"the reading lesson" or "reading made easy" ?

[ninipelley]

I have a K who isn't too interested in writing but loves to be read to. HS pro's- can you tell me which program you liked and why? I trust anything HOD has but need to choose.

[Sue G in PA]

I really LOVE The Reading Lesson. The lessons are very straightforward and move nicely from one to the next. I love that the pages are NOT cluttered. In the beginning of the guide, the words are written in larger print...makes it easy for the child to read w/out being overwhelmed. The print gets progressively smaller as you move through the guide. Each lesson is short (we take about 10-15 min. tops). My ds is doing quite well with it as is my dd (who is only 4). I have not seen Reading Made Easy so I cannot compare. HTH

[countrymom]

I have not tried RME, but I have tried other things prior to finding The Reading Lesson. I love The Reading Lesson - it is simple, yet thorough. Not overly busy (pictures really distract my son), but attractive. I love the way the reading is embedded in the book to match the phonics rules you have learned so far, yet it isn't just a "The cat sat on the hat" book. I have made flashcards from the important words listed on the last page of each chapter, but have not used the CD, and my son is doing great. Hope that helps.

[dawntx]

I really like TRLesson,too. It is open and go. It is easy to follow. It is clutter free-easy on the eyes. My daughter really likes it! It's got my vote. Wish I had this when my boys were learning to read!

Dawn

[HappyMama]

I also really love TRL for all the reasons mentioned above. When I first got it, I thought it seemed too simple and not enough. Well, I think that is the beauty of it...it's so simple and straightforward. My son is doing great with it and he'll be ready to start the emerging readers soon!

[tjswaine]

I'm another fan of TRL. Have you checked out their site? You can download the first two lessons here: http://www.readinglesson.com/goodys.html

[smithdonnajo]

I started using Reading Made Easy (RME) with my daughter about a year ago. She is 9yo now, so alot older than your daughter, I know. I've never used The Reading Lesson (TRL), so I can't compare. Before using RME, I was using a phonics program with her called Alpha Phonics. It had worked well several years ago for my son, but she had major problems with it. RME has helped her because of the visual cues used in the type. For instance, when 2 letters go together to make a single sound, they are in a thin circle. (like sh, br, tr, etc). When a vowel makes a long sound, it is in dark black, bolded print. When a vowel makes a short sound, it is in a light gray print. When a letter is a silent letter, it is in a dotted print. This has really helped her. Another thing about RME is that it has motivated her because the stories in it appeal to her. There are a few pictures in the book that go with the stories and she likes those pictures.

The pages in RME are "cluttered". I have solved this problem by laying sheets or pieces of colored paper over the parts that I don't want her to see, and moving it as we go. I plan to continue using RME with my daughter until we are finished with the book.

I am interested in learning more about The Reading Lesson because I have a 3.5 yo dd who is already sounding out words and can read very short, simple sentences like "Mom got gas." or "Hit it, Pam." or "Can Ken pick it?" She loves for me to give her what she calls "reading lessons". I may try RME with her when I think she is ready, or I may want to use The Reading Lesson.

One thing I am wondering with The Reading Lesson and also with Reading Made Easy. They don't teach the phonics rules, so when in HOD would a child learn the phonics rules and applying them to words? Spelling is taught by dictation in HOD, so no phonics rules there, right? Is it just not necessary?

I do not have a teaching background, so I have to read and learn how to do everything! and also listen to Carrie, Julie, and others who have the teaching experience. I have read so much material that stresses the importance of using a good phonics program, one that teaches the phonics rules. That is what I wanted to do, but it just didn't work with my daughter. So, one of my big questions is, with HOD, will they eventually learn the phonics rules? or is it not necessary? or should we use some other program after finishing The Reading Lesson, or after finishing RME to teach them the phonics rules??

Thank you,
Donna Jo

[Busymomma1]

I've used 100 EZ Lessons and TRL. I vote for TRL for many of the reasons stated above: uncluttered, pleasing pictures, stories are motivational (ie: my boys are/were excited when they got to a story). My one son just finished TRL, and my youngest is now on Lesson 7. I did 100EZ with my dtr, but it was too cluttered for my boys.

Our library system has these books, so maybe you could check them out at your library before you decide. I gave TRL a trial run from the library before I bought it.

Hope you find what you like!

