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Emerging Reader's set before her 8yo brother? She's ready (chomping at the bit, actually), and he isn't.

I still want to use the set with him, too, b/c I like how it's set up, and I own the books.

I just don't want him discouraged about being "behind" her.


Or are there other suggestions?

We've done some Dick and Jane books and other readers, but she really wants to read the Bible, so the Emerging Readers set seems like the logical next thing...

Maybe take her slowly through the first, easier story bible...and then when he's ready, let him start at the "harder" one

I like the previous poster's idea of letting her start with the easier Bible. That will buy some time to get him ready. You could also check out the extra suggested book in each unit from the library and have her read those in between the emerging reader books. That would stretch out each unit a little longer. Maybe that way she wouldn't be too far ahead your son when he is ready to start.

This is just my opinion, but I would start nudging your ds8 even if he isn't chomping at the bit to read. I have a ds8 and a ds5 and while my ds8 is working through the ERS...my ds5 has been much more enthusiastic about learning to read than my ds8. I am assuming that your ds8 has been through phonics and just isn't showing an excitement for reading. If that is the case, then I wouldn't let it hinder him from moving forward. My ds8 was a late bloomer. He finished The Reading Lesson last year. He started the ERS last year as well. He was not jumping to grab a book and read it and never seemed to even want to read, but he needed to move forward and build fluency for his reading to really improve and for him to have the skills to make reading enjoyable. It was a bit of a chore at first when we started the ERS, but now that we are at Unit 11 and have done several first readers (Frog and Toad-2 books and Owl at Home as well as the early Bible)...he is really starting to want to find out what comes next and his reading has improved. I just had to let him know that we had to move forward with our reading instruction and part of that was to learn to read a book fluently.
If it were me, I would not move my 5 yr old to the ERS unless she has finished phonics instruction. I know you said she is reading early readers, but dick and jane books rely on sight words not phonics. Have you done a phonics program with her? Phonics gives a lot more skills than learning to read. It teaches children the nuances of the english language and helps when the words become harder. It also helps with spelling later on if the child knows that endings such as -igh, -y, -ie all make the long I sound at the end of a word. I have had several of my children complete reading instruction in the lower grades at public school using mainly sight word learning. Their fluency and comprehension has slowed in the later years as well as their spelling has always been sub par. If you haven't put your 5 year old through a phonics program (even if she is reading), then that would be my suggestion.
As your 5 year old learns phonics, start your ds8 on the ERS (if he has completed phonics) and just let him know it is a part of his school and he needs to try his hardest and be cheerful about learning. I really struggled with this myself because my ds8 never showed an interest in moving forward to reading books. I finally decided we were just going to start the ERS after reading a post of Carrie's about how dc need to cheerfully do their work even if it isn't their favorite and it keeps them moving forward in skills. If he has completed phonics, I would start the emerging readers set with him.
I would not start the ERS with your dd5 until she had enjoyed the benefits of a phonics program. It is much more than learning to read words. This is just what I would do based on my experiences with my children and having older children who did not benefit from learning phonics. I did go back and do a remedial phonics with them and it made vast improvements in their reading fluency, comprehension, and their spelling. I hope this can be helpful and give a different perspective than just focusing on a child's enthusiastic desire to read books. I do believe that their are skills and steps that would be detrimental to skip this early in the game.

She's had over a year (a l ittle over five quarters' worth of school) of phonics instruction with the Reading Lesson/Explode the Code and now Turbo Reader/Primary Phonics (which we are continuing). I definitely do not teach with an emphasis on sight words. She does the Dick and Jane readers for her own pleasure, outside of school time.

I am also continuing phonics (for the third year) with my second grader. When he finishes the Reading Lesson, we will hopefully add in the Emerging Readers set for him. That will likely be around January. He will still continue with Primary Phonics and/or Explode the Code workbooks. I haven't yet decided if he'll read from either Turbo Reader or Phonics Pathways in addition to the Emerging Readers or if I should have the Emerging Readers replace his phonics reading book. (I already own Phonics Pathways, Turbo Reader, and the Reading Lesson from my older children, so I can easily pull any of them for him to use.)

Wow! She sounds like she has been chomping at the bit for a while now. Only you know your kids best, but it would seriously discourage my 8 year old if suddenly his 5 year old sibling had moved past him especially if he was struggling in something. I would probably opt to buy a set of Bob books or google for a kindergarten or 1st grade reading list to tide my younger dc over until my 8 yr old was ready for the emerging reader set and make sure to start him in the harder level Bible or even skip forward to the books so that he wouldn't compare their abilities.
I would even start them on the ERS at the same time, but I know that starting my younger dc ahead of my ds8 would cause him a lot of self doubt. If your ds is a child that would fret over his younger sibling being ahead of him in a subject in school, then I would definitely say try and find an alternate reading list until he is ready for the ERS.

StillJulie wrote:Emerging Reader's set before her 8yo brother? She's ready (chomping at the bit, actually), and he isn't.

I still want to use the set with him, too, b/c I like how it's set up, and I own the books.

I just don't want him discouraged about being "behind" her.


Or are there other suggestions?

We've done some Dick and Jane books and other readers, but she really wants to read the Bible, so the Emerging Readers set seems like the logical next thing...

Here is my BTDT answer. Nope. That issue is probably going to stay for as long as you hs. If one is ahead they usually stay ahead. I have compensated and made sure the other was not discouraged, offended or otherwise wrong by being passed up. I really think in hindsight it is much better to just hit it head on. When you start really compensating instead of doing that eventually that creates a bigger problem than just dealing with it and then you still have to deal with it but it is harder because you spent a few years compensating before you did. I would just do the "everyone learns at different rates, we are all created by God to be unique, run your own race, don't compare yourself directly to someone else they may struggle later with something you don't, etc.". I have done it both ways and not compensating was by far the best one psychologically and motivation wise if they need that boost. I would just give the books to the younger child if they are done with phonics and let the older child know they can do them too and that the younger child will be starting now.

I have had this situation on many levels dealing with special needs but also my 7 year old is off the charts ahead in reading and math. She passes up my 9 year old daily. If handled honestly and really watching the character and feelings around it they really do learn to accept it and find their own strengths. On the other hand I compensated for my dd with CP and even gave her different math and LA, it still comes out. They realize they are not as fast paced and I have realized when you compensate for it you are teaching them they do not have to deal with it emotionally. But eventually they will and it will be harder for not just starting out that way. It's just about being fair to both of your kids. One wants to soar and the other is at a different pace which probably means it really is not all motivation because if it is easy for them even a less motivated kid will be drawn to moving faster. Those differences are probably going to be there in some way next year too even if you hold off the little one. On the flip side if you kill the motivation and pay off for wanting to soar you might still have a kid that is ahead but is now frustrated because they can't move at their own pace. Eventually they both figure that out and resentment build.

Just to give you a different side of the coin opinion. Ultimately you know your kids best, God is leading you to teach them, and you will have the best answer.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I don't make it to these message boards as often as I'd like...


My 5yo is LOVING and EXCELLING with the emerging readers. I'm glad I decided to go that route. She constantly amazes me with her abilities.

From August til now, I've bumped up my now 8yo's phonics from one page out of the Reading Lesson to three. I also do "read to feed" with him (putting chocolate chips at the end of random lines that he gets to eat when he reads up to that point). I am seeing progress. He might never be a strong reader, but we'll keep at it. I also bumped up his Primary Phonics (workbook) from two pages to three. He seems to be meeting these new requirements without frustration, and I do look forward to being able to start the emerging readers with him sometime this school year.