is it worth pushing through the last 2x lessons of 100 easy lessons?

[exh]

We are at lesson 78, and the last couple lessons were hard. Kid is still motivated to keep going, but there have been some tears and an increasing amount of frustration and anxiety. I have been debating whether or not we should switch to explode the code or phonics pathways at this point, but it also seems the last 2x lessons is where the kid would learn to apply what has been taught in previous lessons to read actual normal text. Should we switch, or push through?

[Miss Tick]

When you think about it, "pushing" a child through anything is rarely productive and often backfires. I say switch to something else, even if it is books from the library. It isn't like you have to relinquish ownership of the 100 Easy lessons book, you could always come back if you ran out of options.

[freesia]

4 hours ago, exh said:

We are at lesson 78, and the last couple lessons were hard. Kid is still motivated to keep going, but there have been some tears and an increasing amount of frustration and anxiety. I have been debating whether or not we should switch to explode the code or phonics pathways at this point, but it also seems the last 2x lessons is where the kid would learn to apply what has been taught in previous lessons to read actual normal text. Should we switch, or push through?

I never finished it with any of mine. We switched to Explode the Code at some point with books like the Bob books. 

[homemommy83]

On 2/17/2023 at 5:47 PM, freesia said:

I never finished it with any of mine. We switched to Explode the Code at some point with books like the Bob books. 

We often just came back to finish it after Bob books, but most of my children wanted a break near the end of the book as well.

[BusyMom5]

When learning to read, I found my kids learned in chunks- they would go really fast, then need to just practice and build fluency.  Then they'd get bored and zoom through another big chunk of phonics before needing another fluency break.  I don't know what is taught at that lesson, but general places I paused were after short vowels with digraphs (duck, that, chick).  Then they zoomed through silent e and several 2-letter phonograms like ai, ay, igh.  Then they seemed to be pretty fluent readers, but we finished the phonograms off with the harder ones like ough.  

I'd suggest looking at other phonics programs readers and work through those for a while, building confidence and fluency.  It can be hard to find the right level books at the library.  

[HomeAgain]

It's two weeks later, so the OP may be on lesson 88 now 😄 but for anyone else, here's what worked for us:

1. Do throwbacks.  Take time and go back through lesson 58-78 again. It's worth it to hang out with something familiar and build confidence.

2. Create cards.  I have a card file for lessons 1-50.  I also did up transitions for kids like these. You can write the words in early lessons to match up with the DISTAR words in the book so that there's more familiarity.  Build silly sentences, have fun.

3. Look for free resources to help transition.  Simple Words has a workbook similar to Explode the Code, and there's an entire free phonics program with readers, sound charts, workbooks, from Tennessee if you scroll down on this page. Begin with the early K work and let it feel easy before progressing.

I'm not a fan of spending money when you can make something work for free, lol, but I think one of the most important things in learning to read is for a kid to really recognize the progress they've made.  It is HARD slogging through when you're struggling! And for a new reader, that struggle can feel almost endless.  It's worth it to take a step back and see the progress and know that you've gained some real skills, and that the struggle a few weeks ago is so easy now.

[exh]

Thanks everyone! We hit the pause button on 100 lessons and have been doing sort of a throwback with bob books and explode the code starting from book 1. My kid hates revisions in general, and I've been trying to build some tolerance. Explode the code has quite a bit of writing, and we like that aspect as well. 

Other than that, kid started piano lessons and greatly enjoys playing while reading and singing the lyrics. He's made great progress with eye tracking and no longer needs to point while he reads.

[exh]

On 2/17/2023 at 10:23 AM, Miss Tick said:

When you think about it, "pushing" a child through anything is rarely productive and often backfires. I say switch to something else, even if it is books from the library. It isn't like you have to relinquish ownership of the 100 Easy lessons book, you could always come back if you ran out of options.

Pushing (gentle nudging) has been a productive and essential part of parenting an overly cautious little perfectionist 😛

[Brooke]

On 3/1/2023 at 7:53 AM, HomeAgain said:

It's two weeks later, so the OP may be on lesson 88 now 😄 but for anyone else, here's what worked for us:

1. Do throwbacks.  Take time and go back through lesson 58-78 again. It's worth it to hang out with something familiar and build confidence.

