Thoughts on Explode the Code (and How I Taught my Boys to Read)

I am using the Explode the Code series with my third child. Thatcher completed the entire series in the middle of second grade. Haddon is currently working in Book 2 1/2, and Beckett just started Get Set for the Code. I have some thoughts on this series after now working with these books for the past five years.

First, If you are not familiar with this series here is a quick overview. It begins with three primers: Get Ready for the Code, Get Set for the Code and Go for the Code. These books introduce the sounds letters make, letter formation and initial consonants in words. The main series has 14 books - eight main books and six "1/2" books. Each "1/2" books provides additional practice for the book before (meaning 2 1/2 reviews the concepts learned in Book 2). These books systematically teach phonetic skills and provide plenty of review as well.

Here is how I have used these books. I began the primers with my boys as soon as each turned four. All of them already knew their letters and sounds when we started (thank you Leap Frog videos!), so we used them to build confidence and learn how to write each letter. Plus my boys found all the activities fun! Once my kids complete the primers they start in Book 1 and I have them do 4-5 pages daily with the goal being to complete two lessons each week (no phonics on Friday). As soon as they finish ETC Book 1, I have them begin reading a book or two a day from either the Primary Phonics Storybook Sets (not the workbooks), Bob Books and Nora Gaydos sets. I don't worry about matching the book they are reading to me exactly with the lesson they are learning in ETC. I typically just jump back and forth between all three sets (especially in the beginning when they needs lots and lots of practice getting used to sounding out words).

When there are so many other ways to teach reading, why do I like ETC? I can count it as phonics, reading, handwriting and spelling (a real multi-tasker!) It is easy to implement and inexpensive. Most importantly, it works!

Now here are some of my thoughts on this series (not necessarily in order of importance):

1. ETC is not independent work. Honestly, I don't think much is at very young ages when they are learning new material (independent, self-checking games/activities that reinforce already learned material are another story). The stakes are too high. If they learn something wrong in these first few years it is so difficult to relearn it correctly. And Littles can get frustrated so easily. I know that it is easy to send them off to do their phonics (usually so we can work with older siblings) but I really don't recommend it. What is one of the main things you learn how to do in your life? READ!!! The ability to read well affects every other subject in school. Take the time to sit with them. Talk about it. Identify areas where they need extra practice and encourage, encourage, encourage!!!

2. If your dc has weak motor skills and initially can't do all the writing (or even if they just need a bit more practice) offer it in a fun way. I have a jelly roll pan in the schoolroom filled with salt so Beckett can get additional practice by "writing" each letter with his fingers in the salt. We also put shaving cream on the wall in the bathtub to practice our writing, and outside I give him a paintbrush and a cup of water to practice writing/painting letters on the fence (and NO mess ;).

3. Have your dc read every.single.word.on.every.single.page. Refer back to #1 and down to #6 as well. You need to be there with your child as they work through these books so you can correct them the second they make an error. And reading the same words over and over in different activities is one of the strengths of ETC. This is huge! On the left is a photo of one page of ETC in Book 2 1/2. The directions say, "X the same word". It would be simple to have them glance at the words and find the one that matches the first without reading a word on the page. Or you can have them stop and read each word - 28 total. Which will reap greater benefit?

4. Use nickels, jelly beans, screen time or any other means to keep them excited! I keep a bag of organic dye-free jelly beans in the schoolroom for Beckett and dark chocolate chips for Haddon. They get one candy for each page completed. My kids don't get much candy so five jelly beans or chocolate chips are a big deal for them, and it is a great trade off in my mind to keep them motivated. If candy is not a motivator for your kids, just find a reward that will be: each page earns five minutes of educational computer time, or a lego from a set they want, or a nickel...

5. They will pick up on cues from you. If you communicate boredom with the books, even if only non-verbally, they will pick up on it. Make it fun. When it gets challenging, don't say, "Oh this is so hard!" Say, "Wow, they really made it fun for you today. You get to use your brain a lot! Neat!!!" Or if you see them getting frustrated or tiring out say, "Let's get two jelly beans for finishing this page!"

6. You don't have to do all the "1/2" books but I think the repetition is one the strongest aspects of this program. I have my boys do all eight main books and all six of the "1/2" books. I just do. ;) I don't overkill many subjects but strong phonics/decoding skills (typically) lead to strong reading skills and strong spelling skills as well. Taking more time here really will gain you great benefits in future years I have found.

7. You don't need to start a formal spelling program until your dc finish the entire series. If you just must have a spelling program create your own list using the rule(s) they are learning in ETC that week. Have them do a fun activity each day with the words on the list you generated.

There are so many ways to teach children to read: Phonics Pathways, The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, The Phonics Road and on and on and on. They are all good. They all have their merits. For us ETC has been a solid part of our school and has started my boys with an excellent foundation for reading and spelling.

A Book Review: The Jesus Storybook Bible

This is the most beautiful Children's Bible I have ever seen - both for its illustrations and, more importantly, its content. I sat at my desk and wept as I read the first five stories.

Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules,
telling you what you should and shouldn't do.
The Bible certainly does have rules in it.
They show you how life works best.
But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing.
It's about God and what he has done.

-Chapter One, The Story and the Song (emphasis mine)

How refreshing in the increasingly me-centered world we find ourselves inhabiting. The premise, and what makes this Children's Bible altogether different from others, is that God's redemptive plan is woven in each and every story, continually pointing your child to Christ as ultimate Redeemer! The subtitle of the book itself is "Every story whispers his name."

Here are the endings of two stories which illustrate this truth-

A Giant Staircase to Heaven: The Tower of Babel concludes:

You see, God knew, however high they reached,
however hard they tried,
people could never get back to heaven themselves.
People didn't need a staircase; they needed a Rescuer.
Because the way back to heaven wasn't a staircase; it was a Person.
People could never reach up to Heaven,
so Heaven would have to come down to them.
And, one day, it would.

The final paragraph of The Present: The Story of Abraham and Isaac:

Many years later, another Son would climb another hill,
carrying wood on his back.
Like Isaac, he would trust his Father and do what his Father asked.
He wouldn't struggle or run away. Who was he?
God's Son, his only Son - the Son he loved.
The Lamb of God.

If you are interested in seeing more, click on the photo and it will take you to Westminster Bookstore's webpage. There you can read more reviews (much more eloquently stated than mine) and even download a pdf that shows two full stories: David's Anointing by Samuel and John the Baptist. You can see for yourself if this Bible might be something you will want to include in your family's library. I am so glad it has found its way into ours!

Christmas in July

Well, sort of; it's as close as you can get for a homeschool mom, anyway. I waited expectantly for the Fed-Ex and US Mail truck as if it was December 24th and I was six years old again. It was so fun, and I was not disappointed! All of my curriculum choices have been made for next year, books ordered and delivered.

Now it's time to get busy! I want to plan each subject out in the next three weeks so we can start on August 6th. Many moms I know are in the, "Do what comes next" vein and don't need (or desire) to schedule everything out. Honestly, that's been me for the past two years as we worked through our last year of preschool and then kindergarten - each year with a new baby in my arms. But that's not how I operate most effectively. For me it's imperative to know not only where I am but where I am going, therefore I need a detailed plan for the 40 weeks we will be schooling next year.

Here are my final decisions for what I will be using for first grade and where I am in my planning of each subject (for anyone who may have been waiting with baited breath since my "Curriculum Crisis" post):

Math: This was my easiest choice. Thatcher loves Horizons and says math is his favorite subject. I can't keep him away from next year's book; he sits and looks through it as if it were a toy catalog! We'll be working through the second grade book because we started with the K book in pre-K. My only change for this year is that I have torn all the workbook pages out, three hole punched them and put them in a binder. I will give him only one page at a time to reduce his temptation to get off-task by looking to what's ahead. Also, I am taking the Teachers' Manuals to Office Depot to cut off the binding and three-hole punch the entire book. That way it will be easier to make copies of all the student worksheets. We will do five lessons a week to complete the book in 36 weeks. That means one day a week we will do two lessons since we school four days a week.

Language: Another easy one - finish First Language Lessons. We will start at lesson 40 and complete the book this year. We will do language four days a week to complete the book in 40 weeks. I love the repetitive nature of this book as well as the poetry memorization. It is a perfect fit for us.

Phonics/Spelling: Finish Explode the Code 5 1/2, 6 1/2, 7 and 8 and then move on to Spelling Workout. We do two lessons a week so it should take us 26 weeks (52 total lessons in the four books) to complete ETC. I will evaluate where to start in Spelling Workout when we get to that point.

Handwriting: I decided not to purchase a program but create my own. I loved the idea of A Reason for Handwriting but I don't want to introduce any more scripture to his plate. He already memorizes lots of verses at AWANA's each week; I would rather expose him to a little less he can retain rather than so much he can't grasp any of it. After reviewing letter formation of all 26 letters and numbers we will use his weekly AWANA verse for handwriting practice. We will use handwriting paper from Donna Young's Homeschool Printables website.

Read-A-Louds: One of my main goals for this year is character development for my sweet but oh-so-impulsive and socially immature son. I researched great books to read to him which will give us avenues to talk about virtue and provide role models who exemplify the traits we want him to emulate in his own life. I also purchased many books that would teach him about animals - a subject we'll be studying in Life Science and one in which he has expressed great interest. Most of these books I bought because they are not readily available at our local library or I would be using them regularly enough to justify their purchase.

• The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess
• Favorite Animal Stories (Set of 6) by Thornton Burgess
• Christian Liberty Nature Readers (Set of 5)
• Miller Series: Wisdom and the Millers, Prudence..., Missionary Stories..., School Days..., Storytime... by Mildred Martin
  
• Aesop's Fables
  
• The Children's Book of Virtues
  

In addition we will finish the last three books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, read Stuart Little by EB White, Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling and Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. These are just our bedtime read-a-louds. We will also be doing lots of history read-a-louds as well.

