Teaching your child to read in 100 easy lessons-- Homeschool question

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Hello everyone, I am homeschooling my 6 year old daughter and just spent almost all the money I have on her cirrcullum for next year. (it was on sale. We are not using a cirrcullum this year since I have only been homeschool since Janurary and didn't want to spend that much money for 1/2 a year. Didn't realize at the time all that was available to me. Anyway we are floundering on Phonics real bad. She is very smart at is on 1st and 2nd grade for everything else. But I am having trouble teaching her this one. She is 6 and already knows all 50 states even the New England ones!! :) Ok enough bragging. I am wondering if anyone out there has Learning to read in 100 easy lessons. And would be willing to let it go cheap! I know $20.00 for it new it not a lot but sacrifices had to be made for me to stay at home and right now 20.00 is 1/2 a weeks groceries. So if anyone out there can help it would be wonderful. Jennifer

-- Jennifer (Jfisher4@midsouth.rr.com), March 20, 2002

Answers

hi Jennifer, I bought the book and didn't care for it. I swear by Abeka Blue Back Speller. But if you want mine, email me privately with your address, and I'll stick it in the mail next time I'm out. Maybe you could reimburse me postage when you get it. It's a shame to have so many books I don't use.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), March 20, 2002.

Jennifer, I don't have the book, but I do have 12 years worth of homeschooling advice. Maybe you should just back off the phonics for now. It has been my experience ( and I have taught two phonics and to read) that children will grasp new concepts when they are ready for them. Six years old is pretty young. My middle child didn't read until she was in the latter half of second grade and by the fourth grade she was reading and had a comprehension level of a tenth grader. She just wasn't ready in K or grade one. #2 was a little quicker, but we followed the same formula, I'd introduce it, if he didn't get it in a few days I would back off. In the mean time we did a lot of "reading" together, me reading and pointing out words in a relaxed atmosphere. The results worked out great, both kids LOVE to read and did well with their phonics. Hope this helps a little. Learning is a lifetime, not a cirriculum.

-- Lynelle SOwestVA (X2ldp@aol.com), March 20, 2002.

For some reason "100 easy lessons" annoyed me - perhaps it was because it was all so prescripted. We used Alphaphonics - no bells and whistles, just straightforward phonics from 2-letter words on up. Go to Vegsource.com and check out their swap boards in the Homeschooling section.

-- gita (gita@directcon.net), March 20, 2002.

Hi perhaps the local library could get a copy through the interloan program,our library had a several copys of hooked on phonics material which helped my youngest several years ago,he now reads quite well!

-- Julie (nelson3@bright.net), March 20, 2002.

I looked at it in the bookstore and did not like it at all--almost made me think about looking for Dick and Jane type reading material. What you might try doing is looking for phonics combinations in (say you're looking for "tion") the newspaper and other reading material, and have her circle all the words. Much cheaper alternative.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), March 20, 2002.


I wouldn't worry so much about the reading. I child will learn to read when they can grasp it. My son didn't get it until he was nine. But in that year he read all the way into High School level reading. And now he reads daily because he loves to.......

-- Jodie in TX (stanchnmotion@yahoo.com), March 20, 2002.

Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons worked really good for my 4 year old. She got about half way thru the book and started to read the signs on buildings and labels. The book is really easy ans she enjoyed reading the little stories to me.

-- shari (smillers@snowcrest.net), March 21, 2002.

I read chapter books to my daughter ever since she was born. One day I had pneumonia and kept coughing when trying to read. In exasperation, I handed her the book and told her to read. She did! Smoothly, with meaning. I was shocked. She admitted she had learned to read but didn't want me to know because she was afraid I'd stop reading to her ;-) My daughter was unschooled for 10 years and is now doing uncollege. I never spent ANY money on curriculum or text books....just good books and lots of trips to the library ;-)

-- Peace and Carrots Farm (wsm311@aol.com), March 21, 2002.

