near tears :( 100el

[Jmac]

When I started How to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with my 6yr old son it was amazing. I loved hearing him sound things out and nearly cried with joy when he read his first three letter word. Now we are only on lesson 22 and I want to pull my hair out. He has become an extream wiggle willy. I can't get him to focus at all and after saying every sound he immediatly starts moving around and looking at other things and looses focus. I just had to stop in the middle of the lesson and send him to his room so I didn't just spank him out of frustration. I have tried taking a break from lessons and I have tried doing it everyday so it is routine. I just can't open that yellow book anymore. :crying: I need something new that will work for my ADD wiggle willy boy. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas or thoughts??? My stomach is literally nausous from holding in my frustrations so I didn't take them out on him. He is just so sweet and smiles the whole time he is jumping around and looking around. gah:confused:

[secular_mom]

Is it possible that the lessons are too easy for him now? I remember behaving that way when I was little, and my mother was asking me to spell my name AGAIN. I already KNEW how to spell my name, and it was horribly boring to be asked to do it over and over again. Just a thought. I've never used 100EL, so I don't know if it is very similar to other programs or not. I've used Phonics Pathways off and on with mine. It seems to help.

You might want to check it out if you know anyone else who has it, or if you can browse through it at a bookstore. Hugs.

[Melinda]

My 4 year old and I were working through this and something similar happened. She was interested in learning to read, so I sat down with her and this book, and got to work. It was great for the first couple weeks, but after that it seemed like every time we sat down she would have forgotten how to blend letters, much less read words.

 

I have since changed our approach.

 

She is using Reading Eggs (http://www.readingeggs.com) and doing fabulously. It is on the computer and she has no problem sitting still for it as she thinks it's a video game. We are also using a book called The Reading Lesson, which is like 100EZ but with uncluttered pages.

 

Good luck, and I hope you are able to find something quickly that works amazingly for him!

[Tree House Academy]

My son hated 100 EZ and after great success with ETC and LLATL Blue, we just had a similar meltdown with CLE Learning to Read (even though I LOVE most other CLE products). The bottom line is that it just doesn't work for some kids. As the lessons go on, the work gets harder and it makes less and less sense to the kids. We put 100 EZ away for awhile, came back to it and it was still a nightmare. Now, we are going to start using Phonics Pathways with our ETC to speed up the phonics portion and use CLE LA 1 for our Language Arts instruction.

 

And while I know it is frustrating when you know they can do it and they sit there like they can't, I just try to imagine myself at a job - drawing a total blank on something I have been taught and my boss yelling at me and telling me to just go sit in my office. :( I really try not to do that to my kids (even though, like you, I have!). Usually, my first clue that we are dealing with the WRONG curriculum is when my kids are overwhelmed and thus stop really being able to focus on what we are doing.

Edited April 22, 2009 by Tree House Academy

[TundraAcademy]

My son was 6 when we used 100 ez lessons. He did great for about half of it and then it got difficult for him. The sentences were just too long. We switched to Alphaphonics (which is basically just a list of words) and supplemented with Bob Books and Nora Gaydos. It worked much better. I also supplemented with the online program Headsprout which is wonderful. I think there is another called Click n Read now.

 

My younger son is using Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and is doing very well. He seems to pick up reading faster than my older did though.

 

Sometimes waiting a few months can help too. It may be a developmental thing.

 

Good luck!

[coralloyd]

I think the cluttered pages might be the problem. I started with 100 EL, but I couldn't handle all the "stuff". We switched to Phonics Pathways and it is much better. Maybe try something a little more kid friendly.

[FO4UR]

Use magnet letters, write outside with sidewalk chalk..use a whiteboard.

 

I've not used 100el - but can you look over the lesson and just adapt it to a more hand's-on approach?