Reading: I will be getting the majority of our readers from the library this year. We'll have a "Reading Basket" I will fill every three weeks. I will also pre-read all books and have simple oral comprehension questions to go along with each. Thatcher will choose one or two books a day - depending on difficulty - to read silently to himself. Then we will go over the oral comprehension questions together and read the book aloud with each of us reading alternating pages. We will then record the book(s) on a Reading Log. Sometimes I will have him read into a tape recorder so he can go back to listen and evaluate himself. His oral reading skills need work - not due to lack of ability but lack of willingness to slow down! He has no patience for oral reading because he can read silently so much faster. As a result, he mumbles as he tries to read as quickly as he possibly can.

History: (drum roll please...) After much debating, I went with SOTW, and I am so excited I did. Once I found out that Volume 4 nor 5 of Mystery of History would be published when we got to that point, I knew it was not the program for us this cycle. I spent all day yesterday reading through the Activity Guide, looking at maps and thinking through how all of this would work. During all this I came to the realization that I am thrilled about history this year. Today I ordered the Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Ancient China narration pages from History Scribe. Tomorrow I am going to decide whether or not to use the review cards in SOTW or purchase the ones from Veritas Press I have heard so much about on the WTM message boards. I also am still trying to decide which timeline is going to work best for us. Homeschool in the Woods shows several beautiful examples on their website. I love the idea of a wall time-line but I am not sure I want to dedicate my only available wall to one subject - even if it is a really important one! BTW, I am also taking my AG to Office Depot to have the bindings cut off and the entire book three-hole punched and put in a binder. Like with math, this will make my life much easier.

Science: I am using the Life Science plans that Jessica from Trivium Academy created with a few changes. I found videos on United Streaming to go along with each lesson and have created one copywork selection for each week as well. I am still not sure how much copywork we will be doing so I may or may not use these. I figured I wanted to have them, just in case.

Art Appreciation: We will have an "Artist of the Month". The featured artist's picture will be displayed in our classroom along with some of his/her works. I purchased a set of six art postcards for all nine artists for only $1.25 each from Rainbow Resources! I also purchased a biography written by Mike Venezia from the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series for all nine as well. I love this series because they each showcase lots of the artists' works, are fun yet very informative as well. I hope to get Sister Wendy's Story of Painting to help me (a complete art-phobe who cannot draw stick figures much less discern art techniques!) learn before I teach my son, too. The artists we will learn about this year are Kahlo, Rivera (both Mexican which was important to me for our heritage - my dad is Mexican - and the fact we will begin learning Spanish this year), Monet, Renoir, Rembrandt, Degas, Picasso, Van Gogh (my personal favorite) and Chagall. We are not yet studying the artists chronologically because I wanted a gentle introduction to art for both myself and Thatcher. More of a time to explore and dabble. In the logic stage our studies will get much more focused.

Art Instruction: We will be using Mona Brooke's Drawing with Children and the lesson plans posted on Paula's Archives. As I mentioned, an artist I am not, so I will be learning right alongside Thatcher. I want to look into the Draw Squad materials for a later time. I have heard they have lots of "boy appeal" but for now I am happy to start here. I also plan to use some of the Art Tango videos from United Streaming to supplement.

Music Appreciation: Similar to art, we will regularly feature a composer, put his picture in our schoolroom and read a biography from Mike Venezia's Getting to Know the World's Greatest Composers series. I also purchased the Classical Kids Vol. 1 and 2 set of CD's to listen to in the car and as we play. I cannot find anyone who had anything bad to say about these CD's. They were an investment but one I am sure we will enjoy for years to come. I still need to find a CD of simply the composers music at Half-Price books to listen to as well. I decided to only focus on the five composers featured in the Classical Kids CD's this year so we will be learning about Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Handel and Tchaikovsky. With art and music I will supplement with lots of additional books from the library.

Spanish: We will be using the Spanish lessons on United Streaming this year. For a little more than I was going to pay for a Spanish program I purchased a year's subscription to United Streaming where we will have access to literally thousands of videos for every subject under the sun. The Spanish lessons come with teacher lesson plans and worksheets as well. I will supplement with my own vocabulary review as well. These first few years my goal is to teach Thatcher as much vocabulary as possible as well as develop a love of the Spanish language and culture in him. If you are interested in learning more about United Streaming you can sign up for a free 30 day trial on their website.

Other things to work in: I have both Mind Benders and Manners Made Easy. I love both of these items and definitely plan to incorporate them - just not exactly sure when or how yet. I think I will have a much better idea once we get started in a few weeks.

This was one of those posts that if not a single person ever reads, it's okay. It helped me so much to type it all out. That's what I love about blogging: it forces me to get it all together for a possible audience. If you did hang in there and read it all, let me know. I would love to give you a cyber (((hug)))!