[pamh]

I tried using RME with my son but it ended up in a disaster. There was way too much busy work for a parent to set up before hand but I also felt the gray, black and dotted lines (the way you wrote out the letters and words) were too confusing. We stuck with our Abeka phonics which has been a tremendous blessing for my son. That being said, I'd love to get my hands on TRL book (I have viewed the samples on line but I'm the type that needs to go thru the whole kit and kaboodle) because I've so many positive reviews!!!

Blessings,
Pam

[momofgreatones]

I have just started using RME with my 6 year old son, and it's been fine so far, don't have enough experience yet to give a recommendation. As far as the phonics rules, do you mean the silent e rules and things like that? I'm wondering if the Rod and Staff English that HOD uses teaches this. I haven't used R&S, although I am planning to, so maybe someone else who has used it can chime in.

[smithdonnajo]

With RME, the making of the index cards with the words on them was definately a pain. But, it was worth it because it helped my daughter. After doing the index cards for several weeks, she didn't need them anymore, so now we skip that part, and she just reads the words from the book. She has struggled with learning to read due to dyslexia, and RME has really helped her.

Donna Jo

[smithdonnajo]

By the way, does anyone know on which reading level the child will be on when finishing RME?

Thanks,
Donna Jo

[Tracee]

I just went through this same decision. We were currently using Sing, Spell, Read and Write which I think is a great program, but there was a lot of busy work, that I didn't feel was needed. I ended up choosing TRL and I really like it for its simplicity. This post from Carrie helped me decide which program was better suited to our family. I hope it helps you also.

Post from Carrie

I'm going to repost my response to you here (from the other thread when you asked why we chose to carry The Reading Lesson and Reading Made Easy) because many moms search the board for posts on this topic and my original post to you is buried within another thread by a different name.

This will help other moms later as they're pondering what to do for phonic as well.

When choosing Reading Made Easy and The Reading Lesson we looked at SO many factors that affect how well a phonics program works. We also sorted through the many methodologies out there, although I'd seen and read much already about the various methodologies during my 11 years of being doused in a big variety of phonics programs during my public school teaching days!

I'll be very up front in saying that if you are of the "writing as a way to learn to read" methodology or the "learn every phonics rule and drill it" methodology, then the two programs we carry will NOT suit you well. Then, you'd want to look at something like the Writing Road to Reading or the Orton-Gillingham method of phonics instruction instead.

Our philosophy is that writing can actually come much later than reading and that demanding a child's fine motor skills to keep up with the decoding skills needed to read can cause much frustration. Our own boys each read very early and wrote much later. Had I held them back waiting for them to write each word as it was read (or learned) would have made reading an overwhelming task at an early age.

Also, when teaching early readers we've discovered that knowing some rules in beneficial and using an eclectic approach to covering them works fine. Our experience is that not all children need to be able to recite every phonics rule in order to apply it. Many rules are just too tedious and have too many exceptions to be worth memorizing. For example, we used Alphabet Island for phonics/spelling with my first son, and while the rule coverage was amazingly complete, little of the rules were retained and his learning to actually read didn't come out of that experience. We had to use yet another program to teach that! However, we do believe in giving a thorough treatment to phonics, rather than stopping as soon as kiddos are reading quite well. Programs such as 100 Easy Lessons drop kiddos off before phonics is finished, leaving a parent to fill a gap by finishing out phonics on their own (which can be done easily but requires some creativity).

We chose Reading Made Easy and The Reading Lesson because we find the phonics coverage to be complete enough without being tedious. We find the combination of gentle introductions to the various rules applied right within the reading material gives kiddos an "I can do this" feeling. It gets them reading early in the lessons and keeps it entertaining without being overly flashly.

Both programs also work well with a Charlotte-Mason approach to short lessons that capitalize on kiddo's short attention spans. Both programs provide stories right within the guide, having Teacher's Guide and Student Book in one. This feature saves much time searching for developmentally appropriate books, since the reading material is already there.

It is also wonderful that each guide is just purely for phonics rather than throwing in all sorts of other language arts skills along with phonics. This keeps the focus on learning to read and allows the parent to move more quickly or slowly through the program without feeling like they may be missing other skills if they change the pace. We had used the Blue Book for LLATL with my oldest son early on and felt tied to its slow pace of learning to read due to the multiple other skills woven in the lessons. We had to abandon it for that reason.

Reading Made Easy and The Reading Lesson also transition very well into our Emerging Reader's Set, solving another difficult problem for parents. The question about what to do after phonics is easily answered by the HOD sequence from phonics program to Emerging Reader's Set to independent reading using Drawn into the Heart of Reading.

