Reviews on a-beka 1st Rade Letters and Sounds Book

We've officially got seven readers in our home. A quick mental calculation volition tell you that this ways all five of my children have at present crossed the great split up between those who can't read and those who can. My youngest yet needs my aid with certain words, but every bit of this twelvemonth, he possesses all the head-noesis required to decode a word...whatsoever discussion.

In some means, it feels like it took a lifetime for us to get here. But in other ways, it seems similar it only took a blink. In reality, it took eleven years.

To break information technology down: I've spent the past eleven years teaching the letter names and sounds, the diagraphs, and the syllable rules. Long vowels and short ones. Blends and end rhymes. Regular sounds and special exceptions.

(I am in no way affiliated with Abeka Volume and receive no compensation for this mail service. Delight see my disclosure policy for full details.)

Obviously, every one of these learning-to-read journeys has been a bit dissimilar. My children each have their own unique set of struggles and strengths, after all. Merely, while the day-to-day lessons have had to ebb and flow to fit their individual needs, the curriculum has been the aforementioned for all eleven years.

I've taught all my kids to read using Abeka Phonics.

At present, I'm not going to say that Abeka is the very best curriculum for teaching reading. (I cringe when I hear people utilise such strong superlatives when describing annihilation...as if they have tried every.single.item on the market and can make a conclusive statement nearly the superiority of 1 over all the others.) But, I think it's fair to say that I've had a pretty good runway tape with it. In addition to using Abeka Phonics while teaching my ain circus of 5, I've also used it...

• when I learned to read back in 1983. (Don't attempt to do the math to find out my age. That'southward too many numbers for any encephalon to hold.)
• when I worked for Abeka for four years in their homeschool division teaching other parents how to use the program.
• when I took "Teaching Reading" at college (Abeka Phonics was the grade curriculum standard.)
• when I taught dozens upon dozens of other people'due south kids to read dorsum when I was a classroom teacher.

I'one thousand familiar with the plan, to say the to the lowest degree. And since we're all friends here, I think it's but fitting that I tell you:

Before y'all pull the trigger and plunk down a bunch of real cash money for the expensive boxed phonics kit, don't. Information technology's not worth it!

Clarity is kindness. And friends don't let friends waste coin or buy ataxia.

Don't get me wrong, the foundation of the program is bang-up. But as with everything in life, less is more. So many of the items in the kit and in the phonics section of the Abeka catalog tin can be bought or made at a fraction of the price, can distract your child from the real piece of work of reading, and tin add a boring amount of extra busywork because the plan was designed for classroom use.

Instance in point: The workbooks, while proficient for an easy-to-grab exercise of skills, were never meant to exist the "lesson." They were designed to be simple seatwork pages for classroom students to exercise while their teacher works with reading groups (small groups of students that are all at a similar reading level). The merely job of a workbook page is to keep kids busy doing enough review work that they tin can stay occupied without having to enquire a lot of questions or seek the instructor'southward aid. For that reason, the workbook pages are generally most 5 to x skill levels behind the 24-hour interval'south bodily lesson topic. That'southward not to say that yous shouldn't society the phonics workbooks, just just to say that you don't have to. Workbooks definitely have their place, even in homeschooling.

In improver, the leveled readers are likewise worth some thoughtful consideration and possible "no thanks." With the exception of the kindergarten readers (equally linked beneath) and peradventure the showtime two or three readers of commencement grade, don't carp ownership whatsoever of the leveled readers. And definitely, practise not buy any of the teacher editions for said books. Readers are actually just useful in ii specific scenarios:

1. When a child is in the early stages of reading and hasn't learned enough sounds and rules to read a traditional merchandise paperback. (Leveled readers provide the await and feel of a "real" volume while but utilizing a particular fix of reading skills.)
2. In a classroom setting. (They are designed to requite a large group of kids something that they can all read and hash out together. Plainly, allowing 30 kids in a classroom to each read from 30 different books during group reading time would be counterintuitive at best and total anarchy at worst.)

But, your home is not a classroom. Once your child is finished learning all the phonetical sounds and basic decoding rules (around the middle of commencement form), he no longer needs readers. In fact, the dry out-equally-dust storylines of readers can actually plow your child away from a love of books.

Instead, allow him to read from an actual book that has interesting characters and well-developed plots. (Need some suggestions? Endeavor this list of books for immature boys or this one for young girls.) If you're worried virtually his retentivity and comprehension, don't drill-and-kill with a curriculum worksheet, just learn to take a literary conversation with him using these 10 neglect-proof questions to inquire about any book.

Merely workbooks and readers aren't the only things to consider when ordering from the program. Here is a listing of what to purchase and what to skip when shopping for Abeka Phonics (M through second grade).

Must-Have

Helpful to Have

Splurge Item

Don't Bother

Language 1 Teacher Cardinal (1st) If you are actually teaching your child the lesson equally dictated in the lesson program book, a teacher'southward central for any of the K-second phonics student books is unnecessary. Y'all'll be able to glance at their work apace to determine if it is right or not.

Reading Comprehension two Parent Edition (2nd)
Basic Phonics Sounds CD  (1000-2nd) Unless y'all are from a part of the state that'southward known for a dialect that would brand it difficult for your child to hear the audio pronounced correctly. (Ex.:purse pronounced every bitbage in the midwest,motorcar pronouncedcaw in the upper northeast,d pronouncedduuuh in the southeast)

Before hitting the "buy" push button, remember, a curriculum company is a business. The people behind it, no thing how kind and sincere, desire your money. Aye, they desire your children to read. Yes, they want your experience to exist enjoyable. Only more importantly, they want you to buy... a lot. And in some kind of ad wizardry, they'll effort and convince you lot to do just that!

Don't be offended by their agenda. Just be informed. Earlier you fall for that big boxed phonics kit, don't.

Set your homeschool twenty-four hour period on autopilot!

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Source: https://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2019/10/abeka-phonics.html

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