the Letters and Sounds workbook page to see what special sound is being taught and find the coordinating page in the Handbook for Reading.

Edited March 23, 2017 by MyLife

[Elizabeth86]

For first grade Abeka phonics, we use the Letters and Sounds 1 book, the Spelling 1 book, the Handbook for Reading, and four or five of the readers. FWIW, Abeka has a very strong phonics program.

 

ETA: I own the teachers manual, but I absolutely do not need it. I basically look at the Letters and Sounds workbook page to see what special sound is being taught and find the coordinating page in the Handbook for Reading.

 

Thanks for the advice!

 

[mamaofgirls]

For first grade Abeka phonics, we use the Letters and Sounds 1 book, the Spelling 1 book, the Handbook for Reading, and four or five of the readers. FWIW, Abeka has a very strong phonics program.

 

ETA: I own the teachers manual, but I absolutely do not need it. I basically look at the Letters and Sounds workbook page to see what special sound is being taught and find the coordinating page in the Handbook for Reading.

 

Wow - thanks! This answers my question I just posted :)

 

OP - I bought AAR 1 and Abeka k5 for my daughter and returned the AAR1 - it was too much work and honestly, we like workbooks! My daughter LOVES her phonics abeka books. The way Abeka teachers 'special sounds' was easier for me to understand instead of other programs out there. I could never figure out the upside down 'e'...

 

[mom of 2 boys]

We're using progressive phonics and explode the code. I've been happy with the combination of the two of these. I also have my son do a reader from the library every day or so and just help him to sound out whatever words he get's stuck on. I will occasionally throw in some sight word flash cards, and we do the flashcards that you can print from progressive phonics along with each book. Nothing super formal, but it seems to be working just fine for him. I plan to use All About Spelling next year because I hear that this program really reinforces phonics, while obviously teaching spelling. 

[ElizabethB]

PP and OPG go to a 4th gradelevel, Word Mastery, free online, to a 3rd grade level. All are easy to use.

 

My program, free to print, to a 12th grade level but may not have enough repetition of basics for a young child.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/WellTaughtPhonicsStudent.html

Edited March 24, 2017 by ElizabethB

[mom2bee]

Trying to nail down my choice for phonics for 1st grade.  We completed The Reading Lesson this year.  It was good, but he does need some more, it wasn't complete. Hmm...before you spend any more money and a lot of effort on anything, have you tried having him read each day from early readers? I might spend the summer having him read to me daily.

 

If you'd had asked me at the beginning of the year, I'd have told you that TRL + daily reading from childrens books would likely make him a proficient reader by the end of it.

 

Have you considered having him go back through and reading only the passages/stories from TRL to provide additional fluency practice and to try and pin down what he might need more help on?

 

So, what else is there that really gets the job done well, a really good solid phonics program?  Something maybe not so much as Abeka, but still more on the traditional side. 

I really like the Ultimate Phonics Words and Sentences List, it's like OPG minus the script and the price tag. If you want a hard copy then you have to print it, but it makes it easy to focus on exactly the phonics concepts that they need more practice with. You can print only the pages that he needs.

 

 

[ElizabethB]

Wow - thanks! This answers my question I just posted :)

 

OP - I bought AAR 1 and Abeka k5 for my daughter and returned the AAR1 - it was too much work and honestly, we like workbooks! My daughter LOVES her phonics abeka books. The way Abeka teachers 'special sounds' was easier for me to understand instead of other programs out there. I could never figure out the upside down 'e'...

 

Abeka is good too, I have not had a remedial student from ABeka or any of the programs I listed.

 

Here is a short movie explaining schwa and webster for you, mildly entertaining.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H8iO9CCwVZ0

[jmjs4]

For first grade Abeka phonics, we use the Letters and Sounds 1 book, the Spelling 1 book, the Handbook for Reading, and four or five of the readers. FWIW, Abeka has a very strong phonics program.

 

ETA: I own the teachers manual, but I absolutely do not need it. I basically look at the Letters and Sounds workbook page to see what special sound is being taught and find the coordinating page in the Handbook for Reading.

 

 

Can one jump right into Abeka's first grade phonics if they didn't do Abeka's K phonics?  My 7 year old can read cvc words, blends, and words with sh, ch, th, but he hasn't learned long vowel sounds yet.

[MyLife]

Abeka begins teaching long vowels about half way through Kindergarten. Long vowels are reviewed in first grade, but first grade moves on quickly to new information. For my child, the review in first would not have been enough for him to learn long vowels.

[ExcitedMama]

I love AAR. Super easy to use since you just follow the script. I am amazed at how quickly and well it taught DS to read. You don't have to use the tiles if you don't need them. DS was always trying to read the Teacher's Manual so eventually instead of trying to stop him I just taught him from that so we didn't use the tiles. We don't use them for AAS either. The great thing about AAR is how easy it is to speed up or slow down depending on the child. Have you looked at the samples? You could always try it out and see if it would work for you.