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Summary: When the child is ready, this book is EXCELLENT
Review: I bought this book and tried to use it with my 4 year old son. He just was not ready for it. We put it away until he was in Kindergarten (homeschool) and began it at the end of grade K. He was almost 6 when we came back to this one, after some other reading books that weren't very good. He loves it this time around. He had a hard time blending the sounds correctly but by lesson 30 something it just 'clicked' in and he took off! Now he is almost done with the book and starting First grade on a second grade reading level. I learned not to push too much at a time. Sometimes we'd do 1/2 a lesson, sometimes a full lesson or more, depending on his concentration, confidence and ability. We make sure that we do it EVERY week day after dinner -- no negotiating, no 'letting is slide' for a day. We also started our 4 year old daughter on it this summer and she is doing great -- so it really depends on the child. Don't give up on it if your child is not ready, when he or she is ready, try it again and you will be pleased. My question to the other reviewers here that have successfully completed this book before kindergarten is: what happens when you send your great reading 5 year old to public kindergarten and they are way ahead of most FIRST graders in reading? Won't they get bored with school and frustrated that they are learning letter sounds from square one when they already know it?
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Summary: Puts Hooked On Phonics to Shame!!!
Review: ... your child can be reading in just a few short weeks. This method is working much better than the several expensive programs that we have previously used. The secret, I think, is #1 writing the sounds, and #2 blending sounds slowly from the earliest lessons. My son loves doing his daily reading lesson and his word attack skills are way way up.
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Summary: This is the reading primer you've been looking for!
Review: I searched high and low to find a reading primer that would help me teach my third child to read. Our school system still uses whole language and it was painful to watch it taught to our other two children. We thought we'd use this program and teach our son before the school system got a chance. He is an active, busy 5 year old and the lessons are just perfect for him. He loves the progress he's making and so do we. We are on lesson 30 and he can read simple books. (Bob books are a great companion to this method!) The approach in this system makes sense and is excellent to help children learn how to blend. My child was very good at blending by lesson 19 or 20. I just wish that I would have done this with my other two kids. Instead, I'm spending the summer fixing my middle child's reading strategies so he can be more successful. Buy this book, you'll be glad you did.
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Summary: Wonderful, easy, and works
Review: My 5 1/2 year old son was interested in what everything said, but I didn't know how to get him from the letters to reading. A friends daughter who was almost five was reading difficult books and recommended this book to me. They are fun lessons, easy to follow and understand and kept my child interested. We are on lesson 92 and he is reading wonderfully. I can't wait for him to go into kindergarten reading at the level he is. He is so proud of himself and loves to read to everyone. I will use this with my daughter as well.
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Summary: this book is the basis of my daughter's reading skills today
Review: My daughter is now 8 1/2 years old and an exceptional reader. She has adhd and was speech delayed until she was in 1st grade. A month or two before kindergarten, I introduced the first lessons. The lessons were short and easy; 15 minutes a day or less. I have to be honest and say that I chose to stop giving her lessons at around lesson 70. She began to resist it and resent the lessons (having to focus for 15 minutes was a challenge for her). I felt she had a good foundation by then and I didn't want to foster reading with negative connotations for her especially since focusing is so difficult for her. It was a good move. She continued to read on her own and is one of the best readers in her class every year. She has trouble with a lot of other subjects, but this is a skill she thrives in and feels good about mastering. I don't think her school would have been as successful as teaching her to read as well as this book was able to and I'm very glad for starting her out on the lessons and plan to start with her little sister when she is older. My daughter reads for fun and loves going to the library which was my ultimate goal. I also get to feel proud that I taught my daughter to read and I spent the time to do so.
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Summary: direct instruction works!
Review: This book works! It's easy too.
It even works for children that have developmental delays and learning disabilities. Don't give up on your child who hasn't begun to read and don't leave it up to the school's to fix it for you. With this book you can teach your child to read. I would also recommend reading Give Your Child A Superior Mind by Engelmann.
I am sold on Direct Instruction materials. Research proves that this type of instruction raises test scores in english and math!
Even the President believes in it with his No Child Left Behind program. I only wish they had more materials for parents to use at home with their children.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I used this book to teach my 4 year old son to read. I found it to be an effective and easy to use tool. My son and I enjoyed reading together. Before you realize, your child will bre reading. It is exciting to watch the learning process. Not having to deal with flash cards and casette tapes makes this book far superior to "Hooked on Phonics" which we also tried. Get this book.
Rating:
Summary: The only way to teach a child to read
Review: We only recently bought this book for our 5 year old. He already knows the letters and the sounds they make, but I was unsure of how to take that knowledge to the next level--sounding out words. This book is incredible for the parent who's not sure how to teach a child to read. There's no guesswork to it. In each lesson, red type is used to show what the teacher says out loud to the student. Black type gives additional instructions to the teacher as well as pointers on what to listen for from the student and tips on how to gently correct problems. We are only on lesson 9 and we've already seen results. He's already sounding out three letter words and he's very impressed with himself.
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Summary: The "way" to teach your child to read
Review: We started using this book on our daughter's 5th birthday - about 4 months before she started Kindergarten. She was stubborn, we were persistent. It took the full 4 months, but it was well worth the effort. After lesson five or six she looked to the back of the book and saw that they would be having her read "small print" and long paragraphs. She was scared. When she finished lesson 100, I reminded her of the fear she had, and her face got radiant. She knew she had accomplished something. She has never looked back. She is almost 9 and has read Harry Potter, Little Women, and Holes (among maybe 100 others). I feel we owe a lot of it to this book, but I also know that the parents must make a committment to finishing it once they start. They must be more stuborn than their child.
The author scripts the exercises perhaps too much for many five or six year olds, but I can imagine that with younger kids it would work really well. The parent/adult needs to look at the lesson, see where it is heading, and then "twink" it to fit his/her child. This book is a real winner and a MUST for getting your child prepared for school. Remember, if you don't do it, your public school certainly can't be counted on to do it. There are kids in my daughter's third grade class that haven't "absorbed" reading yet from the "whole language" tripe they get fed in the public schools. We did this BEFORE "Hooked On Phonics" and found that to be a great second step.
Rating:
Summary: easy exercises make it easy to teach your child to read
Review: I have used this book with my oldest son who is now in first grade. His teacher has informed us that he is the strongest reader in his class, and that he is reading on a 2nd grade level. I am working with my 5 year old son now, who will be in kindergarten next year. It is amazing how this program works, he is reading and trying to sound out every word he sees. He does very well with each lesson. I am glad I discovered this book, I feel I gave my first son a good foundation for his reading skills. I cannot imagine how he would be reading if he was only taught through the school.
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