Reading Eggs question

[annettemarie]

At the risk of sounding like a bad mother Nicholas is just starting to learn to read. We're using Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and just started with the short a words. I really don't want to lose momentum, but already things are cropping up with the babies being almost due, and when they're here it will probably be even worse. He's doing the free trial of Reading Eggs and I'm thinking of buying it, but here's my question-- is it pretty much stand alone? I mean, if he does it every day and works through it, will he end up learning to read? Even if I can't help?

[chfriend]

Yes.

[LianneM]

Disclaimer - we didn't do it

I think if he wants to stick with it and go through the program, then it's very likely he will figure out reading b/c of it.

The problem would be if he got tired of doing it. The reason I didn't do RE was that my son is too sporadic in his desires of where to spend his time, and I didn't want to waste the subscription. We went with headsprout b/c it was a one-time fee for the 40 lessons no matter how long it takes. He figured out reading b/c of it so it was great for us we do the RE free weeks whenever they come around, and DS always fizzles out on it before the trial is up.

So yeah, I think it definitely could be enough as long as he likes it enough to stick with it

[annettemarie]

We way limit screen time so I think the thrill of the computer would carry him through, especially if Mama is busy with two babies and it was something special just for him. He tried it out today and seemed to really like it. I do wish I could pay by the month.

I'll check out Headsprout as well!

[Mama2Bug]

Have you checked out starfall? It's 100% free, very thorough and even has lots of printables so that you can switch things up sometimes. My DD loves it. It has contributed immensely to her reading ability, just because she has so much fun with it.

[lach]

There are a bunch of 5 week free trial codes floating around the internet... if you google something like "reading eggs five week free trial" you should find some. They apparently had one on a facebook page, and a bunch of mom-blogs have posted them. That should give you some extra time to decide if this is just a flight of fancy or something that might work.

We're in the middle of our 5 week free trial, and it seems like a really well organized program. DD is faaaar too young for it, and doesn't get it at all, but she loves doing it and I needed a distraction to offer her with the new baby. I do like that there's a worksheet after each lesson, too. I think that reinforces what they learn. When my kids are a bit older and can get something real out of it, I think I'd probably like to subscribe for real.

Sorry I don't have an answer to your question, though

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by Mama2Bug

Have you checked out starfall? It's 100% free, very thorough and even has lots of printables so that you can switch things up sometimes. My DD loves it. It has contributed immensely to her reading ability, just because she has so much fun with it.

We have, but it just seems to be missing something.

[chfriend]

starfall was not sufficient for either of mine. Even with all the extra materials.

Reading Eggs was really quite good, incremental, glitchy as the day was long and very enjoyable for both of mine.

It can be combined with www.progressivephonics books, which are easy to do with Nicholas while sitting with another task or having one of the olders or dh read together.

[elizawill]

we really loved reading eggs, but i personally don't feel like it is enough on it's own. perhaps using it in conjunction with bob books and the i am sam books (the free ones online), and/or the progressive phonics books....it would work just fine. no problem! my kids both thought the program was a lot of fun & never complained in doing it. they always completed multiple lessons too. have fun!

[beth144]

my dd1 (5.5) has been using RE sporadically for about a year now and she has learned to read we also got the bob books to along and practice reading together, but we only do this occasionally as i have a 3mo right now who takes up most of my time

[annettemarie]

We'll definitely bulk things up with easy readers. Day 2 and he still likes it.

[One_Girl]

If you aren't sure about using an involved program I recommend a book. I used the book An Acorn In My Hand by Ethel Bouldin to give me a start when I was ready to teach my dd how to read. It is an old book so it can only be found on Amazon and there are some things in it I didn't do, but it was awesome for giving me the confidence to teach reading without the stress and last year I used it for teaching the spelling rules (at a slower pace than the author recommends) and it took all of the fight out of spelling.

She has a very detailed approach, but I shortened down what I did with it and basically just taught the letter sounds as I was reading books to dd then moved to short vowel words the way she suggests then moved on a bit on my own, but it goes very in depth at a nice pace if you don't want to modify. It took so little time and my dd made so much progress with it that I really recommend it. The author taught in a girls class in a christian school but she seems to have a nice approach to kids overall and she writes it in a way that makes it possible for anyone to teach it in a very short period of time as long as they can read the words in the book.

[annettemarie]

I'm expecting twins pretty much any day, which is why I was looking for something he could do a little more independently. It looks like an interesting resource and I'll check it out, though.

[bass chick]

We just got a reading eggs subscription last month. I sent them an email before signing them up asking them for a discount. They phoned me half an hour later saying because I emailed them and asked, I could get a 20% discount.

I know this doesn't answer your question at all, but it may save you a few bucks!