Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Rating:
Summary: Easy - well, mayby. But it really works.
Review: When my oldest was 2 1/2 she asked me "Mommy, teach me to read" so we started playing phonics games and within a year she new all her letters and sounds. The next step was reading. I had thumbed through this book at a friend's house and knew it was what I wanted to try.

It started well, but the lessons can get monotonous because they are is so much (necessary) repitition. I printed out a grid with 100 squares on it. For each lesson she completed, she got to put a sticker on that square, plus one or two additional if she really concentrated. The motivation of the stickers really worked for her.

She was not physically ready to do the writing lessons at the end, so printed out some tracer pages from the internet. They worked great for her. She completed the book and was reading very well by her 4th birthday.

My second is now 3 1/2 and knows all her letters and sounds. We tried starting the reading program a couple months ago, but she just couldn't sit still through the lessons. So, we put the book up for a few months. She is showing even more interest in books and is asking me to teach her to read but I don't think she's is ready, yet for the kind of repitition in the book. I plan to start her again in the next couple weeks, but will use flash cards where possible to break up the lessons.

Yes, my children are young, but we have a VERY academically focused house. My husband and I are constantly reading and most of the toys focus on learning. We are a homeschool household. My 3rd is very active and doesn't seem to be as interested in the letters and learning as her older sisters. So, if she isn't ready to read until 5 or even 7, I won't be upset. She will learn.

If you think your child is ready, try the first couple lessons. If s/he is capaple, keep going. If not, STOP!!! There is no merit in having a child who has learned to read but hates every minute of it. It's much better to wait until your child is ready. The time will be much more enjoyable for both of you!

Rating:
Summary: My 6-year old loves this book!
Review: My 5 year-old daughter was almost finished with kindergarten when her teacher shocked me by suggesting she be held back because she was the youngest in the class. They were teaching sight reading and she was really struggling with the idea. I also struggled with it (being taught phonics), so had trouble helping her. She couldn't read at all at the end of kindergarten year.

Now she is 6 years old and we homeschool. We're on lesson #51 of this book and she is doing wonderfully! We do one lesson nearly every day and it moves along at a perfect pace. She reads the stories with no trouble and I can make up other stories for extra practice based on the sounds introduced thus far.

I love that she has to read the story before seeing the picture (exact opposite of what they taught in kindergarten). I also love that the instructions for the parent are very specific. You can't mess it up, which is nice for a beginning homeschooler.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book - don't be scared
Review: I wanted my 3 year old daughter to takes steps toward reading but didn't know where to begin. She mostly knew her alphabet but I didn't know how to use phonics or if that would even help. I looked at "hooked on phonics" but that costed hundreds of dollars. I figured there was a better way to teach reading skills but didn't know where to start.

I bought this book when Amazon "recommended" it to me when I was looking for alphabet computer games. When I got the book, I thumbed through it and was flabberghasted at how complicated it looked. I put it on the bookshelf and there it sat for months. We then hired a new nanny who tried to persuading me to use phonics when she saw me being obsessed with the alphabet. That reminded me of the book sitting on my bookshelf that I finally got down and read.

Once you read the preface of the book, it's not that complicated. And once you go through the first lesson it's amazing just how simple this is. My daughter liked the lessons, at least at first. At the end of the reading lessons, the child is supposed to practice his/her writing skills. I use a white board with the alphabets and blank space for my daughter to practice - this is her favorate part of the lessons. It can be very frustrating at times if she won't sit still, won't look at the book, or won't concentrate. Those are the times I go to put the book away and try again later. But my daughter won't let me do that. She knows that at the end of the lesson she'll get to practice writing on the white board. And she knows that when she reads a word "all by herself" or writes her letter well, I am elated and give her lots of praise.

Also, it helps quite a bit that, after she finishes a lesson, I give her a sticker to put in the book next to the number of the lesson that she just finished. She thinks its a merit and it helps me by acting as a bookmark!