Question regarding Explode The Code

[SaraFR]

We just started homeschooling our first grader. Since his school last year didn't teach English reading (he reads a different language) I decided to start with the A, B and C books before starting with the numbered books. It's about 1-2 weeks into the school year and he has finished A and has begun B. He may have gone faster than I expected with that book because the year prior to last he was taught the letters or perhaps he went fast because it's below grade level. I'm not fully sure why he went through it so quickly (or what I assume is quickly). I will probably want to order the next books in the series soon. Which numbered books should I order for one year? I don't want to have to keep ordering throughout the year more books (especially because the shipping will end up being more) but I don't want to have too many just in case we don't end up needing them for second grade. Is it worth getting the half books (ie 1 1/2 or is 1 enough)?

Also, is it worth trying Beyond The Code for first grade (it's marked as grade 2)? I want some reading material for him.

I hope I explained it well and didn't confuse all of you TOO much.

Thanks in advance!

[ChinaDoll]

We have the 1/2 books; they are almost identical in level, just more of the same, so I wish I'd skipped them. My DD finished book 1 in about 6 weeks, doing 4 pages a day, and is in book 2. I know what you mean about shipping; wish I had a recommendation on how many we'll use, but it would have been slower if we were doing fewer pages a day. I don't know anything about Beyond the Code, but am interested myself.

Of course, they do have ETC online, if you want to pay for that and avoid shipping. HEH!

[jplain]

I'd get 1, 2, and 3 as well the teacher manuals that go with them. The teacher manuals are not strictly necessary, but they give suggestions for beginning each lesson with a conversational introduction to the material. My daughter likes that, and I like not having to flip through workbook at the beginning of each lesson to guess what is being covered.

1 and 2 are short vowel sounds only. 3 introduces long vowels.

Skip the half books unless he really struggles.

We did try the online version and she didn't like it. She got bored very quickly and refused to continue. The other reason I like the paper workbooks over the web version is that we use it as handwriting practice.

[dotnetdiva]

We are using ETC and I have A-C and 1-6 workbooks. We aren't using any of the 1/2 books.

Since we started with reading/phonics and are simply using ETC as a review (and I'm loving it as a review), I'm hoping not to get the teacher's manuals for the numbered series, although I do have it for the A-C. The manual was helpful for the first workbook, but now that I know what to expect, I haven't used it for B or C. Again, we are using another program for phonics/reading, and using ETC as a review. I do not have any experience with Beyond the Code.

We are enjoying the handwriting practice too!

[jplain]

Oh yeah, I forgot to answer about Beyond the Code. You'll want to wait until you've completed ETC3 to start BTC1. From page 1, BTC1 assumes the child knows all of the long vowel stuff covered in ETC3.

For reading material I'd recommend the early readers written by Nora Gaydos (look for titles on Amazon). They fit in nicely with ETC.

[SaraFR]

Thank you for the replies (feel free to post more). I had forgotten to ask about the Teachers Manuals so I'm glad someone brought that up. I'm interested in hearing more about them as well.

I would rather not use the online at all as I prefer avoiding the computer with him right now (it's not even where he can easily access it), I like the handwriting practice and I overall prefer using books right now over the computer.

[jplain]

At this link you can see pages from the ETC 1/2 TM. And here's the link for the ETC 3/4 TM.

Hope that helps!

[kanga2roo]

In our local school, books 1-4 are for first graders....a,b,and c are the kindy books. Generally the kids do 3 pages a day. The half books are for extra time on the numbered book. Check out Clues to Meaning, also by EPS. Those are great, too...

[jplain]

A note about ETC 4: some schools use the books in order, but some find that book 4 presents concepts that are too abstract for beginning readers. For that reason some schools (and some homeschoolers too) change the order and do 5 and/or 6 before going back to 4.

I'd suggest giving it a try in order. With individual attention, a homeschooled child may have a lot less trouble with the concepts in ETC 4 than a class of 30 would have. And learning about syllabication can really help children focus on reading for accuracy. However, you may want to have ETC 5 waiting in the wings. If ETC 4 is a bust, you can put it aside and go on to ETC 5 without fuss.

About pacing, it isn't surprising that you went through the A, B, C books quickly. They can be done very quickly, even at K level. If your son finds the content easy and his hands don't tire quickly of writing, he may be able to do a lesson per day in the ETC books. But most kids don't. With ETC 1-3 you can do 2-3 pages per day (each lesson will last 3 days) or 3-4 pages per day (each lesson will last 2 days).

[SaraFR]

I didn't even find that he needed to do every page in the A, B and C books. I had been told in advance that they might provide more practice than many kids need (which I prefer over not enough practice...I can always choose to skip pages).

I didn't have the Teacher's Manuals for the A, B and C books. I looked into the sample pages and I'm not sure if I'll use them enough to be worth getting (then again, they're pretty cheap). Can anyone give me anymore input? My son seems to like to do his work independently.

Thanks again for all the replies.

[elizawill]

we've used the primer books and books 1-4 with my dd. for grade 2, i no longer use ETC. i never purchased the 1/2 books or TM, and i don't feel i ever needed them honestly. hth.

[kittie313]

I have 1-4 for us to use this school year with my 1st grade dd. She's having trouble with our VA's phonics program so having the supplement of ETC is a really good thing for us. (she got moved back down to K phonics because of her struggles and confidence with reading) She does probably 2 pages a day, sometimes only one if she's wanting only a little bit of extra and sometimes she'll do more if she's really getting into it. We're in book 1 now and its going great for her, she loves it.