[Tabrett]

Happy Phonics

 

My dd started doing this with PP's. She was great a first, then it almost became tearful. I now use PP's as MY guide and teach the lessons without the book. I find the Happy Phonics game that goes with what PP's wants my dd to learn. I also use ETC. I find the ETC pages that go with what PP's wants my dd to learn. I make flash cards of the word list and play games with the cards instead of having my dd read word lists. I have to be very creative in how I teach her! I have cut out letters for her to paste in ETC instead of writing the words. If there is a way of modifying the lesson and make it more creative and fun, I do it.

 

Making it creative and fun is the key to my very wiggly, touchy and energetic dd.

[LadyAberlin]

100 EZ was a no go here too. We love McRuffy. It has colorful workbooks , cutting and pasting and games to play.

[Jmac]

alright I am definitly going to find a way to do this with more hands on activities and movement (I did that with Horizons Math and it works) and I went ahead and purchased a subscription to click n read since it is for sell at the homeschool buyers co-op right now. We will see if he likes working on the computer. I am also going to look at happy phonics since we play a lot of math games. Maybe it will work for reading too. He is asking me to read to him now so I will do some more research later. He really is the cutest sweetest thing. 100el just isn't working for him and I need to accept that. I am going to go hide it so I don't have to look at it anymore today ;p

[BikeBookBread]

I posted a similar thread when my daughter was on lesson 5. It has actually not improved :( We have cut out the writing portion (at many people's suggestion) which has helped somewhat, but now that we are into the reading comprehension, she is soooo antsy to see the picture, and just won't sit still until that part. It's all she cares about. I have to physically cover the picture with my hand for her to even try to read. Oh, we are on lesson 18 today.

[Jmac]

100 EZ was a no go here too. We love McRuffy. It has colorful workbooks , cutting and pasting and games to play.

 

 

wait!! McRuffy has colorful workbooks, cutting and pasting and games??? Gonna have to check that out too.

 

 

I am seriously lovin all you people right now. :grouphug: The tears are gone and I am feeling much better.

[Jmac]

I posted a similar thread when my daughter was on lesson 5. It has actually not improved :( We have cut out the writing portion (at many people's suggestion) which has helped somewhat, but now that we are into the reading comprehension, she is soooo antsy to see the picture, and just won't sit still until that part. It's all she cares about. I have to physically cover the picture with my hand for her to even try to read. Oh, we are on lesson 18 today.

 

oh I cut out the writing a long time ago and I know what you mean about the pictures. :grouphug:

[JudoMom]

He is just so sweet and smiles the whole time he is jumping around and looking around. gah:confused:

 

I'm teaching my 4th boy to read (we mostly use Phonics Pathways). It is one of the most frustrating experiences for me because of their wiggling.

 

Somehow, though, my three older boys have learned to read, even though they've never sat still through a lesson. If I make them sit still, they do not learn. It's like it takes all of their concentration to not move.

 

When I started with my oldest, I had these visions of these cuddling on the couch and learning to read. I've since found, in general, this is not the best way for me to teach my boys to read. I found I was lucky if they didn't fall off the couch, and I thought it was a great day if we finished a lesson with the boy keeping his head above his feet. Oh, so frustrating.

 

Now I sit on one side of my desk, and the boy sits or stands on the other. I try not to pay attention to any of his body movements, as long as he mostly keeps his eyes on the book while he's reading.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know my experience. Also, to let you know that my oldest 2 are much less wiggly at 9 & 8 now (although my 8 year old stands to do most of his work). There is hope :001_smile:.

[elw_miller]

My childbirth educator homeschooled one of her daughters who was having trouble concentrating in school because she wanted to move so much. It seemed to help her concentrate on schoolwork if she sat on a birth ball (exercise ball) while she worked. She was an older child, though.

 

Good luck!

[caitlinsmom]

This is the exact same thing we experianced. We finally threw my hands up and said no more. I ordered Ordinary Parents guide, skipped the first 30 lessons or so and we are cruising right along with an actual interest in reading.

My one regret is trying to push 100EL as long as I did, I think it really set her back with her reading skills. But at least now she wants to read which is huge.

