 careful script. The last few pages of the book contain lists of books that children might enjoy reading along with additional teaching ideas for teachers and parents.
Parents and teachers who are working with children functioning on many different levels may find The Writing Road to Reading a great program as it contains instructions from beginning reading to sixth grade. There are no student books and only one teacher manual. Students are taught many more rules than with most systems. They then write each rule down in a spiral notebook. Phonograms are learned through saying, writing and reading in their notebooks. This program requires a lot of work on the leader’s part. The program seems to work well for students who have had problems with other methods that present more generalized rules.
Parents and teachers can easily build their own curriculum by using the ideas in Teach a Child to Read with Children’s Books. This book shows parents and teachers how to take the child’s natural curiosity and use it to teach a child to read. The program recommends that teachers and parents regularly read great children’s books to kids. The authors suggest magnetic alphabets to teach children to spell phonetically. As children begin to read basic words, then their vocabulary is slowly built up. Many experts find that this is the most natural way for children to learn to read.
The program At Last! A Reading Method for Every Child uses a combination of phonics and sight words. It teaches a decoding program teaching children to deal with exceptions in the most simple phonic rules. The program first introduces children to consonants that say their names which the program calls the good guys. It then introduces children to silent consonants that they call tough guys. Children are then taught short and long vowels before they are introduced to 25 sight phonograms. Many of the activities in this program must be created by the parent or teacher. Many are not suitable for the student learning alone.
Parents and teachers who are looking for a system that is almost totally independent may want to Action Reading Fundamentals. This program uses eight CDs and a workbook to teach the student. The only instructions that the teacher gets is a DVD that is about three minutes long. The system uses flashcards and games to keep the child enthused about learning. Some children may become bored with the program because it is very straightforward without gimmicks or animations. Most students find plenty of room in the workbook to complete the exercises which use the precursive style.
The Adventures in Phonics program is very intense. Not all children will be prepared for the rapid pace at which this program moves. Children will do better if they already have a basic idea of letter and sound combinations. This curriculum is not appropriate for all settings because it incorporates Christian values and words which may be offensive to some users. Some children will find that the provided space in the workbook is too small for their big writing. Most activities in the workbook are fill-in-the-blank or connect the dots which may bore some children. Little attention is given to blending words.
14. Color Phonics
Color Phonics CD program probably works better as a supplement to another phonics program. Children are introduced to basic phonics concepts while watching five CDs. Each concept is carefully introduced. Then, practice occurs with the child being shown a cloudy picture. With every answer that the child gets correct, the picture becomes clearer. When all answers are correct, the child is rewarded with an animation. The program teaches consonants before vowels which are introduced in family groups. Children are encouraged to mark in their own books to practice the skills that they are learning.
13. Explode the Code
Explode the Code teaches some phonics while it also uses techniques to introduce students to letters. The program starts with an initial assessment so that parents or teachers are not wasting time teaching children what they already know. Different