2. Create cards.  I have a card file for lessons 1-50.  I also did up transitions for kids like these. You can write the words in early lessons to match up with the DISTAR words in the book so that there's more familiarity.  Build silly sentences, have fun.

3. Look for free resources to help transition.  Simple Words has a workbook similar to Explode the Code, and there's an entire free phonics program with readers, sound charts, workbooks, from Tennessee if you scroll down on this page. Begin with the early K work and let it feel easy before progressing.

I'm not a fan of spending money when you can make something work for free, lol, but I think one of the most important things in learning to read is for a kid to really recognize the progress they've made.  It is HARD slogging through when you're struggling! And for a new reader, that struggle can feel almost endless.  It's worth it to take a step back and see the progress and know that you've gained some real skills, and that the struggle a few weeks ago is so easy now.

Hi! I know this is a little bit of an older post but I looked at the TN curriculum and it looks a lot like core knowledge. Is it the same thing? Just wondering because it looks very familiar.

[HomeAgain]

1 minute ago, Brooke said:

Hi! I know this is a little bit of an older post but I looked at the TN curriculum and it looks a lot like core knowledge. Is it the same thing? Just wondering because it looks very familiar.

I don't think it is.  This is still in development, I believe, with the idea to add 3rd grade to it.  I know that it has a lot of familiar elements, though: some of the activities in pre-k and k feel very OG and a little like Heggerty. 

I'd be interested to compare it to CK and see how much they may have adapted from it.

[Brooke]

2 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

I don't think it is.  This is still in development, I believe, with the idea to add 3rd grade to it.  I know that it has a lot of familiar elements, though: some of the activities in pre-k and k feel very OG and a little like Heggerty. 

I'd be interested to compare it to CK and see how much they may have adapted from it.

The layout is almost exactly the same from what I can see. I pull units for K and preschool to get ideas and it’s very similar. Even the photo of the dog on the skills workbook is the same. Is that allowed? I have no idea but it got my attention haha!

[Brooke]

2 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

I don't think it is.  This is still in development, I believe, with the idea to add 3rd grade to it.  I know that it has a lot of familiar elements, though: some of the activities in pre-k and k feel very OG and a little like Heggerty. 

I'd be interested to compare it to CK and see how much they may have adapted from it.

[Brooke]

2 hours ago, HomeAgain said:

I don't think it is.  This is still in development, I believe, with the idea to add 3rd grade to it.  I know that it has a lot of familiar elements, though: some of the activities in pre-k and k feel very OG and a little like Heggerty. 

I'd be interested to compare it to CK and see how much they may have adapted from it.

I did provide a screenshot and based off of this it looks like it’s ok they did that. 

[Malam]

On 3/16/2023 at 10:28 PM, Brooke said:

I did provide a screenshot and based off of this it looks like it’s ok they did that. 

Only if the TN curriculum attributed it to CK (the owner); not sure if they did so

[HomeAgain]

12 minutes ago, Malam said:

Only if the TN curriculum attributed it to CK (the owner); not sure if they did so

I went and looked more closely.  There is this statement within the materials under acknowledgements:

Quote

Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
You are free:
to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to Remix — to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
Attribution — You must attribute the work in the following
manner:
This work is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge®
Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge
Foundation endorses this work.
Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial
purposes.
Share Alike — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you
may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar
license to this one.
With the understanding that:
For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the
license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to
this web page:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
A special thank you to the Core Knowledge Foundation, E. D.
Hirsch, Jr., Linda Bevilacqua, and David and Meredith Liben. We
are beyond grateful for your shared time, expertise, and
resources that greatly contributed to the exceptional quality of
this TN Foundational Skills Curriculum Supplement.

So there's the answer!  It IS based on it, and has permission to be so.

[exh]

It's been a year. Came back to confirm that it was totally fine to skip the last 20 lessons. Kid is happily reading chapter books now 😄