heartofdakota.com

I guess I was too hasty in updating my other thread. I'll admit it- I feel like a child who just got a spanking in front of their friends because my thread got locked. (Yes, my feelings got hurt, even though I understand why Carrie is strict with the thread topics on this board.) Even though I said I'm going to use PP/ETC with my current 1st grader instead of R&S, I was expecting/hoping Julie and/or Carrie would chime in and tell me if/how TRL and RME are similar to PP, if at all. Or tell me why they are different enough that I should switch. I am asking here and not on another board because I value your opinions, especially since I needed to find a less time-consuming phonics program than what we were using, and I know that at HOD that is something that matters. I have 3 more children to teach to read after this one, so I am not opposed to switching to one of HOD's offerings, either for this child or for the next. Just because PP is better than what we were using doesn't mean it's the best choice. (I just happen to already own PP.) I need to decide for sure within the next couple of days. Again, I should not have "made a decision" and updated my other thread so soon. I realized after the fact that I had not found out what I really wanted to know.

If it's okay to say - TRL has much less on a page compared to certain other choices for the purpose of not overwhelming the child (a common problem). I'm not familiar with the other HOD recommendation

I love love love The Reading Lesson. The pages are simple and not distracting. You go at the child's pace so if they are done after a page you quit, if they want to read 5 pages you do that. We bought our copy used so the CD didn't work, but I used the book part successfully with my two older children. They were so excited to be able to read those early simple "stories". When they finished the book, both of them reread it twice because they liked it. I can't wait to use it again with my youngest.

Have you seen this thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2503

Scroll down a bit for a description from Carrie on why they chose the two they offer.

Rhyah

Thanks for that link, Rhyah. I don't know if I've seen that one before; if I have, it's been a LONG time.

I'm not familiar with the program you are considering using, but I'm another one that loves, loves, LOVES The Reading Lesson!!! I did not use it with my first DS, only my second DS, and my second DS had a much easier, less frustrating time learning to read!!! It has such a simple, but thorough layout. We usually just did 2 pages per day and my DS finished it by mid-May and then took OFF in his reading and is now easily reading chapter books, his Beginner's Bible, etc. One thing I also like about it is that the typeset starts out pretty large and progressively gets smaller and smaller as you go through the book and the readings get longer. My DS thought that was really cool! HTH a little!!!

Another Mom who is loving The Reading Lesson! I used it with Allison, and have started with Garret. Very simple to pick up and use. No prep. And, you use the number of pages that are appropriate for your child. I usually did 2-3 with Allison when we went through it. Garret started that way, but as there got to be more reading on the page, we slowed to 1 per day. (We're talking about 5-10 min of reading here. ) He was not quite 5 yet, and it was nice gentle progress. We've put it down for the summer, so I'm sure we'll back up a bit and review as we start again in August. We use the CD-rom, too. I love that it reviews what they're reading in the book in a fun, game-like way. We use it as a reward.

From what I've heard, PP is going to cover every single phonics rule out there. TRL does not. But as far as teaching a child to read, I think it does a great job!! And, phonics kind of morphs into spelling as the child grows. So, you're going to be continuing to cover those "phonics rules" as "spelling rules" in the lists that are in Beyond and Bigger. I haven't seen that it was really any benefit for Grant over Allison to have covered every.single.phonics.rule out there. And, I can guarantee that it was much more enjoyable to use TRL than what I used with Grant. But, I do not have PP, so I can't tell you a thing about it.

I was going to link you to the same post of Carrie's where she compares TRL and RME here. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2503#p18592 Teaching a child to read is one of those things that you can do "right" about a million different ways. If what you already have will do that in a way that is enjoyable for you and your child - go for it! But, for us switching to TRL gave us that quick, easy, enjoyable experience of learning to read in a way that kept the balance in our day. So, I can personally reccommend that.

Kathleen