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I put this here because it's a whole approach and program, more than just a book. If M@rio fears legal repercussions from this he can move it to the Book Review forum.

My mother gave me this book several years ago. She was a reading educator for most of her life, so I figured it must be a good one.

My first boy was having none of that foolishness. He reads fine now, but didn't want to get a head start on it, so we just let him learn in kindergarten and 1st grade like everyone else. He's always been much more of a math and spatial whiz anyway.

My second boy, inspired by having an older brother who reads, came after me and insisted I teach him.
This is a very good, very well-structured program. It's mostly phonetic, introducing letter sounds one at a time, all in lower-case. Repeating the sounds, rhyming games, etc all slowly become more complex as they progress. New sounds are introduced, silent letters appear (at first they are in smaller font as a reminder.) Blocks between words are replaced by spaces, periods show up, then capitals, etc.

After about day 7 (!) little "stories" appear, with a picture, and reading comprehension questions.

Currently we are on Day 25 and he's now constantly pointing out words that he can read in the real world.
I give it a big thumbs up for $10 used or even for list price.

I used this book to teach my daughter to read. One of the greatest thrills of my life was to see her "get" reading.

Literacy is overrated.

Jack wrote:

Fat Cat wrote:Literacy is overrated.

I can't quite read that, can you spell if phonetically?

Maybe later, he's too busy playing "Hi-Ho Cherry-O" right now.

LOL plug-update.

My 5 y.o. had his "kindergarten assessment" yesterday. According to my wife, they took him off for the test while she did paperwork. She said this was the exchange when they came back:

Education Types: "Well... first he said he could read. Then he read the whole placement book to us."

Mrs. GDG!: "My husband taught him to read."

ET: "How?"

MGDG: "My mother-in-law was a reading specialist for years. She gave him a book."

ET: "We need to see that book."

MGDG: "It's just the SRA program."

ET: "Please bring in that book. We really want to see it."

Once more: this is an awesome program. Granted, my boy struck me as a quick study, but it's still very, very well organized and thought out. It was painless.

On the downside, it's become glaringly apparent that I shouldn't have listened when my first boy's teacher said "Oh, they really can't get phonics at that age." Result: he can't really sound things out very well (he reads just fine, but when he sees a word that he doesn't know, he just guesses), whereas the younger one can sound out "supervision" and words of similar complexity.

I am doing catchup work with the older one to fix this.

It is also apparent that many current teachers know just the currently prevailing theory of "what works." They have no clue about the past and what worked then.

I have been meaning to get this. My oldest is very bright and reads a grade level above but I would like to get this started with my 3 year old daughter. And then when my son gets about the same age (3) I can start with him.

Thanks Dawg.

I just wanted to bump this review for anyone that might've missed it the first time. I just finished lesson 99 with my son, and it's been a great experience. If you like spending time with your kid, you'll like working through this book. Be prepared for a few rough lessons along the way, but it's worth it to stick with it.

He's now in 1st grade, helping the other kids learn to read. The teachers gave up trying to place him.

My daughter is in her last year of preschool and I'm thinking of starting this with her. I would've started earlier but IIRC a lot of the teaching/learning is based on pronunciating the word(s) and she has a speech impediment so I didn't start it. She is just about to finish up her speech classes so I think I can start soon.

"Teach Your Child To Read in 1 Easy Beating"

I was retaught to read using the "The Writing Road to Reading : The Spalding Method of Phonics for Teaching Speech, Writing and Reading " by Romalda Bishop Spalding.

I was not an early reader, and by the second grade my mother was very concerned about my reading ability. In her search for help, my mother discovered the Spalding method and became a certified instructor in the method. My mother became such a fan of the method that I was later on tutored by Mrs. Spalding.

All three of my children where taught to read and write using this method. Most people have a problem with the program because it was never really intended to be a do it yourself book. It was assumed educators would be trained in the methods before teaching in a class room setting.

The pros: It works. It covers not just reading, but also writing and spelling.

The cons: It's not for everyone, is definitely old school.

However, I have fond place in my heart for the book. I was one of those kids that would be misdiagnosed with ADD in the present day. Mrs. Spalding method opened up a new world to me. As a rambunctious 7 year old, reading became a great outlet for my imagination.

Susan Wise Bauer's Well Educated Mind books are good too. One is for adult learners, the other is for parents. Mortimer Adler's How to Read a Book is good for older kids (and adults).

losabio wrote:... I just finished lesson 99 with my son, and it's been a great experience. If you like spending time with your kid, you'll like working through this book.
...

=D>