Books for Prep | |
 - Excellent PurchaseI received the book right away and it was packaged and shipped in excellent condition. Rating:  - 20 lessons vs 100 lessonsFirst off I only gave the book a 3 star because I wanted to catch attention to the review. While I do think there is a better book I think it does deserve better than a 3 star. Because I have both books and read reviews before purchasing both, I hope this can be helpful to some. My two year old was at lesson 23 in TEACH YOUR CHILD TO READ IN 100 EASY LESSONS before we moved. He was enjoying it but after moving he had a hard time transitioning back to it. I then bought The Reading Lessons thinking a change would help. I am very structured and liked the daily break up in 100 EASY LESSONS. I have a hard time finding a pace for the 20 LESSONS. He is continuing it but I feel like he learned more with less effort on his part with the first book. It was more effort on my part, I would have to read through the lesson and prepare before working with him daily and do not have to with the 20 Lessons. But I feel like The 100 Lessons most important chapters are the beginning ones about the approach and ways to encourage a discouraged child, something the 20 Lessons did cover briefly but not nearly as in depth as the 100 Lessons. I do believe both are good choices, I just feel like if your child can handle 10-15 minuted a day and you are willing to lay down some time the 100 lessons will help you to build a love for reading in your child with all of its hints. Rating: - BETTER THAN MOST PUBLIC SCHOOL READING CURRICULUMFirst, let me just say that I am a Special Education/Resource teacher. It's amazing to think of the thousands of dollars public schools spend on curriculum, when anyone can buy this book and have their kids reading in a short amount of time. I use this book to teach my 5 1/2 year old pre-kindergarten child to read at home. I have been doing this for 6 months, 3-5 times a week, most weeks. We started with 1 or 2 pages a day, but we are now reading 4 pages a day. He is almost finished with the book, and very close to reading on a 2nd grade level. Here are some details of how this Reading Lesson works: 1) The 20 lessons are seperated into learning a couple of different sounds/rules. Each lesson averages about 20 pages of practicing these sounds/rules. 2) The lessons start with learning the sounds, practicing the sounds, practicing the sounds in words, practicing them in sentences, and then practicing the sounds in stories (paragraphs with pictures). My son and I really enjoy these stories, better than the Bob Books! 3) They have some paper pencil practice/game sheets. There are more of these in the first few chapters and they gradually lessen the amount as the book goes on. I like this, as when a child is first learning to blend sounds, it is very difficult. This really helps keep their attention when first learning to read, when they need it most. 4) There are helpful "crutches" that are gradually phased out towards the end. For example, putting a little dot inside the b because the majority of kids mix up b's and d's. These "crutches" are barely noticeable and they really help! 5) In the beginning, they only use lower case letters. This helps the child become more confident, only having to learn 1 set of sounds and letters at first instead of 2 sets (when there are hardly any capital letters in reading). As they become better at reading, the book gradually introduces capital letters. 6) The book teaches periods, question marks, and exclamation marks. 7) The book has a ton of sight words needed for reading. 8) The only thing that would really help make this book better is explaining the rules behind reading, however, I just do this on my own. It would be hard if you don't know all the rules, though. Generally, most people read without knowing all the rules behind it. For example: C and G make their soft sounds only when the signal vowels E, I, and Y follow them. 9) Go to the Reading Lesson website and print off the first 2 chapters for free. Try it with your child! Rating:  - "Pinching" your child is recommended!!!!I got this book for my 4 year old. I was reading the introduction pages when I came across the recommendation that you "gently pinch" your child if they get an answer wrong. Enough said. I certainly would not recommend this book to anyone. Rating: - Great starting bookThis book works wonders with my son (4.5 yrs old). He was already proficient with alphabet and some sound as we started the book. It takes your child from the beginning and teaches reading in easy to follow lessons. I was looking for a book like this for a while as flash cars bored my son and simple children's books failed to provide foundation. Each lesson focuses on 3 or so sounds and is easy to follow. We usually don't do a lesson in one sitting but rather cover 4-5 pages at the time. I like the fact that book is black and white and has limited number of pictures; it doesn't distract a child. My son is very hyper and cannot sit still for more then 3 minutes; but with this book we are able to follow in an organized fashion and he READS now! In association with Amazon.com | |