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I have so many questions and I'm so thankful that all you wonderful ladies are here to help me with them. My almost 6 year old just finished MFW K and we started on LHFHG right away because we are doing year round school. He knows the short vowel sounds and the consonants. We started using teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons just as a refresher for what he already knows and beyond but he's really bored with it. I finally got The Reading Lessons from the library but I think we will finish it rather quickly. What I'm wondering is if we should jump into the emerging reader set in the middle of LHFHG? He loves reading the BOB books and he's excited to do more. Would it make sense to go right into that or should we just work on TRL and then review? Also do you think TRL would be good for my 4 year old or should I just let him continue 100EZ lessons? Have any of you had experience teaching a younger child to read with either one. I wasn't planning on starting with him until the fall or later but when he hear his brother saying the sounds and the slow/fast words he just jumped right in and I haven't been able to stop him. My 4 year old LOVES school. He literally begs to do it. Thanks in advance for the help.

I will try to help you by letting you know what's work so far for my two oldest kids learning to read...

I used 100 EZ Lessons with my ds when he was 4 1/2 and he completed it within a year and a half (we took the summer off, breaks in between some lessons, etc). He did well with it and seemed to enjoy it. After he finished it, I had him read through the books suggested in the back of 100 EZ Lessons in the order they're given (reading level progresses). Then, he read through other easy reading books and ER set during his LHFHG year. It worked well for him.

My dd (4yo) began 100 EZ Lessons and made it to Lesson 50 in 7 months. I thought for sure it'd be a great fit for her - same as my son. Not quite. She was constantly complaining about doing it every school day, so we took a break (actually quite a few between lessons) and I researched other programs. I finally decided on The Reading Lesson at the beginning of April. She's cruised through the first 3 lessons of the book as they're review from what she's already learned in 100 EZ Lessons. However, she's gained confidence and is excited to continue in her reading lessons again. Yeah! She has really enjoyed reading with Giggle Bunny and using the CD-ROM game on the computer. TRL claims to have them reading at a 2nd grade level when they finish (same as 100 EZ Lessons), but since she hasn't completed all 20 lessons yet, I can't comment on the end of the book. Sorry!

When you finish The Reading Lesson, you'll be ready to head into the Emerging Reader's Set. However, you'll need the schedule and questions in the Appendix of the Beyond guide to do this. If you wanted to start with The Early Reader's Bible first, you could do that without the Beyond guide, doing a story a day and asking the questions in The Early Reader's Bible. Then, you'd need the Beyond guide after that to go on with the rest of the set, or use The Beginner's Bible first, and then go on with the rest of the set.

Usually when you begin the Emerging Reader's Set, your child is also ready to begin Spelling List 1, following the plans in the Beyond guide for this each day. Then, when your son moves into Beyond the next year, you'd do Spelling List 2 and finish out the Emerging Reader's Set, moving into DITHR Level 2/3 whenever he finishes the Emerging Reader's Set.

With your 4 year old, I'd go ahead and start The Reading Lesson slowly, since your little one seems ready. The Reading Lesson works great with little ones, as there is not much text on the page, no writing, and the pages are short and sweet!

Happy reading!

Blessings,
Carrie

We have switched to The Reading Lesson and my almost 6 year old is flying through it. He loves it. My 4 year old is going very slowly but he really likes it also. He loves the pictures and he likes the pages where he gets to match the letters to the animals. I bought the Beyond economy pack when I bought the other 2 just because we are doing Singapore 1a/1b and I wanted the hands on activities in the book. I will probably order the emerging readers so I can have them on hand when he is ready to start. Thank you both for the replies I really appreciate the help.