Have you used Progressive Phonics?

[Hiker Mama]

I've been trying to figure out how to teach my 4 yo dd to read and write (she is asking to learn, since we started HSing her older brother last year). He learned the mechanics in public school, so I'm kind of at a loss. Has anyone used the Progressive Phonics program? There were 2 reviews here on MDC, but they were from folks who had just used the program for a short time.

TIA!

[Gem0406]

I have only used progressive phonics for a few months, but I like it a lot. My ds6 went to pub school K last year, and was a reluctant reader. His K teacher thought he should repeat, in fact, as she felt the pressure of 1st grade would be too much for him. So that is where we were with reading - some instruction, no fluency, no confidence. We started using prog phonics during the summer and have continued into this year (now homeschooling).

He likes these readers because they are designed to be read as a team - parts of the sentence are read by mom and part by him. I print the books in black and white and then go over the colored words (his part) with a marker or highlighter. We read them together - each one for about a week at a time (well, now that we have started one with th, sh, ch we will prob go longer as it is more challenging for him). I don't do any of the worksheets that go along with the books, just the reading practice.

I also have an expensive program - scholastic phonics. I like the games, we play the bingo all the time. I haven't stuck with it the way I have with the prog. phonics, though. And prog. phonics is free! Amazing! The stories are really funny and zany.

Give it a try - if you don't like it, move on to something else. But I think it is as good as a $$$ program - just not fancy looking, in a box, color coded and full of stickers and manipulatives. And let's face it - we don't really use any of this to read, we just take a book and read LOL.

Good luck
Gem

[Hiker Mama]

Thanks, Gem! I like your idea of printing out in black and white. My dd would probably like to color the pics anyway.

HM

[ocelotmom]

We've used it for quite a while (which says more about our dedication or lack thereof than its effectiveness!).

DS likes it better than anything else we've tried, and I think that the read-together format is VERY helpful for slow readers, for whom something like the BOB books is tiring.

My main complaint is that it includes too much repetition - DS gets fed up with it before we make much progress, even though he has the concept pretty good, and you have to get through many many books before the child is at a point where they're reading everything. So now we're skipping pages here and there.

The good thing is that, since you can print it yourself (or read on-screen), and it's free, you can just print selected pages, or rearrange them however you feel is appropriate.

And, as previously mentioned, FREE. Nothing to lose by trying it!

[emilys_mom1]

My family is using this as well this year. We are using it along with All About Spelling. We also print the books in b/w and the kids love to color them in. Each of the books is focused on for a week or so.

Here is another great free source for sight word reading. You print and done. Got to love free!
http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/sigh...l#booklettitle

[*Jessica*]

I tried to use it, but didn't care for it. I can't remember exactly why, but perhaps it was too much repitition as a previous poster mentioned.

We used another free program called Really Reading from Tanglewood Education.

[Hiker Mama]

Thank you, everyone for the feedback. I've been looking at the links you've shared. Looking forward to trying some out!