For those who have used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons...

[bass chick]

What happens next?
My son has finished the lessons and he is reading the recommended books at the end, but then what comes next?
He is reading well for a 6 year old IMO, but he is still sounding out most words instead of recognizing them. He needs more practice with fluency. I went to a book store to look for easy readers and most of them are poorly written Disney stories that he absolutely hates. I have not seen anything in retail shops that are worth reading.
So I'm just wondering what the rest of you used when your child finished this reading program.

[jlpumkin]

We're in the middle so I'm interested...

[AAK]

I haven't used that book but I wanted to chime in on the easy reader stuff that we have liked. I am not sure where a child is at (reading level anyways) when they finish 100 easy lessons, but you mentiond looking for easy readers.

Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff
Morris the Moose books by Wiseman
Amelia Bedelia books by Parish
Diary of a worm (spider and fly too) by Cronin
Fly Guy (series) by Tedd Arnold
The Cat in the Hat by Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham by Seuss

Also, there are some non-fiction too that are "I can read books". Here is one called "First Flight" http://www.amazon.com/First-Flight-S...4563257&sr=1-3 Scroll down and look at the "Customers who bought this item also bought" section to find more.

Then, we also like the readers put out by AAS. There are multiple stories in each volume. They are hardcover and bound nicely. They are nice stories with lots of specific practice. Meaning, lots of times the "easy readers" will have several words that aren't decodable. My dd needs words that are decodable right now.

We also use the I See Sam readers. These go up to fourth grade level, so you would just choose the group that works for you child. This is a link to purchase them--but all levels are present and you can view samples of each level. http://www.3rsplus.com/ I have seen level 1 free online, but I would guess that you should click on the one that is bright blue and says Lids and Logs as the first title.

Then, for early chapter books there are the Junie B Jones & Magic Tree House of course. They are all around a grade 2 level. But, we really like the Mercy Watson books. They are a simlar level and we find them adorable. http://www.amazon.com/Mercy-Watson-S...4563115&sr=1-1

Well, I hope this gets you going in the right direction. For most kids, fluency comes with practice. Rereading favorites is also really good for fluency.

Amy

[myjo]

I used that book to teach two of my kids to read, and just assumed that when they were done with it they would be at a 2nd grade reading level like the book claimed, and that with lots of practice with grade level books, they would make progress.

It didn't turn out that way so much. Ds finished at a 1st grade reading level, and then I wasn't sure what to do but to just keep having him practice and try to memorize new sight words. It didn't really work out. He really needed a more comprehensive and intensive program that would have taken him step by step right up through 3rd grade.
I ended up having to put him in PS to fill in the blanks and bring him up to grade level. This worked wonders, but only, I think, because our PS system uses the Lindamood-Bell program as their remedial curriculum.

I would say, know your child. Are they really into reading, and making significant progress from the practice they do? If not, they may need something a little more systematic and comprehensive.

[limette]

Dd1 stopped the book around 3.5 and I didn't do anything further with her. She could read at all her easy books but wouldn't do it unless prompted. We never practiced sight words. We have a lot of books around and she spent a lot of time "reading". Sometime after she turned four she started reading aloud on her own words that we hadn't dealt with previously. Now at 4.5 she can read anything. She shocks me regularly.

I think once they've got the basics from the book it's just a matter of time before it all clicks together and they can really truly read (well).

[Pariah]

I'm so happy for this thread, I just bought this book for us to start with our 4.5 year old DS.

[kittie313]

I'm on my third child using 100 Easy Lessons to begin reading. Now here's the catch to it. I only use the first few lessons to teach blending then we do our own thing until the child is in K. My 4yo is calling herself a "kidgarder" (how adorable is that lol) and this book is what she sees as her reading lessons. I've never made it past lesson 10 in this book, so we're going to see how long she goes before she gets bored with it and then we'll move into Sonlight lang arts K. But from what I've heard from others who did the program in its entirety with a child, they are ready for the readers at the level of Sonlight lang arts 2 regular if that helps any. I will find this out myself soon enough with my third (and fourth) if she does the full book.

[OkiMom]

For easy readers: have you looked on Amazon or a place online? Ive gotten a few for my girls that aren't Disney/Thomas/Elmo etc related. Also if you look at some picture books if he can read the easy readers then he might be able to read some of the regular picture books. I'm sure he could read a lot of Dr. Seuss ones if you like those, I'm thinking like Cat In the Hat, Go Dog Go, Fox in Socks (if that one doesn't drive you NUTS like it does me), Green eggs and ham etc. Dr. Seuss books for the most part seem to have a lot of repetition which will help him get more confident.

I use to tutor 1st/2nd grade reading and I noticed a LOT of the reading at that age is about building confidence that yes they can read and sound out words. It is about learning skills to but without the confidence that they can do it the skills aren't much. Most of the time just sitting with the child and reading books together (helping them when needed) and slowly moving to more and more challenging books helped their reading a ton. Just make sure they understand what each word means, I forgot what book I was reading with a child once but the meaning they put to the word was totally not what it meant and it confused them for the rest of the story. After that I told them children I worked with if they didn't understand a word or got confused on the story just stop and ask me about it. Saved some confusion in the end and its great for vocabulary and helping them with remember the story.

[pigpokey]

I switched to McGuffey's for about a year. I'd say we started partway through the First book (not the preprimer ... whatever the first book actually is. The second book). They are now 5 and 6 and reading mostly grade level 3-4 chapter books, some more advanced stuff.

[Tassy]

We transitioned nicely into Hooked on Phonics (Breezed through K for confidence but were really at 1)...although we only made it half way through 100 easy lessons. the hooked on phonics books were a lot more fun.....IMO

GL!

[Mere]

We finished 100 Easy Lessons a few months ago. I have no idea what grade level ds (now 6) ended up at, but we still practice reading every night. The Fly Guy books someone else mentioned were great, as are all the Dr. Seuss books (love those word families!). Ds also really likes the 'we read together' books, where the parent reads one page and the child reads the other, simpler/grade level page (the grades 1/2 books of that type were perfect for ds when he finished 100 Easy Lessons).

[caefi]

we taught blending sounds along side of 100EL with some flashcards leftover from when I worked with K. Anyway, my kids have all read on the 2nd grade (or more) level when they were finished (and one child only went to lesson 40!). After 100EL they have gone into R&S English 2 for some grammar lessons.

[tankgirl73]

What about the Bob books? There are lots of different sets. Perhaps he'd be well suited to the Sight Words books, either the K or the grade 1 set.

We just bought the grade 1 sight words set for DD who is almost 4. We've also just started 100 Easy Lessons -- she's not starting 'from the beginning' in terms of reading skill but we're finding it helpful for developing her skills. Anyway, she's perfectly able to handle the grade 1 sight words books with just occasional help for some trickier words.

The way they work is that each book introduces 3 sight words which are featured in the story. The rest of the words can be phonically sounded out (or are sight words learned in previous books as you work through them). There are also flashcards with the set that have picture and sentence context clues on one side and just the word on the other.

Another suggestion would be progressivephonics.com. These are free books which you can read online or print out. DD is just starting the 'intermediate' set. I would imagine upon finishing 100 Easy Lesson you'd be at LEAST able to handle the intermediate set, if not the advanced set. The stories are cute and funny. And no Disney!!