 

Good luck!

[LizzyBee]

Chewing gum or rolling some silly putty in one hand can help some kids focus better.

[laylamcb]

When I started How to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with my 6yr old son it was amazing. I loved hearing him sound things out and nearly cried with joy when he read his first three letter word. Now we are only on lesson 22 and I want to pull my hair out.

 

If it makes you feel any better, Jmac, my sister says the book SHOULD be titled Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy and 80 Excruciatingly Painful Lessons. :D

 

I hope it makes you feel MUCH better that she has taught 4 lightning-fast readers using this book. Hang in there!:grouphug:

[PollyOR]

We plateaued around lesson 30. I put the book away for a few months. Our next plateau was near lesson 60. I put the book away again.

 

My dd was very wiggly too. Now when I look back I wish hadn't been so hard on her. Now I realize it was typical behavior for a child her age.

[dragons in the flower bed]

It sounds like he's bored, if he can recite all the sounds and then gets antsy. Perhaps you should try a game-based approach like Happy Phonics or Sing Spell Read and Write.

[mrsrevmeg]

If it makes you feel any better, Jmac, my sister says the book SHOULD be titled Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy and 80 Excruciatingly Painful Lessons. :D

:iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

We are almost finished with 100 EL and I am soo glad!! My five year old started out gung-ho with it and then his excitement turned to boredom. He would sit and play with his foot instead of reading what was on the page. It has gotten better now that we are reading longer stories and we are so close. I never had him do the writing portion. We have been working on handwriting separately by having a "letter of the week". We have still been trudging alonf simply because I did not know what else to use since he already knew so many sounds and spelling rules.

[Ohdanigirl]

When my son gets bouncy I tell him to go run around for a bit. Then he usually can come back and sit for awhile.

 

I didn't care for 100el, but I wouldn't ditch it if you have come this far with it. Maybe try a different approach. Try shorter sessions or something really weird, like jumping up and down with him as you discuss the lesson. It sounds nuts, but sometimes getting creative helps.

 

 

:iagree:My ds is 8 and still can't sit still. I make up reasons to make him go up and down the stairs and even have him clean his room before we do anything in which I need him to sit still for more than 10 min. The rest of the time he literally bounces up and down while he works, and his behind is rarely touching a chair. It used to drive me crazy, then I remembered my aunt (also a mother of three boys) saying: "it's all about wearing them out before they wear you out". Meaning, get them to use all that energy and they will be happier and easier to settle down when needed. Some kids just have a lot of energy. You might be surprised at how much he learns and how quickly once he has somwhere to put that energy.

 

Also, someone mentioned that things may have gotten easy for him. His brain might work fast and so bis body is always moving around too. :D

 

Danielle

[kalanamak]

YOu don't say how old, but my wiggly worm did better with SWR (light...I didn't have him do the notebook) and Phonics Pathway.

[MommyJo]

When I started How to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with my 6yr old son it was amazing. I loved hearing him sound things out and nearly cried with joy when he read his first three letter word. Now we are only on lesson 22 and I want to pull my hair out. He has become an extream wiggle willy. I can't get him to focus at all and after saying every sound he immediatly starts moving around and looking at other things and looses focus. I just had to stop in the middle of the lesson and send him to his room so I didn't just spank him out of frustration. I have tried taking a break from lessons and I have tried doing it everyday so it is routine. I just can't open that yellow book anymore. :crying: I need something new that will work for my ADD wiggle willy boy. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas or thoughts??? My stomach is literally nausous from holding in my frustrations so I didn't take them out on him. He is just so sweet and smiles the whole time he is jumping around and looking around. gah:confused:

 

I just had to post a reply as I know what you are going through. However, I strongly believe that 100 EZ Lessons is one of the best reading programs with it's ease of use and straitforward, no bull lessons. They aren't carrying out 45 minute lessons with crazy pictures and this and that....it's straitforward reading and they realize early on that not every text you read has brightly colored pictures, etc. I have a son with SPD so the black and white text worked perfectly for us. However, my son is also a wiggly boy and I started doing a couple of things which has completely remedied him.

