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Education
: so, DS wants to learn to read, which books (phonics) would you recommend?
(26 messages)
DS (3.10) has really got into reading and can spell out and read simple phonic words like cat or dog for example.
atm i'm just writing them down on paper for him and he likes reading them back and working out what the words are.
i'd love to get him some really simple phonic books so he can make the link between letters/words/ and stories (however simple!)
he doesn't start school till January as they stagger the intakes and he is a summer birthday, but i do know the school use jolly phonics amongst other things, so i'd like to get something that supports this, so that when he does go to school he won't have to re-learn things iykwim.
are there any really simple starter books (2 or 3 words to a page type thing) that i could start him off on?
dd2 started on the getreadingright decodable phonics books with little ditties. started with CVC words. is now reading well on her own and can decode quite a few bigger words as well.
WE use Songbirds Big Cat Phonics and Rigby Star phonics have a few of the early Getreadingright books. ORT aren't phonics so are definitely out of fashion (we sent ours to Africa).
how much do the getreadingright ones cost? dd2 got them from school. they are good IMO. some people dont like them as they dont have pictures to tell a story, literally a theme (cars, boats, trains etc different colour on each page) and some CVC words. then make and break on the last page. very easy.
dd2 started with the cvc words, worked up to tricky words, i think she had a couple of short sentance ones, but then progressed very quickly onto ort songbirds. she is going up a level most weeks and is steaming through her books at incrediable speed.
its a completely different way of reading to how dd1 was taught just 3.5years ago. dd1 was on the ORT books with biff and chip, and she finds reading harder. we used to get sheets home each term with words to learn but they were as decodable as this way.
Jolly phonics level 1 books (red books) are very hard and there is a danger of a child guessing from the picture instead of reading. However the level 2 (yellow books) and level 3 (green) books are very good.
I've got Jelly & Bean, ReadWrite Inc (Ruth Miskin) & Jolly Phonics and by far the best for a 3/4 year old who is just starting to spell out CVC words are the Jelly and Bean. Ds started on them last week and his little face lights up when he realises he can read a book like a big book.
OK, the story line of a cat sitting in a hat on a mat is simple but what the heck. His confidence has gone sky high.
The JP an Miskin books assume knowledge of all the sounds and diagraphs before you can start them (oo ae th, sh etc) so are much harder.
I have been using the Jelly and Bean for my little boy, and have just ordered the next batch of them...if you are interested I am selling the first ones I bought.
My dd didn't like the Ruth Miskin ones. ATM we are reading the the ladybird 'read with me' series together and they seem to be ok (as ok as any early reader can be).
Definately try your local library as you can normally find lots of different series to try out and often you can order books from other libraries free if they are childrens' books.
The school my son goes to doesn't follow a phonic programme, so we have been using Jolly Phonics, workbooks, flash cards and storybook. We have the reading books to but they are too advance for his level. He does enjoy the Jelly and Bean ones, hence ordering more. I have three sets, including the reception A series, do you want to cat me beautifuldays?
