It seems like a solid program, and is one of Cathy Duffy's top picks, but I can't seem to find many people that use it.
I picked it up at the library and didn't like it. I think it would work for some, but it wasn't in my list of things I wanted to try. I don't know if that helps or not.
I have it...but we haven't used it yet! I have 2 in K so we are just finishing up our etc a,b,c books and will start on book 1 soon. When we do, we will do alpha phonics with it. I don't think it matters what you use, as long as you stick with something. I too picked it because of cathy duffs review. I hope we like it!
Funny, I had the same plan with my 4yo! He has really taken off with his letters and sounds (thank you LeapFrog!) so I think we'll begin sooner than I originally planned. Please post again once you start using it.
A mom from my states yahoo group posted this. She used it with her child. I did get a chance to give it a quick look but I already have stuff planned out for my little ones to use. http://kidslovelearning.blogspot.com/2008/12/teaching-your-child-to-read-our.html
I have used a several different circ. while teaching my boy to read. It seems like he needed a change instead of the same o same o. I have used, and use all of these with 100 easy lessons. I use the others, and am using 100 easy lessons to make sure we don't have any holes. We do a few days of 100 easy lessons, then a few days of something else. My son is 4 and on lesson 60 of the 100 easy lessons. These are all free, too Dolch site words http://www.theschoolbell.com/Links/Dolch/Contents.html Blend Phonics http://donpotter.net/Blend%20Phonics.htm Websters Way http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/webstersway.html And of Course starfall. http://www.starfall.com/
It's probably a bit late for you but I did want to mention my own experience with Alpha-Phonics. I taught my kids to read using it. It is absolutely fool proof - it's entirely phonics - not "phonics based" as is the current trend in education. The education industrial complex realized about a decade or so ago that abandoning phonics caused reading problems. But they couldn't admit it, and they couldn't return to it completely, that would be too old school. So they came up with horrible, confusing methods that are a hybrid of phonics and failed methods like whole language. The edition I had, some 20 years ago, had a lesson for teaching children their alphabet. (not sure if it's still in the current editions) It was a brilliant method. They do not memorize the alphabet in order, so they were able to recognize the letters in a stand-alone manner. My 2 yr. old daughter learned her alphabet while my 4 year old son learned to read. My kids are both excellent readers and have excellent language skills. I am a teacher, but anyone can teach reading using this method. Basically, if you can turn a page, you can teach your child to read. I think the book is only around 25 bucks. Well worth the investment.
I used Alpha Phonics because I wanted a solid phonics based program that was affordable. It worked well at first but almost halfway through my son began to struggle. I felt like it moved a little too quickly and maybe he was missing a few key concepts, so I switched to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. I like it better. It is also a no-frills, phonics-based program that is affordable but also much more thorough (imho)!