Reading Made Easy is more teacher intensive and The Reading Lesson is more open and go. Both make teaching your child to read something anyone can do, rather than requiring the parent to take a course first or wade through how much to do each day or how to pace the program.

Last. both of these programs come highly recommended by other homeschoolers and reviewers alike. Reading Made Easy is currently in Cathy Duffy's Top 100 Curriculum Picks. The Reading Lesson has won many awards as well. Both have been used to teach thousands of children to be good readers. My own mother (who was a first grade teacher for 25 years) really likes The Reading Lesson. She's read it cover to cover and was surprised at how well laid out it is. She's a tough critic! She also like Reading Made Easy, but thinks The Reading Lesson could easily be used by anyone!

With all that being said, there are other good programs out there that work equally as well. The teaching style of the parent is just as important as the learning style of the child, when choosing a phonics program. If the parent is not inspired or doesn't feel confident with their choice, then the phonics program most likely won't get done.

In the end, we've discovered that the best program is one that consistently gets done in the day-to-day. The two phonics options we offer make that possible. While many phonics programs are wonderfully in depth or very full content-wise, if they just sit on the shelf because they're too overwhelming, the benefit is lost.

I hope this gives you some good areas to ponder when choosing a phonics program for your situation. Interestingly enough, most parents find that their second or third phonics option worked best, after struggling with their first option. In truth this is largely due to the child just being more mature and more ready to read by then, and also due to the fact that the child has some phonics instruction under their belt to draw on when heading it a second or third round of phonics! For those parents who only used one phonics option, celebrate!! You are VERY blessed!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Tracee]

I just went through this same decision. We were currently using Sing, Spell, Read and Write which I think is a great program, but there was a lot of busy work, that I didn't feel was needed. I ended up choosing TRL and I really like it for its simplicity. This post from Carrie helped me decide which program was better suited to our family. I hope it helps you also.

Post from Carrie

I'm going to repost my response to you here (from the other thread when you asked why we chose to carry The Reading Lesson and Reading Made Easy) because many moms search the board for posts on this topic and my original post to you is buried within another thread by a different name.

This will help other moms later as they're pondering what to do for phonic as well.

When choosing Reading Made Easy and The Reading Lesson we looked at SO many factors that affect how well a phonics program works. We also sorted through the many methodologies out there, although I'd seen and read much already about the various methodologies during my 11 years of being doused in a big variety of phonics programs during my public school teaching days!

I'll be very up front in saying that if you are of the "writing as a way to learn to read" methodology or the "learn every phonics rule and drill it" methodology, then the two programs we carry will NOT suit you well. Then, you'd want to look at something like the Writing Road to Reading or the Orton-Gillingham method of phonics instruction instead.

Our philosophy is that writing can actually come much later than reading and that demanding a child's fine motor skills to keep up with the decoding skills needed to read can cause much frustration. Our own boys each read very early and wrote much later. Had I held them back waiting for them to write each word as it was read (or learned) would have made reading an overwhelming task at an early age.

Also, when teaching early readers we've discovered that knowing some rules in beneficial and using an eclectic approach to covering them works fine. Our experience is that not all children need to be able to recite every phonics rule in order to apply it. Many rules are just too tedious and have too many exceptions to be worth memorizing. For example, we used Alphabet Island for phonics/spelling with my first son, and while the rule coverage was amazingly complete, little of the rules were retained and his learning to actually read didn't come out of that experience. We had to use yet another program to teach that! However, we do believe in giving a thorough treatment to phonics, rather than stopping as soon as kiddos are reading quite well. Programs such as 100 Easy Lessons drop kiddos off before phonics is finished, leaving a parent to fill a gap by finishing out phonics on their own (which can be done easily but requires some creativity).

We chose Reading Made Easy and The Reading Lesson because we find the phonics coverage to be complete enough without being tedious. We find the combination of gentle introductions to the various rules applied right within the reading material gives kiddos an "I can do this" feeling. It gets them reading early in the lessons and keeps it entertaining without being overly flashly.

Both programs also work well with a Charlotte-Mason approach to short lessons that capitalize on kiddo's short attention spans. Both programs provide stories right within the guide, having Teacher's Guide and Student Book in one. This feature saves much time searching for developmentally appropriate books, since the reading material is already there.

