I introduced The Reading Lesson Book to him, but he was more interested in playing. Ok, no big deal. We will just put this away for awhile and enjoy The Sounds of Letters DVD also from Mountcastle Company.
Fast forward a few months and my non-reader is an almost 4 years old. We've enjoyed learning our letter sounds and he's shown some interest in the 'big book'.
We start at the beginning working in short increments. Though he's willing, he's not retaining much.
So....it's back on the shelf for a wee bit longer.
As a mom of four who's first three kids each began to read at different ages (1 early, 1 'average' and 1 late), I know that when he's ready, it will be the right time to learn!
But, enough about my experience. Here's why I really like this program:
"We found ourselves in this situation when our daughter was four years old. She learned the alphabet, and we were waiting for her to start reading some simple words. We sent for several commercial reading programs, the same ones you often hear advertised on the radio. What we got back was a slew of cassette tapes and flash cards. Our daughter would not sit and listen to the tapes, and the flash cards were all over the house. We also bought software programs for learning to read and found them too shallow and haphazards. disappointed, we began to make our own simple exercises and stories for her to read. We read books on reading instruction for children, researched academic material, talked to parents and teachers, and began to develop a simple daily reading program. Michael's understanding of child psychology and development, and my desire for a simple, easy-to-follow method, let to the program you hold in your hands."
What makes this 20 lesson program special?
* Goes from no reading skills to about the second grade level.
* Step-by-step, easy to follow instruction
* A child that is ready to read *should* work 15-20 minutes a day. Each lesson takes approximately 1-2 weeks depending on the child.
*Each lessons starts with 3-4 sounds and introduces sight words along the way.
*Teaches the most common letters in the English language first (Lesson one: c, o, s, a, t). Does not go in alphabetical order.
*Uses only lower-case letters in the first half of the lessons AND uses special typography starting the book with large letters and ending with smaller letters.
Here's a glance at part of the Lesson One:
Check out the rest of Lesson One AND more from the Reading Lesson Here.
Compared to other similar phonics programs on the market that we've have experienced, I really like the layout, ease, and it's concentration with only reading (decoding) while going through each lesson. Some kids just aren't good at writing while trying to decode. Too much multi-tasking makes for many tears!
Disclaimer:
I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation will be received. This post written and property of Homeschool Circus and can be found at: www.upatdawnreadytowork.com.
