We've been using the "1/2" books and I think they're GREAT! It does review what was taught, but adds new words, not literally repeating the same things in each book. My son loves Explode The Code, what a great series. He will be moving onto book 3 in about a month from now. I'm debating on continuing the 1/2 books as he gets older considering he'll be doing more work, like writing, etc?
We didn't do any of the 1/2 books with dd because she didn't seem to need the extra work. A friend of mine has used them with her son, but the older he gets, he is catching on more quickly. She is thinking she may not purchase the next 1/2 book and see how it goes.
Nope. Actually, I like to just skip right to the reviews in the regular books. When something seems completely new or confusing, we'll go back and do that lesson. If the review goes smoothly, I don't bother teaching the section of the book. (I'm pretty much like that for everything we do... not just ETC.)
In the past, I have used the half books. They are really books for reinforcing the same concepts from what I understand. When my boys were younger, they really enjoyed Explode the Code.
