Learning to Read Resources~Can We Start a List?

[SparklingGemini]

I want to compile a nice list of all the learning to read and phonics resources that are out there.  Books, curricula, websites, computer programs, etc.

I'm an obsessive researcher and my DD, while only 3.5, is desperate to read, so I'm feeling the urge to have my ducks in a row. 

I also thought it would be nice to have a comprehensive list for anyone else looking for similar resources!

Thanks.

[Momma Aimee]

i love that idea, i am at the point of needed to make a choice, but i am sooo sooo confused

[momofmine]

I love the book Montessori Read and Write.  While I certainly did not do everything in that book, it gave me great ideas for some montessori-ish phonics games that helped my kids learn the letter sounds.  After that, it was a quick leap to reading.

[dantesmama]

We're getting great results with The Reading Lesson book. It's very inexpensive and very simple. It takes just minutes a day. We are on track to finish in about a month!

[bass chick]

We have used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Englemann (it was okay).

We have also used The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise & Sara Buffington. I like this book much better.

We have used Starfall.com (free), but my kids don't like it too much.

We have an account with ReadingEggs.com which my kids really liked at first, but now they rarely play it. It's not free, but I got a year subscription for both my boys for $75. If I were to do it over again I wouldn't have purchased it, but you never know how long something like this will be interesting to kids.

ProgressivePhonics.com is another free learn to read program. You can do it on the screen or print it out. It's a good one for being free!!

[yllek]

For the earliest stages of letter-sound correspondence we loved Starfall.com and the Leapfrog videos. 

We used Phonics Pathways, but stalled because it was so dull. I eventually used it a "spine," while incorporating the activities from the Florida Center for Reading Research Student Center Activities. There are ton of fun manipulatives, games and worksheets available for free. Just download the pdfs and print. 

We also used Progressive Readers for a while. My ds actually learned to read faster than the pace of these readers went, so we abandoned this pretty quickly. Still, they were a lot of fun for the time we used them, and they were also free. 

We found these rather late (ds is now reading at about a 2nd or 3rd grade level), but we love the I See Sam/BRI/ARI readers. I wish we had started with these. I still use the upper levels for ds's fluency practice, and I can't wait to use the first levels with my daughter when she is ready. 

[kristin0713]

First, I think everyone should read this article:  http://www.lilipoh.com/articles/2007/fall2007/teaching_children.aspx 

It talks about brain development, connections between motor skills and reading readiness, and the pitfalls of pushing reading too early.  Very eye-opening. 

The author of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons has a computer program that is free to download THIS MONTH only!  It's normally $249.

http://funnix.com/ 

It is a DISTAR phonics method.  It takes a long time to download but there seriously is no catch.  I've been using it with my almost 5yo DD all week and she loves it!  This is the first formal introduction to phonics that we have done, with the exception of Montessori based and general phonemic awareness activities. 

Another good phonics program is Explode the Code.  They have workbooks that you can get through amazon or Rainbow Resource and probably many other places and an online version now: http://www.explodethecode.com/ 

I used this with students when I was teaching and I really loved using it, and my students had great success with it.  (The workbooks that is--I haven't tried the online program.)

Some programs combine writing and Phonics.  A Beka is one that teaches cursive first, but has a print first option, and combines teaching writing along with the phonics sounds and blends being taught.  We are waiting a little longer and then planning on starting the A Beka writing and phonics work. 

Cursive First and Spell to Read and Write also has a combined approach of cursive and phonics.  http://www.swrtraining.com/index.html

I have a few friends who swear by the Kumon books and say their kids learned to read just by using those workbooks. 

Another one I have heard good things about but haven't tried personally is Sing, Spell, Read, and Write.