It is also wonderful that each guide is just purely for phonics rather than throwing in all sorts of other language arts skills along with phonics. This keeps the focus on learning to read and allows the parent to move more quickly or slowly through the program without feeling like they may be missing other skills if they change the pace. We had used the Blue Book for LLATL with my oldest son early on and felt tied to its slow pace of learning to read due to the multiple other skills woven in the lessons. We had to abandon it for that reason.

Reading Made Easy and The Reading Lesson also transition very well into our Emerging Reader's Set, solving another difficult problem for parents. The question about what to do after phonics is easily answered by the HOD sequence from phonics program to Emerging Reader's Set to independent reading using Drawn into the Heart of Reading.

Reading Made Easy is more teacher intensive and The Reading Lesson is more open and go. Both make teaching your child to read something anyone can do, rather than requiring the parent to take a course first or wade through how much to do each day or how to pace the program.

Last. both of these programs come highly recommended by other homeschoolers and reviewers alike. Reading Made Easy is currently in Cathy Duffy's Top 100 Curriculum Picks. The Reading Lesson has won many awards as well. Both have been used to teach thousands of children to be good readers. My own mother (who was a first grade teacher for 25 years) really likes The Reading Lesson. She's read it cover to cover and was surprised at how well laid out it is. She's a tough critic! She also like Reading Made Easy, but thinks The Reading Lesson could easily be used by anyone!

With all that being said, there are other good programs out there that work equally as well. The teaching style of the parent is just as important as the learning style of the child, when choosing a phonics program. If the parent is not inspired or doesn't feel confident with their choice, then the phonics program most likely won't get done.

In the end, we've discovered that the best program is one that consistently gets done in the day-to-day. The two phonics options we offer make that possible. While many phonics programs are wonderfully in depth or very full content-wise, if they just sit on the shelf because they're too overwhelming, the benefit is lost.

I hope this gives you some good areas to ponder when choosing a phonics program for your situation. Interestingly enough, most parents find that their second or third phonics option worked best, after struggling with their first option. In truth this is largely due to the child just being more mature and more ready to read by then, and also due to the fact that the child has some phonics instruction under their belt to draw on when heading it a second or third round of phonics! For those parents who only used one phonics option, celebrate!! You are VERY blessed!

Blessings,
Carrie

[busybee4]

I purchased RME in the fall of '08 to use with my then almost 5 dd. We worked in it around 3 days a week for a few weeks before she lost complete interest. Instead of pushing her forward and getting discouraged I just put it on the shelf. (She is my second child so that it why I was so able to respond like that! Had she been my first I'd have reacted much differently!!! Experience makes you wiser! )

Anyway around May of '09 (8 months later) she began to get very frustrated because big sis was reading from the Bible during family devotions and she wasn't able to. After a busy summer we picked up with our new school year late August and of course she was itching to learn to read so once again we pulled out RME. We did the lessons for about a month when I saw her interest waining again. Deciding that it was better to not push I let it go once more. It wasn't but a few weeks later that this little girl was gobbling up books! She can now read on a 2nd grade level with no problem. I did pull the manual out again in Dec. just because I was getting nervous that she wasn't getting any "formal" teaching but I could tell that the area we left off at was so far below her level. I emailed Mrs. Bendt and she said to move her up to lesson 108 as it is a more challenging part of the program. I did that and my dd loved the Gideon story yet she breezed through the lessons because her reading had advanced so much.

My very uneducated guess as to why she is reading so well with just a little bit of "phonics training" is 1. that the program is quite effective and 2. I think that things just clicked with her.

Honestly the program did get redundant for the both of us but I believe that it is an effective and very simple program to implement. (This coming from someone who taught in a Christian school using a highly intensive and overwhelming phonics program-same one I used for my oldest dd.)

We did purchase the workbooks this year and she did like those, although also quite repetitive.

Mrs. Bendt did tell me in her email that she was slowly working on a second part to the RME series. I have to say though with what little we used RME my dd hasn't had trouble reading any material that she gets her hands on! She is now blazing through the emerging readers set and needs help with only a few words here and there. Mrs. Bendt did tell me that once she was done with the program that just having her read was the best thing for her!

Will I stay with the program? Honestly I don't love it but I have seen great results with my dd that I'm not sure I will sell it before my ds 4 starts a reading program. But you know, I got so tired of the fancy, colorfully flashy phonics program that I used with my oldest and so did she for that matter!! Aren't we hard to please sometimes?!