Actually we started a pilot program at our elementary school with the second grade and this book. I prefer real learning experiences vs texts, but it did help some. You could use it as your benchmark.

-- julie (jbritt@ceva.net), March 21, 2002.

I'm not thrilled by "100 lessons", either. My children did well with the "Sing Spell Read and Write" but learning to read shouldn't be that expensive. (Someone gave me mine.) I would recommend "The Writing to Road to Reading" which is the Spaulding Method. There is a companion book "Teaching Writing at Home" if you need things a little more planned out. I wouldn't push too hard; some take more time to grasp the concepts. Enjoy the time you have and make some great memories for your child. I always want my kids to want to HS their kids when they grow up.

I agree to go to Vegsource- many good deals to be found there.

Good Luck!

-- Mrs G (gunnar@yifan.net), March 21, 2002.



I too have the book and it's not very good. If you still want it your welcome to mine.

-- Susan (dsowen@tds.net), March 21, 2002.

Out here the schools all teach whole word recognition, so I started my kids on phonics before they started to read in the schools. It worked pretty well. I started out with a few short vowel sounds, then taught enough of the short consonant sounds so I could explain a few short words. I used their favorite books. If the book was on cats, I would show them how to sound out "c says k", c a t, c a t, cat. I would point to each letter as I said it, which isn't to hard with those oversize letters. I would do this on every page, preferably with the same word. Once they got the concept that every letter had it's own sound, I taught them the rest of the sounds. I DID use a phonics book after that, but that was partially because I didn't remember all of the pronounciation rules and you cannot teach what you don't understand.

I think they liked learning to read the books they loved far more than any educational book, and I KNOW they enjoyed picking out standard alphabet books. You know, the traditional "a" is for aaaaaaaaaaaaapple books. I just exagerated the first sound and sometimes said the "a" sound all by itself so they connected the sound with the letter.

I have 3 younger siblings and this is how I remember my mother teaching them to read, it's very simple if you have ever seen it done, there is NO pressure for the child, they are pretty much just listening to the story and the Mom points out a couple of things while she reads. It wasn't presented as a lesson for the child, just an extra story, read by Mom during the day in addition to the traditional bedtime story. Sooner or later the child would pick up on the concept, and Mom would be *SO IMPRESSED*!!! and then, of course, the child would want to do it again. At any rate, my younger siblings enjoyed this so I did it with my kids, as well. Good Luck!!!!!!!!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 21, 2002.


Yikes!!!!!!!! The coputer edited what I typed, and I didn't want it to!!!!!!! I will try again, using dots instead of spaces!!!!!!!

"C says k", C....A....T, C.A.T, cat. The slow pronunciation is so the child hears the different sounds of the word! Good luck again!

-- Terri (hooperterri@prodigy.net), March 21, 2002.


I've used the book for 4 children, all started at 5 years old. Worked out well for them - they are generally a year ahead of their grade level in reading. I checked Half.com and there is a copy there for $12.50. They have free shipping on orders totalling $50 or more.

-- Christina (introibo2000@yahoo.com), March 21, 2002.

We used the book and were very happy with it. We got sidetracked with the second child & so didn't finish the book. He reads well but still has trouble figuring our pronunciation. Our daughter, who finished the book, has no trouble. Both enjoyed the silly stories until they got too old for them.

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), March 21, 2002.


Jennifer,

I'm sure you will great advice here. I will add mine as well, just keep in mind that what works best for you may not be what works for anyone else.

My son is seven. Reading WAS our biggest battle. Notice I said "was".

My son had no desire to read. He saw no useful purpose for it. Nothing about it interested him and nothing I said convinced him that it was important.

I tried using competition. He has a cousin that is the same age. She is in public school. The two have been almost inseperable since birth. I told him how well she was reading and all the books she was able to read now. His attitude was, "great, she can read to me."

He loves math and is very analytical about it. He likes to make up his own math problems and makes connections that amaze me.

