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Summary: Homeschool Mom in Southern California
Review: My daughter was having trouble understanding phonics and simply reading (she was already 7 years old and had gone through a very reputable phonics program with no success). I got to talking to a friend who's son was already in second grade who couldn't yet read, and was about to try the book. It took her quite a few months to get through the book because he was having such diffucties, but by the time he was done with the book, he was reading excellent!!!I decided to try my luck (since the price was right). Let me tell you...IT WORKED!!!!! My daughter and I thought the lessons were corny at first, but after sticking with it, she was completely reading by herself with no help. My own husband was not convinced, he said he would not believe anything until she could read John 1:1 (from the Bible)through by herself without help. Let me tell you...the day she did read it, both my husband and I had tears in our eyes. Now, I also have a son who is two years younger than my daughter, who at the time I was teaching my daughter, was listening to the lessons (and I never noticed). I recently started the program with him(6 years old) and by the time we were on the 4th lesson I just saw a lightbulb light up in him. He understood and started reading words immediately. He would go around the house trying to find words to read. Now...I am not saying it is easy work, but I am saying it works if you dedicate yourself and your child is willing. There are many typos I came across but nothing big! It got so easy with my children (and fun for them) that we decided to do TWO lessons a day! Finally, if you are looking for in expensive and fun way to teach your child to read, this is the way to go!
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Summary: My son has delayed speech and language, A God-send!
Review: I rarely buy books that I can check out at the library but after checking out this book, I knew it was a keeper. My son is developmentally delayed in speech and language. He didn't begin speaking til 3yrs, finally started putting short sentences together at 4&1/2. I was so excited about his progress that I thought I'd "aim high" and begin teaching him to read. To my surprise, he took to it very well! One of his delay "quirks" was that instead of responding to something, he'd repeat exactly what you said. So, the way this book is laid out helped him to use repetition to his advantage in learnig the sounds. Now he sounds out words he sees on signs, boxes, TV etc. The reinforcing questions in this story have helped him with comprehension not only of the story he just read but also in the real world. His vocabulary has grown so much and I beleive that this book had a lot to do with it. It's become more to us than teaching him to read. It's a chance to help him gain more of an understanding of himself and the world.
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Summary: I do recommend this!
Review: This easy to follow step by step program is great. My only drawback is I think there could be more focus on phonics, but there is a strong emphasis. However, it has worked for 2 of my kids. (Ages 5 and 7 now, started at age 4.) The 20 minute lessons give the kids such a feeling of self-satisfaction. It is a miracle teaching your child to read! Anyone could do this. There is a lot of reading at the beginning, before you get started. Don't be overwhelmed. It all flows quickly and makes sense. As you go through, you have to trust your instinct every now and then. But by the end, WOW!!! You and your child will feel great! And BOTH of you will be readers! I am not a home schooler. My children go to a fine public school. I just wanted to do a bit more.
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Summary: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Review: This is the best teaching tool I've used with any of my children. I only wish I'd known about this book with my two older kids. My 4 year old can read 1st grade books and we're only on lesson 68!!
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Summary: This book is wonderful
Review: I found out about this book from a friend at my son's school. She highly recommended the book, so I purchased it. It is excellent. It starts off with the basic sounds (not letters). It is easy for the child to start picking up on how words are put together. One of the best parts is that it tells the parent exactly what to say to the child. This makes you more successful because the author's have already figured out the best way to present the lessons to your child. I highly recommend it in preparing your child for school. The author's note that this book will NOT work on children that have already learned to read. Only those that are beginning the process. I used it during the summer before 1st grade.
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Summary: Too rigid for some kids
Review: I bought this book on reading the recommendations here, and I was very disappointed. My experience was similar to that of another reviewer in that the lessons became grueling and frustrating for both me and my son. I remain open-minded about the weird orthography, but the approach requires kids (mine is 4) to perform on command, turning what might be a fun time into a chore. I finally gave up after a particularly bad session in which we both became frustrated and angry. The method in this book repeatedly puts the child "on the spot" and for some children, like mine, the pressure is just too great. I'm sure this would be a fine method for some children, but I'm not sure how one would determine in advance how it would work for a particular child.
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Summary: Great book, goes beyond just "learning to read" (for me!)
