Rating: 
Summary: AMAZING!! Great tool to help your little one read!!!
Review: I bought this book because my 3 1/2 yr old showed an interest in reading. While not certain about whether she should or could read at such an early age, I looked into phonics programs and even returned a fairly expensive program which was overly complicated by songs, mnemonic devices, etc. THIS BOOK TAUGHT MY DAUGHTER THE SKILLS SHE NEEDED TO READ QUICKLY AND PAINLESSLY. The lessons are short and include sounds of letters or combinations of letters, word reading, a story (increasing in length and difficulty as the book progresses), comprehension questions, and writing instruction. I was concerned that my daughter would not be able to master the writing portion of each lesson because of her age (and was prepared to skip them entirely), but that quickly became her favorite part because she was so proud of her accomplishments! While I don't sit down every day with her and this book, we are on lesson 75 (we did early lessons 2 per day) and she is reading Kindergarten-level books (I haven't pushed longer books onto her). She is basically able to sound out any word she chooses, and demonstrates good spelling capabilities as well. She is proud of herself and happy to be reading (and writing)!My only complaints: 1) The writing portion goes a bit slowly (so we often supplement by writing words instead of just practicing individual letters) 2) The writing portion only includes lowercase letters,(this can be easily remedy that by teaching the uppercase letters as the lowercase ones are introduced or after completion of the book). I will definitely use this when my younger daughter shows an interest in reading!
Rating:
Summary: Everything it promises
Review: This book is everything it claims to be and more. I checked this book out of the local library to decide whether or not to purchase it. Within the first day my 4-year-old was reading a few simple words. I could not believe it! Once he got the general concept the first few words came really easily. I am so proud of him and he is so proud and excited. He does not get frustrated by the lessons, they are clear and concise, getting to the point before he loses interest. I am now purchasing this book to complete the lessons with my 4-year-old, and for my 3-year-old, and when our infant reaches an appropriate age, we will use it with her also. What a wonderful learning tool. I can't say enough about it. Get this book if you are looking for an easy method to teaching your child to read.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: This book was everything I hoped for and more. My 5 year old, who isn't in Kindergarten yet, is so excited that he is learning to read. He loves it!
Rating:
Summary: It worked WONDERFULLY for us!!!!
Review: I can only speak from our own personal experience when I say ... THIS BOOK WORKED GREAT FOR OUR FAMILY! I (mom) home school two boys, one 6 1/2 and the other just turned 5 a month ago. We began using this book in late August of last year 2002 - David, our then 4 year old, didn't read at all, and Danny read a little (but not much) because of the "Hooked On Phonics" curriculum we purchased several months earlier. Today (March 2003), just several months later, Danny and David BOTH read at a solid THIRD GRADE level! Because of this wonderful tool, Danny is two years ahead, and David is three years ahead in reading (they're also ahead in their other subjects because they read so well). What I really liked is the book doesn't require the child to know their letters or know how to write. They learn it all in this book! This worked especially well for me when teaching our 4 year old. Another benefit, you can use it with ALL your children, no costly workbooks needed. In contrast to the other reviewers, we HIGHLY recommend it. Matter of fact, we have already recommended it to several home school parents. Three other families we know personally have used this book to teach their children to read and have had the very same success we've had! Maybe, I'll suggest they write their own reviews. However, what I strongly suggest is that parents read the "Parent's Guide" & "Pronunciation Guide" at the beginning of the book. I also suggest not to hurry in reading the guides. Take your time, even if it takes you a couple of days. It's important to understand the WHYS in order to teach the lessons CORRECTLY. In closing, my husband and I both think this book is WONDERFUL and was worth every penny (compared to many other reading curriculums, the cost is nothing!) because it WORKED for us -- not just once, BUT TWICE! Oh, by the way, I just put our "Hooked On Phonics" that has been collecting dust up for auction on EBay!
Rating: 
Summary: Depends on your kid -- not for mine
Review: The Bob Books have been a way more fun and successful path to early reading for my daughter. I suppose this book would work if your goal were to teach a kid methodically how to read. Therefore it might be good for kids who are having trouble learning to read in school. However, if your kid is in kindergarten or younger, there's no need to rush them. Books with real words, such as Bob Books (and of course there are others, but those are the ones we're using), are so much more fun for my daughter, and I suspect for most kids. At an early age, fun seems more important than drills like this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for everyone.
Review: I was very impressed with the previous reviews of this book, so I thought I'd give it a try. Before purchasing the book, I decided to check it out from my local library. Am I glad that I did! The book wasn't so easy to follow and it seemed to require a fair amount of preparation ahead of time before presenting each lesson. I personally prefer a "workbook" type of layout so not only it will help me simplify presentation to my child but also I can readily work from the material with my child without much time spent in preparation. It's great that this book has worked for a lot of parents but it definitely didn't work for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Book was a good start
Review: My son was 4 years old when we started this book. It worked great for the first 50 lessons. After the 50th lesson, he became intimidated by the number of words in the lesson ending story. We both dreaded the daily reading lesson. I switched to the Bob Books and have not looked back. My paper clip still marks the last lesson we did (#66). I would recommend to any parent to jettison the book when the lessons become torture for both of you. Try the Bob Books! My son loves to read (yes, read!) and giggle at the funny stories.
Rating:
Summary: Big talk, little results
Review: I borrowed this book for my daughter on a recommendation from a friend. I'm glad I didn't waste my money on buying it. The first item that bothered me was in the introduction. The authors claim that if teachers used this program and knew the proper way to make corrections, there would be no children with reading problems or learning disabilities. If this were the case, there wouldn't be thousands of Distar programs gathering dust on school shelves across the country. Strange that in all the years since Distar has been around, children still have learning disabilities. Despite my irritations with the introduction, I decided to give it a try. My daughter did not like it. She was frustrated with the orthography because it wasn't like the letters she already knew. She lost interest quickly. Instead of this book I would recommend The Reading Lesson: Teach Your Child to Read in 20 Easy Lessons by Michael Levin, M.D. and Charan Langton, M.S. Although it will take more than 20 days to go through the book, it is a logical and easy program for the child. My daughter loves is and there are easy stories to read during the lessons that keep her interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Mediocre at best
Review: My child forces himself through the lessons because he knows he'll learn from it. There is absolutely no fun in these lessons, save for the occasional encouragement we have to give him when he accomplishes tasks. However, the lessons are extremely tedious (even for adults), and there are flaws (missing visual cues, strange phonetic representations that are not even used in modern English, or any English for that matter). I recommend you try it, but I wouldn't call it a perfect solution.
Rating:
Summary: great book!
Review: I have taught 4 of our children to read using this book and love it.. I will say that the person who originally recommended it to me told me that they seemed to peter off and need something different around lesson 70-80 or so and I truthfully found it that way with all 4 of the children I've taught with this book--we switched to regular books around 70-75 or so and with NO problems at all.
| 
