Earlier this year I decided to try Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for my then four-year-old. (We started three months before his 5th birthday.) If you look up the reviews on this book, which is also called the Distar method, they are mostly favorable, but I could see that it doesn’t work for everybody.
I have mentioned before, (here, and here ),how much I- THE DISTAR READING METHOD. This program is based on the Distar reading method suggesting that research done using Distar shows it has had dramatic effects with almost every kind of child, particularly with young children. Prereading skills are a great thing to have prior to this reading program, but not necessary.
- This book is based on the proven SRA DISTAR Reading Program. This program can work well with children as young as 3. The program takes 20 minutes a day and after 100 lessons your child will be reading on a 2nd grade level. Visit the 100 Easy Lessons web site. Visit Worksheets Unlimited for worksheets that go along with each lesson. Phonics Pathways.
And some things like this:
And even some things like this:
So, we have Phonics printable packets that look like this:
These packets are intended to be used alongside the Distar Reading program, 'Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons' and each packet includes everything needed for supplementing when you are following through the lessons in order. So, when you have finished lesson 10, you will be ready for everything included in the 'After Ten' packet.
We have created packets up to Lesson 50 at this point, and each of these packets are now available in a bundled packet here in our store.
ABOUT THAT READING PROGRAM:
I love the comfortable intimacy of sitting down on the couch to read with my kids. I love the ease of reading through the daily lesson. And I love the overall sense of it. It just breaks down 'Reading' into this easily understandable activity. And the pictures and stories in the book help it stay fun.
The book's authors suggest that it is a stand alone program (and it is!) and that the only other materials you will need are a pencil and paper, to write out the sounds for writing practice.
This is true, you don't need anything more than the book to teach your child to read.
But, since my children love crafts and getting to put their knowledge of their learning to work, I decided to make a collection of worksheets, activities and crafts (about 25 items) called 'After Five Phonics', as a Set to supplement the first 5 lessons of '...100 Easy Lessons'.
And then, I kept on going, making packets for every five lessons that included extra activities...
...even crafts that went along with the new sounds being learned.
When I used this program before, I wanted practice sheets for the writing part of the program. If you are familiar with 'How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons', you'll remember that sound introduction happens in a different order than the ABC's are usually introduced. But even the way the sound for 'A' is introduced is a challenge, as in the '100 Easy Lessons' book, it looks different than most lowercase A's do in Kindergarten workbooks. And what I really wanted, was something more like this:
| Sample worksheet from the 'After Five' packet |
So now I have it. With nice colorful imagery, in case someone wants to print it out, laminate it and reuse it over and over (which would really be helpful). I also included black and white options for those who prefer to print these out at home without using up their color cartridges:
| Sample worksheet from the 'After Ten' packet |
The teacher side of me kicked in and whispered, 'You know, some supplemental activities that added more sound/letter recognition would be really nice...' So I made some of this:
And then added some of this (mixing in some shapes and color practice):
And then I remembered how I used this program for teaching in a combined classroom, and I REALLY wanted some nice colorful flashcards...so I made some of these:
Let's look at another one of those craft pages:
If you're not exactly
Distar Reading Materials
sure what you're looking at there, that is a 'Mat the Rat' Craft, from one of my freebie reading stories. This one here, in fact:Distar Reading
You can download this free reading story, along with four others, right here.