Review: Our 4 1/2 yr old boy had a well developed love of books, and the idea of reading, well before I discovered this book - quite by accident, in a bookshop in Christchurch. He LOVES his reading lessons from this book. It was the first (and only copy) I've seen. I can now recommend it via Amazon to friends in New Zealand. The introductory section for the parents has some great ideas, even before getting to the actual lessons. I believe the scripting of everything that parent (and hopefully child!) does and says is important. The point made in the introduction about the difficulty of ad-libbing it (e.g. teachers - how I admire their efforts, dealing with whole classes at a time) is well made. Another good point was about the importance of the frequency of reinforcement/rewards - for a group of tasks. Our lessons take (took?) a lot longer when I was constantly reinforcing, tempting as this is. These rewards/interruptions (pats on back, hugs, shaking hands, clapping) were becoming what was being reinforced. Interestingly enough, he would say that we were "interrupting the lesson", unprompted. For the "sounds writing", we bought a special hardcover exercise book. He will choose the coloured pens he wants to use, one for drawing lines, and another for writing the sounds, and always knows exactly what lesson we're up to. We plan to place a photo of us doing a lesson on the front of the book. He really "owns" this book, and is justifiably proud of it. As for the actual sounds, getting some of the shorter "fast" ones "right" myself took a bit of thinking e.g. "t", "d" (without adding the extras e.g. "tih" etc.) In my review title I said this book goes beyond just "learning to read". Like most happy, healthy boys of his age, my boy has lots of energy. The lessons are good practice at sitting down and concentrating on learning something. The fact he does this with me, and enjoys it is a huge bonus for both of us. Keeping him "on task" has prepared me for any comments future teachers may make - I know what it's like first hand. It also provides the opportunity to emphasise to him that things that are worthwhile in life take some sustained effort. I have used the analogy with him of the foundations of a building; these lessons are laying the foundation for his reading. As others have pointed out there are some typos. As the whole program is scripted down to the last dot, cross and colour, you have to be alert (stay a lesson or 2 ahead) to these. A point to provide feedback for corrections to subsequent printings would be useful. This comment applies to ALL books; there are some seriously expensive books out there with some equally serious typos in them. Enjoy the process, as George Leonard suggests in "Mastery". By the end of this book your child should have mastered the process of reading, and the 2 of you will have had a great time. FYI, this is my first review of any sort ... I feel more coming on.
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Summary: There are better ways, especially for active kids.
Review: I have a very active 4 year old who appeared to be ready to read about six months ago. Based on the Amazon reviews, I chose "100 Easy Lessons" over "Phonics Pathways". It seemed more professional. It turned out to be a rather convoluted, overly strict "method". Some kids are into methods. I actually saw some SRA Distar materials when I was a child and thought they looked cool. The strange orthography looked like a secret code, so I wanted to use the materials. The problem was I already knew how to read. So, if you have a child who can't read and who finds "100 Easy Lessons" appealing, then by all means buy the book. I'm glad Amazon now has sample pages to view, so parents can make a more informed choice. Anyway, I bought the book, suffered through the first ten "easy lessons" (which turned out to be 30-40 grueling sessions) with my bright, active child, and decided there had to be a better way. The main problem I could identify with the program is its insistence that the child constantly perform on demand. Again, I would have loved this as a child, but my daughter absolutely hates it. She learned the sounds well enough, but she wasn't about to say the sound the instant my finger passed under the letter in the book. This usually led to me becoming angry and her becoming silly and wired until I would announce "Well, that's enough for today" (having only completed a quarter of the lesson). It really seemed to be a learning style problem rather than a discipline problem.
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Summary: Good tool if your child is ready.
Review: Easy to teach from, cheap to buy.
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Summary: Not the thing for a child learning to read on her own...
Review: I bought this when my dughter turned 4 1/2. I could tell she was on the verge of being able to read and really wanted to, so I thought this would put all the pieces together. It proved to be too slow for her and totally, maddeningly annoying for me. After plowing through the first two dozen or so lessons, she hadn't learned anything she didn't already know. She was enjoying it, though, because listening to Mommy going "sssss" and "mmmmmm" and "t!t!t!" over and over again was amusing enough to keep her engaged. We would have persisted if there was a way to skip over some lessons to match the child's level, but the intro is quite clear that you shouldn't skip ahead. I couldn't figure out why, but I didn't want to go and mess something up and have to go back and "mmmmm" for weeks. If your child knows the sounds that the letters make but hasn't quite gotten the idea of putting them together into words, skip this book, you do not need it. Get some Bob Books instead, and let her start really reading. Get a Leap Pad or some books on tape to show him the correspondence of sounds to words. But pass on this program, it will drive you nuts!!!
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