1) Let him bounce up and down on an exercise ball while doing the lesson.....he LOVES it and he's getting enough movement in to calm his SPD.

2) I take a plain colored sheet of construction paper and cover any of the lesson that we are not currently orally doing. Then when he completes a part, I move the paper down, etc.

These two things remedied his issues with this book and honestly, I never wanted to give this program up. He just turned 5 today and he's reading on a 1st grade level!! I was in the Special Education field and have taken LOTS of teaching classes, special education classes, literacy classes, etc. I actually had one full semester of teaching reading. Out of all the experience I have, I strongly recommend this book. The children learn to really sound out the words and it's so easy to use. However, the best advice I can give is to READ THE INTRODUCTION. You cannot carry out this program without reading the 20 page introduction. I have heard so many parents give up and once I have stressed the importance they went back read the beginning and re-did the program successfully. It explains A LOT and although it took me a few days to get through, I am very glad I did. If you need any more tips or have anymore questions, feel free to ask.

[KarenNC]

Both PP and 100 EZLessons were excruciating experiences for us. We did ETC, Dolch sight word cards, Dick and Jane and leveled readers from the library. For the picture issue, I would write stories for my daughter using her pets, familiar things, etc ---no pictures---and let her illustrate them if she could read them. Things like "Marco sat. Marco sat on Meg. Meg was mad. Meg bit Marco." featuring two of our cats were very popular:001_smile:.

 

I have found that using one of the bouncy exercise balls works well for doing oral spelling tests to ease the wiggles and my daughter is 8.

[Kristen in NC]

My just turned 7 year old wiggly son has done well with Happy Phonics and Explode the Code.

[FlockOfSillies]

How old is he? He may not be ADD. He might just be five. It does sound like it's too easy for him where you are. Try moving ahead in the book, or use something more thorough like OPGTR or PP. But there are lots of great programs out there.

 

I got to about Lesson 40 with my oldest, put it away during the busyness of the holidays, and watched her reading take off like a rocket. I did have to teach her a little bit of multisyllable words about a year or two later, with OPGTR. But once it clicks, it CLICKS!

 

I also highly recommend ETC as a supplement.

[ElizabethB]

My daughter can sit still, but at that age did not like to sit still and read out of a book.

 

We worked from a white board until just recently. The motion and seeing it happen is very helpful. She also liked picking the marker color! (May not be as exciting for a boy.) You can try to write 100EZ lessons with the markings on a white board, or use something like PP or Blend Phonics. If you're really ambitious, you could try Webster's Speller! I also didn't work longer than 10 minutes at a time at age 5 and a young 6, there was a mandatory running around the house after every 10 minutes (usually a fun game where I try to catch her.)

 

Here's a fun game you can play for a few days to take a break from what you've been doing:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Phonics/concentrationgam.html

 

You could also mix things up and do some oral spelling. I switched from conventional phonics programs to Webster's Speller, the work with spelling and syllables really cemented the information in her brain and allowed her to read at a very high level at a young age.

 

My daughter also enjoyed "Read, Write, Type." It's a bit expensive, but you can try to demo for free to see if you think it will be worth it.

 

I also don't recommend adding in sight words, I've remediated too many children who suffered from too many sight words.

Edited April 25, 2009 by ElizabethB

[stephanie78]

We have tried 100 EZ Lessons twice now and are so frustrated with it. My youngest is only 5 so I am not pushing reading right now, I figure it will come in time. However he loves Hooked on Phonics, especially the computer game part of it, I guess it makes him feel like a big boy . We also use Explode the Code, actually we are on Get Ready for the Code right now, and he also likes watching Leap Frog Letter Factory, which is a great movie for teaching phonics sounds.

 

And if it makes you feel better read President Woodrow Wilson didn't learn to read until he was 12.