Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: This was the most amazing how-to book I've ever experienced. I used it with my five year old son, just working on weekdays, and in less than six months he was out-reading his fourth grade brother. It was even more impressive because it was so easy! He never complained about the work - he loved it. I wish there was a similar book geared to older children who need some remediation.
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Summary: How to teach your child to read 101
Review: If your a parent wondering how in the world you can teach your child to read, buy this book. After 7 months I can say we have finished this book. My son is now wanting more lessons. I can honestly say this book works and he can read at a very good level. I can remember when we first started, lessons 90 through 100 looked impossible to him. He could not believe that he would be able to read a page and a half. Now he does it without hardly any help. From some of the earlier reviews, I have read how they are teaching there 3 years old to read. This book will help the very young, but could also be used for older students (I would say up to 3rd or 4th grade) understand the basics. The book is very easy to understand. The adult reads the RED print, the child will read the very large black print. Almost impossible to mess up. The lesson are broken down into 7 to 8 tasks. These tasks will reinforce the what they are learning through rhyming, repeating sounds in different words, sound writing and various other method. These tasks will gradually increase in difficulty and will start with the child learning the sounds of each letter and will progress to reading words (cat, dog, big) and then to short sentences. Finally they will read paragraphs and short stories. Each lesson will review in some aspect what they have learned before. This is a great book for you parents who want to teach your child to read. It will take time and dedication on your behalf. You must be the one to take the time to set time aside to do the teaching. It took us 7 months to get through this book. Some days you need to step away from the book when the lesson is not going well. If you stick to it, you will be amazed in the improvement of your child's read ability.
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Summary: the book is too wordy and "busy"
Review: I think the book is too wordy. The pages too confusing. I also cannot find a page where each orthographic sign is explained. I find forinstance no explanation for the sign under "c" on page 97 is explained.
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Summary: It is a program for children with Developmental Disabilities
Review: This book outlines reading in a systematic progression. It is easy for parents to implement as well as educators with limited resources. I have taught three students with Autism how to read using this program. It teaches basic phonics for my students who were poor at sight word reading. The comprehension componets of this program are fair so you will need supplemental materials to teach reading comprehension. It gives children an excellent foundation in reading.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: My 3-year-old daughter was aching to read her Thomas the Tank Engine collection, and was trying to sound out some of the words. Rather than have her get frustrated (some very hard words there), I ordered this book and let her learn in a more pleasant way. The proof that it works: a 3-1/4 year-old reading "That cat can sit in sand. This cat can run on sand. See the feet." as though she's been reading for years. And this after only 3 weeks, 32 lessons. I can hardly wait for lesson 100. As others have said, they have to be ready. She desperately wanted to read. Even so, some days she won't focus, other days she won't let me stop. But the material is laid out so comfortably that a willing child will enjoy the process.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect tool for an eager 3 year old
Review: I usually don't believe it when "easy" is in the book title, but this book proved itself. Being familiar with the SRA reading program from my own grade school days, I ordered the book. I'm an at-home mom with an eager to learn (but easily frustrated) 3 year old son. I took a "no pressure" approach to the reading lessons, spending 20 minutes daily. We've had great success. I love the phonics-based system. It is amazing when your child actually "gets it". He sounds out words all of the time. My husband thought that he was just recognizing words, but I explained, excitedly, that he is reading. I've highly recommended this book to all of my friends with children.
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Summary: The teaching method is very effective and really works!!!
Review: In about 6-8 months, our son was reading at a much higher level, his spelling was excellent, he excelled in phonetically sounding out words and it happened all right before our eyes. He actually enjoyed doing the lessons so much that he begged us to continue. But according to the instructions, you keep the sessions short and leave them asking for more. The instructions were very clear so that anyone could take this book and teach their child to read. The illustrations are funny and make the experience more enjoyable. It is like a fun game.
Rating:
Summary: a lifesaver!
