McRuffy Phonics? All About Reading? Happy Phonics? Others?

[Janeway]

Anyone have opinions on these or experience with it? Thank you!

[ExcitedMama]

I can’t say enough great things about AAR. My oldest went very quickly from not being able to sound out CVC words to reading. I love that it’s scripted so I could just open and go. It’s very systematic and introduces everything really well. You can go at the student’s pace easily. In the beginning I broke up one lesson over days as it was hard for him but then we would do lessons quickly as he got it. I’m starting it again with my youngest. They also have the best phonic readers. 

[Momto6inIN]

I really love AAR too. It helped me feel confident I wasn't "missing" anything with phonics and as I got more comfortable I could tailor it to their pace like Excited Mama said. Very highly recommend it!

[mytwomonkeys]

We liked Happy Phonics, but honestly, it was a lot of work to cut apart! The games were fun though.  

My favorite phonics programs were:

Hooked on Phonics (we used levels K all the way through Master Reader). This was hands down my favorite.

Explode the Code

And there was an online learning to read program we used too. At the time it was new & they constantly gave out codes to use it for free. My kids loved it so much & it really reinforced all of their seatwork.  I can’t remember the name, but I’m sure there are many similar programs. This extra bit broke up our week and added fun elements. We used Happy Phonics in the same way. 

ETA- the online program is called Reading Eggs 

[Ellie]

Spalding. It is a comprehensive literacy course: teaches children to read by teaching them to spell, simultaneously covering penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, and simple writing. It can be more comprehensive literature, grammar, and composition, but most people like to change things up. :-) You only need to make a one-time purchase of the manual (Writing Road to Reading) and a set of phonogram cards--less than $50--and you're good to go forever (children 8 and older will need a sewn composition book each year). You can adjust it infinitely depending on the ages and abilities of your children.

[Aurelia]

I tried McRuffy, but there were SO many parts and pieces I got overwhelmed and ended up returning it. I'm kind of a minimalist, so simpler stuff worked much better, like Dancing Bears and Blend Phonics.

[ghcostafamily]

I’ve used AAR and we’re currently half way through level 4. It’s goid. I spend about and hour and a half at the beginning of the year and cut out and separate all the lessons and put them into a binder with sheet protectors. That way it IS really open and go. My DD is dyslexic (self diagnosed, her older sister was tested and she shows similar signs, just not as severe) anyways, she likes it ok. Is always spot on when we use tiles to divide a word into syllables, but has trouble deciding the same words in text.  She loves the flash cards and thinks the reader is ok. She complains most of the time that the stories are too long. Hahaha they’re not! Not sure if I’ll use it again with my younger, but it is really easy to teach! And she does still like all the games, even though they’re really simple.

weve also used Happy phonics. I like it as a supplement, however if you use it with explode the code AND the explode the code teachers manual, it really is a good program!!! People don’t use the ETC teachers manual, but that’s the meat of the program, and the whole hands on part of the program. I never used the manuals myself...hahaha but my DD uses it along side AAR so I think we’re ok.

look at Mcgruffy and it wa wayyy too overwhelming for me so I never purchased it.

if you are a hands on games playing mama, and want something planned already with easy instructions just get AAR. If you want cheaper and are ok with workbooks, use Happy Phonics and Explode the code. Happy phonics has info on using them together and suggests it too.

 

[Janeway]

8 hours ago, Paradox5 said:

We LOVE www.starfall.com and Leap Frog Letter Factory! 

I think it depends on the kid, really. Sometimes, like mine, they just wake up one day and get it-- no extra stress needed. Start on Mr. Putter and Tabby books and away you go!

That is pretty much what I did with the other kids! I owned OPGTR and Alphaphonics and BOB books and such, but never really used them. I even bought ETC at one point and did not use it. It was just all stuff like Starfall, Leap Frog, and Super Why.

[Susan in TX]

I really like Reading Eggs. It is a very thorough program and has a lot of games that help teach blending. It is really teaching my 6yo how to read. And he is a very reluctant learner.

Susan in TX

[ElizabethB]

What are you looking for, what problem or need do you have?  I own over a dozen and have seen dozens more phonics programs, there are a lot I like but some are better for certain issues than others.

 

[Janeway]

1 minute ago, ElizabethB said:

What are you looking for, what problem or need do you have?  I own over a dozen and have seen dozens more phonics programs, there are a lot I like but some are better for certain issues than others.

 

No issues. She is good at phonics in general, not struggling so far. I would not say she is advanced though. She enjoys playing school. When we do school, she asks me to play school. I thought these programs looked fun. But now I am kind of leaning toward either sticking with what I used in the past... Progressive Phonics and various computer games and reading (I own Alphaphonics and OPGTR) or maybe going with AAR. 

[ElizabethB]

26 minutes ago, Janeway said:

No issues. She is good at phonics in general, not struggling so far. I would not say she is advanced though. She enjoys playing school. When we do school, she asks me to play school. I thought these programs looked fun. But now I am kind of leaning toward either sticking with what I used in the past... Progressive Phonics and various computer games and reading (I own Alphaphonics and OPGTR) or maybe going with AAR. 

AAR does look fun, and she could play with the tiles for playing school, but Alphaphonics and OPG are good, too.  You or some of your other children could play my phonics concentration game with her, that is a fun way to play school.  I also have a video about ways to make the phonics you own more fun and ways to add in games.

Here is the phonics concentration game: 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Phonics/concentrationgam.html

The video, how to make phonics more fun:

 

[Stibalfamily]

First we tried 100 EZ lessons, that was a huge fail and lots of tears. It didn't work for us. We moved to AAR and that helped him begin to read. AAR has been great for my son who didn't catch onto reading easily. We used Bob books, I See Sam books and the Explode the Code books with AAR. He needed lots of practice. I also like the Hooked on Phonics program, but for a more natural reader, not a dyslexic child. We tried reading eggs and teach your monster to read but they didn't seem to help him to read. I think it depends on the child you are teaching. I am doing it completely different for my 4 year old who picks up reading much easier. AAR for a natural reader seems like overkill, but its a great program.