From the article: Homeschool Curriculum Guide - Phonics Programs
I've shared my favorite programs for teaching children how to read - now it's your turn! What is your favorite phonics program and why do you like it? What are the pros and cons? Share Your Favorite
Effective and Fun
- In the age of Hooked on Phonics and other reading programs costing hundreds of dollars, Alpha-Phonics is a breath of fresh air and hearkens back to a simpler time where reading was more about letters and sounds and less about frills and games. I am using Alpha-Phonics right now with my son who is 4 - it's a great way to introduce the basics of reading in a way that is clear an not frustrating and confusing.
- —Guest David
Dancing Bears
- My bright 11 year old son was in public school up until the beginning of 5th grade, when I pulled him out because his school wasn't teaching him how to read despite having an IEP. He has been using Dancing Bears now for five months and his reading has improved dramatically! After trying several other reading programs, I'm very happy to report Dancing Bears works! The stories aren't "babyish" so it's a great program for older dyslexic kids as well as anyone trying to learn how to read.
- —Guest Shelly
The OnTrack Reading Homeschooling Method
- This is an interesting program that apparently blends Spalding's "Writing Road to Reading" curriculum with the curriculum found in the book "Reading Reflex." The author has done an amazing amount of work to put together a combination of the best parts of both programs. See www.ontrackreading.com/homeschooling for the program. It utilizes WRTR (Writing Road to Reading) as the foundation. A modified set of phonogram flash cards is also available there, either free or at a very modest price.
- —Guest Guest MHE
Best Phonics Program
- I like "An Ant - Learn to Read" because it covers the important points while holding my son's interest. This book teaches phonics through stories, which is key to getting his attention. Each page has one story made up of 4 comic book style panels. In the beginning it took him about 15 minutes to finish a story, and I didn't push for more than one page at a time. Towards the middle of the book he was able to read a page in 2 minutes, and would be so eager to turn the page and start another story that I was able to use reading time as a reward for good behavior. I highly recommend this book. It starts very simply with a few letter sounds, but by the end of the book your child will be able to sound out the 96 words in the stories, plus hundreds of other words that use the same sounds. The back of the book has color phonics flash cards that you cut out and use as the lessons call for them. Free downloads of the flash cards and writing practice pages are available at www.BrodenBooks.com
- —stfields2
Imperial Academy of Reading
- This program is truly amazing! My children went up a reading level every two weeks!! I was really worried by the cuts in schools, as a couple of my kids have dyslexia tendencies. I found a new program that assesses your child to see where holes exist in their learning. Then, it creates a personalized program that works on filling their gaps. My children didn't feel patronized by it being too "babyish" or like it was wasting their time by teaching them things that they had already mastered. As a busy mother with lots of kids, I was worried about finding the time to do it, but it only takes about 15 or less minutes a day!! My kids were good about doing it, because they saw great improvements right off. In just twelve weeks, they both have gone up drastically. At parent teacher conferences, my son's new teacher didn't even know that he'd ever had a reading problem, because he's always reading! He loves it now. In the school's tests, he went up from 3.5 to 5.5 over the summer!
- —mummyinlondon
Best Preschool Phonics Program
- Alphabetology is the best preschool phonics program for teaching the alphabet and letter sounds! Fun, easy, multisensory, and it works!
- —playoutsidenow
ClickN READ Phonics
- This program is amazing! It is delivered online so my kids can use it at home or while at grandma's house or on the plane on vacation. The lessons are taught by animated characters so my kids think that they are playing a game. The best thing about it is that it is researched based curriculum. The product is actually used in thousands of schools all over the world. After we finish a lesson, I get a progress report that lets me know how well they did and I gives me the ability to repeat the lesson if they didn't score high enough. So many product out there will just let your child move ahead if they give the wrong answer enough times, ClickN READ Phonics does not. I have now have several of my homeschooling friends using this product with their kids and they all love it. Its the only product that you need to teach your kids to read and my kids just love it. They ask me if they can play their ClickN READ game. Its affordable too only $59.85 for a lifetime account! I highly recommend it!
- —Guest Mary Anderson
K12 Phonics
- My kids have done K12's phonics program. It is intense and relies on the learning coach, not online. However, it is quite comprehensive and complete. I will use it again this summer.
- —Guest Jbashore
All About Spelling
- This is an excellent program! I taught my 1st 4 boys to read/spell with The Writing Road to Reading, but my 5th son was struggling to just retain the phonograms. I looked at many other spelling programs, but none were compelling enough for me to try. I can't begin to tell you the difference All About Spelling has made for him. It is very hands on with its multisensory approach, but very little prep time is required for mom. Everything is scripted and broken down into small, well planned, step-by-step lessons. I even took my other 4 through the first three levels and was able to fill in the gaps in their learning too. We have found it to be a lot of fun and very affordable. You can learn more about All About Spelling and even download a free report "20 Best Tips for Teaching Spelling" here: http://www.allaboutspelling.com/choices
- —Guest Lisa
My favorite Phonics Program
- My favorite is "Alpha=Phonics: A Reading Primer" coupled with "StartRight" (Italics) which allows you to print custom handwriting pages, Alpha-Phonics Reading Tutor for automated drill and Alpha-Phonics Most Common Words for drill on spelling more than 2,500 words interactively on the computer. Bob Books are Great too! Then active use of a library card.
- —Guest Susan Kielpinski
Phonics programs I like.
- I'm surprised no one mentioned "Explode the Code". It is a great online phonics program that my kids really liked. It was introduced to us by my son's teacher.
- —Guest Isaac Bocknek
Scholastic Reading Program
- This is an excellent reading program. It comes with 60 readers, 30 workbooks that go with the readers, 2 writing workbooks, 2 spelling workbooks, a game and a CD with every workbook. My grandson is going into the second grade this year and reads on a 5th or 6th grade level. The program is awesome. I have no idea how much it cost because it was a gift to me.
- —Guest MMM
Reading Horizons
- This company wins for me because they generously teach phonics to parents without cost if they want to learn it themselves to teach their children. The program is explicit and systematic, which is vital for dyslexia help. It is certainly one of the most economical and complete-yet-simple phonics instruction programs you can get. The website is www.readinghorizonsathome.com. Check out the free learning resources for the Online Workshop is you want to learn phonics yourself. Literacy is the passion in this company. If you know of anyone needing serious reading help but doesn't have the finances for this, there are avenues that can be pursued; just contact the company at 1-800-705-6568.
- —Guest jeri.readinghorizons@yahoo.com
