I have already worked with Phonic Pathways, and Ordinary Parent's guide to teaching Reading, and both are solid programs. But Allboy wasn't retaining the phonic rules. He could read, but would encounter a word out of context that he should know and it was a crap shoot if he would remember how to sound it out. English is a hard language because our words are such a mish mash of other languages, but it does follow certain rules. Once those rules are learned the process of reading becomes easier. I also like that this is one area of his learning where there is another voice giving a set of directions. Allboy is a perfectionist but like most 7 year old boys, doesn't always listen. If he doesn't listen to the instructions in each lesson, he can not follow it. There is immediate feedback when he is off task, and it allows him to police himself. I also love that I can see any areas that he is having problems with, yet enjoy the best part of reading instruction with him. ACTUAL READING.
The program is a bit pricey compared to other paperback reading instruction like those I used before, but this will follow him until he is done needing phonic instructions, comes with readers to practice the skills, and can be used for more than one child. I am going to use it with Gbaby Supreme when he is ready, and the value increases since it is also a writing and typing program as well as reading instruction. I think the cost will average out to be less than I would spend on everything if I bought it individually for each year. I also appreciate the fact that it streamlines Language Arts and instead of needing 4 different spines this takes care of everything but writing and grammar. But the most important thing is that it is working and Allboy is growing mentally. I can't help if the fact that he is doing something else independently is just icing on the cake!
No comments:
Post a Comment