Sonlight question..

[Stayseeliz]

I about to order the Pre-K for DS (5) and wanted to supplement with a phonics/LA and math program. Any suggestions? I've been looking at ETC and Reading Made Easy..He knows the alphabet but can only recognize about 2/3 of the letters..Thanks!

[Mallory]

My 5 year old loves the ETC Primers (books A, B, and C). He doesn't need to know the letters before he starts them, but I think to start book 1 he is supposed to know the sounds of the letters.

Another problem might be the amount of writing, it isn't a lot, but my oldest would not have done it at 5. I wouldn't/didn't use any programs that required writing until this year (he is 7 now).

ETC is almost boring looking, very plain illustrations with only one or two colors, ect. It works good for ds#2.

I don't know anything about Reading Made Easy.

[stanleymama]

I recommend ETC...my 4 and 5 yr old love them and have learned so much and are just breezing through. I supplement readers with ETC such as the BOB books, sight words, and library books.

For math we use Math u see and again, my boys love it. They love the manipulatives and have learned the concepts fairly quickly.

As for Reading made Easy...not sure. I was just reading an ad on it tonight, but not sure if I will try it since what we are doing is working well so far.

[excitedtobeamom]

What is ETC? Thanks!

[Stayseeliz]

Originally Posted by excitedtobeamom

What is ETC? Thanks!

Explode the Code is a series of workbooks that many use to supplement other curriculum then a lot of people order them on their own!

[Nitenites]

We use ETC. (And Sonlight science - LOVE IT!) Sometimes, we skip the writing and just do the exercise verbally. (When Adam was younger, we often just talked through a lesson, or I did the writing with Adam coaching me.)

[ManiacMama]

We have used ETC books for phonics and The Reading Lesson for teaching reading/phonics. The website at www.thereadinglesson.com allows you to download the first few chapters for free to see if it works well for your child. We have absolutely loved it here; it has made teaching reading so easy and painless and the kids think it's fun. We use these in place of Sonlight LA for Kindergarten level. These are a complete LA program in themselves.

For math, my 7 yo uses Math U See which we LOVE. My 5 yo is using Singapore Kindergarten math which is ok, but just ok. Both boys use Handwriting Without Tears as well. My 5 yo uses the ETC books more as a supplement and does it only a few times per week, but he does like it. I think it is good for reinforcing letter sounds, basic reading and spelling in addition to phonics. HTH, Jenny

ds 7
ds 5
dd 3

[Stayseeliz]

Originally Posted by ManiacMama

We have used ETC books for phonics and The Reading Lesson for teaching reading/phonics. The website at www.thereadinglesson.com allows you to download the first few chapters for free to see if it works well for your child. We have absolutely loved it here; it has made teaching reading so easy and painless and the kids think it's fun. We use these in place of Sonlight LA for Kindergarten level. These are a complete LA program in themselves.

For math, my 7 yo uses Math U See which we LOVE. My 5 yo is using Singapore Kindergarten math which is ok, but just ok. Both boys use Handwriting Without Tears as well. My 5 yo uses the ETC books more as a supplement and does it only a few times per week, but he does like it. I think it is good for reinforcing letter sounds, basic reading and spelling in addition to phonics. HTH, Jenny

ds 7
ds 5
dd 3

Thanks for the info. I ended up buying ETC and singapore math for DS. I'm not sure what else to do to supplement his phonics. I'm interested in the program you mentioned but the link doesn't work. Thanks!!!

[ManiacMama]

Sorry, my mistake. Try this:

www.readinglesson.com

If you do decide to buy this you can get it for around $18 on Amazon.com. Jenny