Rating: 
Summary: Kinda dumb
Review: I ordered this as a result of its high recommendation in Wise and Bauer's book (The Well-Trained Mind), as well as good reviews on Amazon. I was greatly disappointed. The layout was not professional, and had so many disjointed graphics that it would be completely distracting for a child to use. It has trite little positive thoughts on every page which are supposed to inspire the child/student to learn. Yet, it totally lacks any instructions on how to use each lesson or concrete exercises. Since I am not a certified elementary teacher (but a college professor) I wanted to give the book a real chance. So, I showed the book to my mother (a veteran 3rd grade teacher of 38 years). Her comment? "This is dumb. Send it back." 'Nuff said.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent for homeschooling families or for an early start!!
Review: I started this book with my 4-year-old daughter last year. In just one year she has excelled beyond picture books and has started chapter books. She is now reading Charlotte's Web, and she is only five!! Won't her Kindergarden teacher be surprised!!
Rating:
Summary: No frills, no complicated instructions -- just good reading.
Review: I've taught three children to read with this book. After reviewing a host of phonics programs, I settled on Phonics Pathways because it is designed to GET KIDS READING as quickly and simply as possible. It's affordable (no complicated tapes, jingles, games, or flashcards needed). It's straightforward -- I was able to use it with a minimum of preparation time. Best of all, it WORKED. I now have three excited, fluent readers. Can't recommend this highly enough!
Rating:
Summary: My favorite phonics program - it's simple and it works.
Review: I've used Phonics Pathways for 3 years to teach kids and adults to read. A parent or teacher without any training can pick up the book and immediately begin teaching short vowel sounds and consonant sounds. This book is not complicated, yet the phonics lessons are complete. Practice words and sentences are displayed in a large type size that is extremely helpful for beginning readers. Unlike many phonics programs, the words and sentences in Phonics Pathways are 100% decodable (they can be sounded out based on the lessons previously taught). I also appreciate the fact that the book is not "consumable," so it can be used over and over again. Over the years, I have bought more than 30 copies of Phonics Pathways, which I have given to family, friends, and even our public library. Try this program -- and you'll have your child reading in 6 weeks or less!
Rating:
Summary: An enthusiastically recommended "how to" book for parents
Review: Now in a newly revised and updated eighth edition, Phonics Pathways: Clear Steps To Easy Reading And Perfect Spelling by educator and literacy advocate Dolores G. Hiskes is a solid educational reference suitable for all ages. Individual chapters address breaking words down into their pronounced pieces, with a section devoted to every basic phonic syllable in the English language. The result is an extraordinary guide, drillbook, and coach to learning how to piece words together from their individual parts. Phonics Pathways is an enthusiastically recommended "how to" book for parents, home schoolers, or literacy volunteers responsible for teaching beginning readers and writers of any age or background.
Rating:
Summary: Wow - My 3yr. old is reading!
Review: Okay, so he'll be four in a month, but I still can't get over how quickly he picked up reading. We began using Phonics Pathways a month ago. I knew a lot about it, as the private school I once taught at used it in teaching their Kindergarten students to read (with a high success rate). The layout and progression is very simple, nothing complicated about it. Children begin by learning their short vowel sounds, one at a time. After these have been mastered (it is assumed that the child already knows his/her hard consonants), the child learns to make initial blends with a hard consonant and each short vowel sound (i.e. ba be bi bo bu). Eventually, the book will add an ending consonant, and the child learns like this: u, bu - g, bug! If a child has developed phonemic awareness (usually sometime between ages 4-6), s/he will be able to quickly begin decoding one syllable, three letter words. The book progresses to four-letter words, diagraphs, -ing endings, long vowels, etc. It is a complete reading program, with no writing required. As a parent and homeschooler, I found this format very useful and easy to use. I also recommend the Bob Books series for very beginning readers.
Rating:
Summary: One of the finest phonics books I have ever reviewed.
Review: Phonics Pathways is one of the finest instructional materials for teaching children and adults to read that I have ever reviewed. With clarity, interest, good humor, and precision, Dolores has offered a way out of the darkness of illiteracy for anyone who wants it. The knowledge found in this book should be applied to every first-grade classroom in this country. Then we can say with confidence that America is truly on the way to recovering her once-proud place as the most literate nation on earth.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This book is great! I hemmed and hawed over what phonics program to use for my son's kindergarten homeschool. I had looked at Alphaphonics, but that bored both of us. Phonics Pathways is great for my kind of kid. He likes games and pictures and this has enough to keep him engaged but not so much that it defeats the purpose of educating. (I don't want to go the "bells and whistles" route.) This book is systematic but not uptight. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This book is great! I hemmed and hawed over what phonics program to use for my son's kindergarten homeschool. I had looked at Alphaphonics, but that bored both of us. Phonics Pathways is great for my kind of kid. He likes games and pictures and this has enough to keep him engaged but not so much that it defeats the purpose of educating. (I don't want to go the "bells and whistles" route.) This book is systematic but not uptight. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Can't believe how easy it is
Review: This book was recommended to me in the Well Trained Mind. My not-quite-three year old and I are, very casually, very much for fun, going through the book. We are only on the fourth consonant (short vowels were first), but I can tell he's already starting to figure it out. He blended the "se" set all by himself. I didn't prompt or anything and we were on a new page. I don't call it reading but it's pretty exciting.
I recommend only doing this for fun with a kid that young. I ask if he wants to learn to read. If he jumps in my lap, we do a page or so (kiss after every effort, right or wrong); if he says no then we just go on about our business. I hope for a yes at least every day, though.
In the book, flipping ahead, it looks like by page 28 (we're on 12) he'll be reading several three letter words. That's crazy. That's like 14 days from now (instr. to mom in there, as well).
It's a lovely layout, if the graphics are a bit pixilated. I like how great a value it is. You also don't need cards, worksheets, pens, pencils, or anything. I'm doing this the way WTM suggests and ignoring the bit about you can't proceed unless you can write the letter, too. I'm not going to let low coordination in fine motor skills stop a kid from reading.
Other phonics programs cost way way way way more and have tons of little pieces and parts and tapes. This is just a book and it blows all those other programs away.
Please remember to have fun teaching reading. These are impressionable years for these early readers.
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