The Reading Lesson vs. Phonics Pathways

[MamaPajama]

Just curious if anyone has experience with these two. Right now we're using Phonics Pathways, but I've mentioned before that my son is not loving all the word lists. He does okay with them, but just looking at a page full of words is daunting for him. I ordered The Reading Lesson and it's supposed to arrive tomorrow. Looking at the table of contents, I'm guessing he'll be able to jump in about 1/3 of the way through and I plan to continue phonics throughout the summer and hopefully begin our school year in the emerging readers. If he doesn't take to it, I'll just save it for my girls.

Has anyone else made the switch between these two books? Or do you have any reviews that might interest me?

[brenm37]

I have used both and actually prefer Phonics Pathways. I taught my middle daughter to read using only this book (I used 100 EZ Lessons with my oldest). Then, with my youngest daughter, I started with the Reading Lesson (always ready to try something new and different!). We got a few pages into it and she was frustrated and I was not feeling good about how/when words were introduced. I used the CD also, which she quickly grew tired of. I then used Explode the Code books 1 and 1 and 1/2 so far, which she did like. When she needed a break from those, we went into Phonics Pathways and have been there since. She was already reading 3 letter words and knew letter sounds pretty well and she is enjoying PP so far. I think it's a more comprehensive program than the Reading Lesson, but I did not complete TRL and I know others have and have liked it. All that to say, all children are different and what works for one may not work for another! One of the joys of homeschooling, in my book!
Brenda

[brenm37]

Forgot to add that when my daughter is overwhelmed by the long word lists, I cover the page and we work one line at a time, doing only one page a day and sometimes only part of the page, if it's too much for her.
Brenda

[creativemommy]

I haven't used TRL, but I have used 100 Easy Lessons and then Phonics Pathways (skipping the first 60 pages or more - can't remember) with my son (6yo).

He also complained about the word lists early on in the year, but I have tried a few things to make them more fun for him. Sometimes I write a few words on a small marker board and had him read them aloud. Other times I read a word and then have him read the next word. Some days we read only one column and then he will pick a book off the shelf to read aloud (this meant spending 3-4 days on a rule - 1 page). If it was a list of words he already knew really well (like a lot of the review pages are) I'd have him just pick a column to read and we'd skip the rest. He is reading books well above his grade level now and has learned a lot of phonics/grammar rules that he will point out in books he reads aloud now!

[MamaPajama]

Hmmm....I got TRL in the mail today and I really like it! However upon comparison I can tell right off that PP is much more thorough and at the end of the books it is plain to see that a child would be at a higher reading level with PP than TRL. I'm torn, though, because I think my son would really respond well to the pictures and fewer words per page. Maybe we'll continue with PP and I'll give TRL a try with my DD(4). The beginning seems simple enough for her to do it a couple of times a week at least. Then maybe when she finishes TRL we'll pick up in PP where she's left off. Of course, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to use both for my DS either using PP for the drill and TRL for some fun. Has anyone tried either of those scenarios? I always have to make everything so difficult!