After much frustration and concern that he would be "behind", I finally learned to back off and not push so hard. When I stopped being so worried about it, I was able to see the problem.

My son loves math because 3 is 3 is 3. No matter where it is in the problem, 3 still means 3.

In reading, a might be aahh or aayy or aaa. It was not consistent. He felt like the letters were tricking him.

I was able to correct the problem by marking with pencil on the books I wanted him to read. I would cross out silent letters and place the pronunciation marks where they applied.

His reading went through the roof!

He no longer hates it and I no longer push him too hard. I bought a phonics book that teaches the pronunciation rules and he learns them at his own speed. He still gets frustrated sometimes because there are so many words that don't follow the rules. I just circle these or tell him when he reaches it that it is a "sight" word. That lets him know it doesn't sound like it looks and he must just memorize it.

We tried 100 Easy Lessons for a while and it was ok. We quickly got bored with it. The phonics book we use is Adventures in Phonics by Florence Lindstrom. We use level B. It is published by Christian Liberty Press 502 West Euclid Avenue Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004.

I know this has been long, but I felt it might be helpful.

One more thing, you sound as if you may have invested a large sum of money for next years books. Please don't do that. I think you will find that less is more and most things you can get used really cheap. I don't know where you are, but if you ask around you can probably find a store that sells used curriculum. Good Luck!

-- Mona in OK (modoc@ipa.net), March 22, 2002.


Since the topic is homeschooling I just wanted to share a great deal, (in my opinion.) At www.timberdoodle.com they have a section called Swansong, this is a list of slightly damaged books that they are selling cheap, probably at their cost. My friend just got a bunch of great books, that had nothing wrong with them but a few bent pages and such. Didn't affect the content at all. I know 100 Easy Lessons was on that list awhile back.

-- Cassie (cassie@mo.usa), March 22, 2002.

I don't have any experience with that curriculum but I can whole heartedly recommend Explode the Code. That is what I started my daughter out with and she is an excellent reader. My son is another story. He was pushed before he was ready. If I had it to do over again I wouldn't care if he didn't learn to read until he was 11 or 12!! Reading is a constant battle. I sometimes joke that he doesn't even read the in and out signs on doors(ok I hope I'm joking)! If she is doing as well as you say on other subjects I would totally not worry about reading. I have the feeling she will surprise you one day.

-- Amanda (mrsgunsmyth@hotmail.com), March 23, 2002.

I used A Beka phonics with good results. However I found that reading to them alot made a lot of difference. I started reading to my daughter at 6 months every evening before bedtime. I read the books like I was excited about them and made it a special time. Because I expressed excitement over the books she became excited and interesed. We started with simple books like the Little Golden Books and I just tried to find what might interest her. As she got a little older I started asking her what this or that word was and she just took off. She was reading on her own by 5 years old. Hope this helps.

-- Eve Lyn (evelynv@valuelinx.net), March 23, 2002.

Jennifer, I used this program and thought it was wonderful. Our dd is reading at a grade level higher than other kids her age. I have the book avalible if you'd like it just email me at; KelleMT@yahoo.com I'd be glad to give it to you. :o) Blessings, Kelle

-- Kelle in MT (kelleMt@yahoo.com), March 23, 2002.

For anyone who needs remedial reading as opposed to first-time learning, you might check out http://www.readingtlc.com/ . (I think it would work for first-timers as well). The developer of this phonics-based computer reading course happens to be the wife of about my favourite author and journalist - Roberta Pournelle is Jerry Pournelle's wife ( http://www.jerrypournelle.com ).

I don't have personal experience with this course, but what I see of it makes sense, and I trust the people involved, and Roberta has a lot of experience in teaching remedial reading successfully, and it does cost REAL money, so you wouldn't go into it lightly, but it also produces REAL results, and it can (I think) be re-used or re-sold afterwards.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), March 24, 2002.


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