Has anyone used this and had success? I just got it from the library. I'm still reading the parent part of it. The book was recommended by a friend who has homeschooled for the last 20 years. It just doesn't look like it would keep my son's interest. Does anyone have a different phonics based program they can recommend? My son is 3.5 but I think he's ready to learn to read. He knows upper/lower case letters, and all the sounds the letters make. He also knows about 10 sight words. Thanks, Sheri
I second the ordinary parent's guide. We use it for my 6yo ds. He was getting very frustrated with reading, and I also did not think the 100 easy lessons was right for us.
I used http://www.letteroftheweek.com/site_map.html at that age even up until after we'd pulled dd from ps K this past year. Now I'm using Horizons. She reads above grade level, but I think it's important to learn the phonics rules- hence why we're using Horizons this year. I don't think we'll be doing phonics next year.
I started my ds4 on that book. I thought it was great up until about lesson 50. Then he completely lost interest. at 5, I switched to ordinary parents guide as well. He seems to like it much better. I do think that 100 Easy Lesson give a great foundation to begin with but it does get to be a bit much in the later sections. Just me to sense worth!
I don't like 100 Easy Lessons. I got it from the library, too, and it just wasn't me! I tend to do my own thing.
My son LOVES this and I hate it. We do not use the script at all. I introduce the new sound and DS2 reads his part. I correct him if necessary. Thats it. We don't do any of the other stuff. He made it to lesson 60 something and transitioned to real books.
I got it from the library and returned it the same week. I just didn't like it and was bored myself reading some of the lessons.
Your son sounds like my daughter. She was ready to read very early. I never used a formal phonics program. However, I had Phonics Pathways on hand that I really did not use except for phonics rules with spelling. My daughter began with 100EZLessons soon after she turned three years old. We did not do the writing part at all. There were times that my daughter stalled out. I would back up about five lessons for review and see how she handled it when we got to the lesson with which we had a problem. If she blew through it, we moved on. If she stalled out again, we would put the book down for a week or two, back up about five lessons and try again. We did not finish the book. When we were near lesson 80, there just was little point to continue. She was reading well at about second grade level, but what impressed me the most is that no word intimidated her! She would tackle multisyllable words and often would figure them out without any help at all. I was very happy with the way 100EZLessons trained my child to read. My daughter is now six years old. She reads at a fourth to five grade level. If I could find appropriate reading material for her age, she might be higher than that...? After watching my daughter read a Dr. Seuss book to her daughter, a friend of mine told me that she bought a fancy (and expensive) phonics program and that her daughter knew the sounds but she could not put them together to understand the word. She bought my used copy of 100EZLessons, because that is its strong point and within just three weeks her daughter was beginning to really read.
I bought it because a friend had taught her child to read with 100 EZLessons. She said the same thing that SeekingMyLord said, that they never finished the book but somewhere in the latter chapters her daughter just started reading on her own. I started to use it but never really followed through. It seemed kinda boring . So in all truth, I didn't put in the effort. But it does obviously work for some kids and I'm keeping it around because it might work with my younger DD. I'm using HOP with my older DD and this is going well. I have the K and 1st grade programs.
Seeking, mly oldest was like your daughter. It was very frustrating finding good literature for her that wasn't too "mature" in content. My middle one is the opposite! I'm always suggesting that she needs to read more books for OLDER kids, since she tends to pick out ones that are written for children younger than her!
Our library didn't have that one, so we used "Teach your child to read in 10 minutes a day or less" If you child is into games, he/she will really like this. I started with this, got the basics down, then bought some inexpensive phonics readers from a Catholic site, and we never looked back. However, the game did not work as well my #2 - my dd, and by the time #3 came along, we didn't really use the game aspect at all - but we did use the "teach your stuffed animals the sounds" part which she LOVED. SHe is now 5 1/2 and while we are still finishing up the readers, she can read almost as well as my 7 yr old, who just finished M. Henry's King of the Wind. With some kids, the desire to read does not come until later - my ds was in late 3rd grade before he became a reader (reading more than just dr suess.) Becoming a reader came much earlier with my girls. Maybe because they were younger siblings?
I started with the "100 Easy lessons". My daughter did NOT like it...it was a fight every day - I think I may have tried too early. Then we tried Scaredy Cat Reading (which by the way is an AWESOME program, as a mom I LOVED it), but again, my daughter didn't like it. She caught on well, but it wasn't her style. THEN...found www.starfall.com . All FREE, and it had worksheets that corresponded. She was reading ALL of it by our 2nd week in. I had her go thru all 15 levels (1 week at a time). She LOVED it. Still likes to play on it. She's almost 8 and reading at a 5th or 6th grade level. She loves to read. I, too, sometimes have issues finding age appropriate stuff. But so far, have been lucky.
I bought a used copy of 100EZ from a homeschool mom who swore by it. We used it awhile then just sort of got out of it. It was o.k. I'd be willing to give it a shot with the boys just to see how it would go.
I found starfall after my daughter was reading, but she really liked it although I have not used the worksheets. Just playing on the website did teach my daughter a few phonics rules that 100EZLessons does not emphasize. My daughter still likes to play there also, but there is one story there of a boy being afraid in his bedroom at night. My daughter never has been afraid at night until she heard that story. (I know it is common with children, but I don't like stories that teach my daughter to fear what does not need to be feared.)
We are up to lesson 27. My son is doing very well with it, though I think watching the leap frog videos is part of how much reading is "clicking" lately. I checked it from the library in January/February and he didn't like it. I purchased it over the summer and we started with it. We don't follow the script word for word, I don't make him repeat unless he really has trouble with it, we don't do the writing part, and he thinks the stories are hilarious. Aisling
I use a combination of things. We do lessons from 100 EZ Lessons whenever my ds wants to. We don't use the script, we just go through it our way. He says the words & then reads the story, sometimes he reads it a few times. We go on www.starfall.com at least a few times a week. We stay there & read the stories for a long as he wants to. The other week he read 4 stories (in one sitting) on there by himself (no help from me or the site). Plus, whenever I'm reading to him I ask him to tell me what a word is or to find a word on a page. He's reading at about the same level as my 6 (almost 7)year old nephew (my ds will be 4 in Dec.). He knows a good amount of sight words & is really good at sounding words out. I honestly don't remember how my dd learned to read. Whatever it was worked great, though. She was reading before she was 5. She's 9 1/2 now and reads at a high school level. It's worth trying. If it just isn't for you, you can always change or add something else.
I used the book with success. We had started with Horizons, and it seems to assume that the student knows the letter names and sounds already. That was fine we remediated that then started again. We then ran against a brick wall and could not blend sounds no matter what we tried. 100 Lessons was great for us. It taught my student to read at almost a 2nd grade level with an intuitive working knowledge of basic phonics. We then used Explode the code 1-4 to teach the phonics rules as such and then are using 2nd grade Horizons this year.
I have that boo and The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. I like the ordinary parent's guide to teaching reading better. I am planning on using it with my younger two.
I forgot about something we use. In addition to 100 EZ Lesson & starfall.com we use a few TV shows & DVDs. My ds loves watching the Leap Frog Talking Word Factory DVDs. He also likes Between the Lions, Super Why, and has recently gotten into Word World (all on PBS). I watch with him & we read the words together. He really enjoys it & has been making great progress. I record all the PBS shows the kids like, so they don't necessarily have to watch them when they're on. That way, ds gets to watch his reading shows in the evening or on weekends when they aren't on TV. Plus, I refuse to schedule our days around TV shows.
