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I was reading on Valerie Bendt's website about how many moms who use her reading program also use the explode the code series for reinforcement on concepts learned.

I was wondering if any of you do that as well. I am planning on using RME w/my dd but am unsure if I really need to purchase the Explode books as well. And if so should I begin with the Get set for the code books first since they focus on letter sounds and that's how most Kindergarten programs begin.

Also, my 6 year old dd continually reverses her letters and numbers. Should this be a concern for me or is this typically done at her age? She didn't start out doing that but I noticed it more and more toward the end of her K5 year. Should I work with her this summer on it? Although when I mentioned today that we might do some work beginning in June she said, "No Mom not in June that's when kids don't do any work." I was only planning on a couple days a week...

Hi,

I don't have an answer to your question regarding RME, as I have not used that program. But I did start my son's K year with the pre-Explode The Code books. He did not know his letter sounds at that point and they were great. He loved the excersizes in the workbooks and they are good for pre-writing motor skills as well. He also recently started reversing his letters and even writing some words from right to left He did not do this until recently as well, which makes me wonder if it's just a stage in their development since I have heard other Mom's discussing this issue. I wouldn't worry too much! HTH!

We're using RME. I had already done the Get Ready... Set... Go... for the Code books before we started RME. (We actually just did those for fun because DD was wanting some school and she likes doing workbooks if they're easy for her, and those were) I don't think ETC is really necessary for RME. I'm not doing it with DD and we're about 1/3 of the way through. I think maybe if you just feel like you want a workbook type thing to do along with it they'd be fine, but I think RME by itself is great. Now, that being said, I may choose to do them when we're done or almost done with RME as a review and to catch any of the rules that weren't included with RME. We'll just have to see when the time comes. I really do think RME is perfect as is.

My 5 yr old tends to reverse his letters, but I blame part of that on me not overseeing him everytime he's writing something, which happens because while I'm busy teaching the basics to my older 2, he busy's himself with lots of drawings and loves to "write". The most obvious was seen recently with a picture he drew of a superhero saying: "murhtabeht".

Now, at first I didn't have a clue what they said, but start at the right and he was actually writing very well phonetically "the bath room". Now I don't exactly know what to think of such backward writing, except that perhaps he'd prefer to learn Hebrew as a foreign language, since it's written from right to left. And I was surprised that he didn't reverse any of the letters, which he usually does. But I've started working with him some having him practice his letters on the chaulkboard, and I plan to continue that thru the summer. But I really feel I'll just need to stay on top of it for a while so he doesn't slide into his old habits.

As far as ETC is concerned, I use an Orton-Gillingham method for phonics (SWR), but I've had my kids do the ETC books and they actually like doing them. We started with the A/B/C books in K, mainly for practice with writing their letters, but we continue doing books 1-8 mainly for phonics & reading practice.

For a short while I switched to Abeka's Letter's and Sounds, because they have nice colorful pictures, but they were getting better phonics & reading practice with the ETC books. With Abeka's, there were some exercises they could do by rote by just noticing a pattern but not really reading anything (circling special sounds, for example). With ETC, they have a few similar-looking words or sentences which they have to read carefully to pick the correct one that goes with the picture. ETC books have very simple instructions and are quite effective, imo.

hth,
Teresa

I wouldn't worry about reversing the letters. In preschool, my daughter (5 1/2 years old) kept reversing the first letter of her name. Her preschool teacher (who taught for many years) said this was very typical and not to worry. I'd say if it continues frequently to the end of 2nd grade/beginning of 3rd grade you might want to seek professional advice. I taught 3rd grade for 12 years, and I had very few kids with reversals by that time.

Put your mind at ease!

Kristi

I do think almost every child reverses some letters at some point in their lives. So I wouldn't sweat it about that yet - now if they're still doing this after they are writing in full sentences/paragraphs, than that may be the time for more diligent focus on fixing that. At first, it's just AMAZING to see them writing anything - even if it is reversed!

RME can stand alone, but adding ETC is something that can easily be done if you desire. They are fun and quite short anyway.

Teresa, I had to smile when I read your superhero story! I imagined the superhero writing that in a "code" that can only be read correctly in the bathroom mirror - Who knows? Maybe that's this superhero's talent, and maybe that's what your ds was thinking? Either way, backwards or forwards, that's some pretty good spelling for a little one!

In Christ,
Julie

I love the bathroom story!! I need a good laugh like that everyday, so post another one tomorrow. My kids pull some good ones, but sometimes those are not so funny!

Here was the general rule for reversals back in the day....I "retired" 7 years ago, so it may have changed. There are still many kids that come to first grade with reversals of numbers and letters, but that was the year we really tried to fix it. We would have to start marking answers wrong on spelling and math after Christmas for reversals, but most kids had them fixed by then. If they made it to 2nd grade with some reversals, the teacher would usually refer them for some testing.

My little guy doesn't write any backwards, but he still has a doozy of a time reading b and d, even though he writes them correctly every time. My just turned 6 yo makes her 6's reversed every time.

I agree with Julie, almost every kid on the planet does something mirrored of reversed at some point, so don't worry too much about it, but I would make her erase and rewrite reversals.