Review: I was so frustrated with the way the school systems taught reading without phonics that I decided to teach my four year old to read myself before he started school. The lessons are quick and easy. My short attention spanned son had no problem picking up the concepts and staying with it for the 10 or 15 minutes it took to present the lesson each day. We've been working on the lessons every weekday for only 2 months and he is now reading on a first grade level and he just turned four. This is amazing. I would highly recommend it to anyone.
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Summary: Success after pre-school floundering
Review: We had our son in a very expensive, "child-centered," private preschool using the overly-touted methods of the Italian town of "Reggio-Emilia," in Tuscany. These methods are pure "constructivist," which is to say, that the child is supposed to figure out everything for himself without being told - it is as though each and every child had not only to reinvent the wheel, but everything else as well, including the conventions of our written language. This way of keeping school is consistent with the non-methods of "whole language," predicated on the supposition that a child can learn spelling rules without having had them explained. Some whole language teachers go one step beyond, assuming erroneously that written English is somehow like Chinese ideographs, and word identification a process like reading Chinese. That is not how written English words are built or properly read. Failing to teach phonics systematically and thoroughly is disastrous for students. Such teachers were probably themselves mistaught.Such nonsense has been a staple in some (not all) schools of education, since the 1930s and earlier. Our son was not learning to read under this nonsystem, although he loved being read to, and showed in every way he could that he would do it himself, if only he had good instruction. Of course, we weren't told any of that. These were "professional educators," after all, keepers of the Sacred Secrets of Education, which were none of our business. Might we be thought impertinent for asking why things weren't working well, and why our son couldn't read? "Maybe he isn't ready," a politely expressed suggestion, with unfailing smiles, incidentally absolving the school and its teachers of responsibility. Of course, there was no evidence for that, only that our son was not reading. He could not, given their nonmethods of instruction. After an expensive year on this whirligig of illogic and smiling disinformation, our stomachs got queasy, and we headed elsewhere, onto the firm ground of Direct Instruction. I found this book on the Direct Instruction website (www.adihome.org) and bought it there, joining the Association for Direct Instruction (to get the discount, which makes the price about equal to Amazon's) and getting some of the other books listed on that site. We started our son on 100 Easy Lessons that summer and he was reading well before he was back in school (a public school), thus giving him a real head start and setting the stage for a successful school year - his new school could not fail him, because he had already succeeded in his single most important task, learning to read and write. The principal virtue of 100 Easy Lessons is that it gets the essential rules in place quickly and easily, when used sensibly and gently, with humor and patience. "Repeat until firm" is essential, but not when a child is falling asleep. The script is crucial, but does not absolve the parent from thinking. Use the book, but use your excellent head too. Written English has lots of exceptions, because it is an old language, with bits and pieces borrowed from all sorts of other languages over many centuries. The exceptions are a game to be played later, often quite amusing, once a child knows the fundamental rules of the decoding process. 100 Easy Lessons focuses on the essential rules, not the exceptions. Yes, cereal boxes and public signs and newspapers and all sorts of things contain written words with which to practice, once a child knows how to sound words out. But first get the horse before the cart, phonics before context. This book does that splendidly. Buy it for your child, for birthday gifts and baby showers of your friends, for your grandchildren, and help wipe out illiteracy in America and the English speaking world. Ten Stars.
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Summary: It's self-teaching!
Review: I wholeheartedly agree with some of the other reviews that state that nothing will help unless your child is ready to learn. When I first purchased this book, I tried to help my (then) 4 year old daughter through the first lesson. She hated it and wasn't ready to move forward. So we left the book out and after a week or so she picked it up and to the amazement of my wife and I, she worked her way through the first 10 lessons with a minimum of assistance from us. Granted, I do recommend that parents take part in the instruction, but I use this story as an example of how well thought out and easy to use this method is. Our daughter (now 5) has successfully completed most of the book and is actively reading on her own. While the methods do focus primarily on phonics, I found that it worked best for us when my wife and I were able to insert whole language methods, explain usage, etc. as our daughter asked questions. Overall it's been a lot of fun and it's wonderful to see her proud of her accomplishments and to realize the immediate gain she has from reading.
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