tristeange
- Reviewed on Saturday, February 28, 2009
- Grades Used: 1st
- Dates used: 2008-2009
From the beginning we've enjoyed the Rod and Staff Curriculum 1st Grade material and I'm going to use parts of it next year. We bought the set and it's a LOT of material, so we definitely pick and choose what we do. This review is just about the 1st grade phonics and readers/reading workbooks.
Our daughter was adopted internationally when we was 2 1/2 and did not have the early stimulation that most children in the U.S. enjoy. She is intelligent, but is naturally active rather than quiet and studious.
My daughter has done very well with the readers and she enjoys reading them. They start out with sight words and each lesson builds on the one before. The first grade readers center on stories from Genesis and on some simply poems. (We also have used the Pathway readers and some other simple books, like the "Biscuit" books.)
I wasn't as thrilled about the workbook, especially the 2nd book. I felt that it asked too much in some lessons for a 1st grade child unless the child has constant help. At first my child had lots of trouble even remembering the fill-in-the-blank sentences so that she could choose the correct word. In a classroom, students might work together or do the lessons as a class, but a single homeschool student has to read everything her self. A developmentally advanced or early-reading child might do well with the workbook.
We're working our way through the phonics books, too. The phonics program is as good and thorough as any that I've seen...and can be difficult in places. The words and pictures are sometimes very agrarian-based, though, which might at times mystify a suburban child. We live on a farm and I was once a museum curator, so I'm familiar with ox yokes and some of the more obscure terms found in the phonics book. A parent without an agricultural background may find a lot of oportunity to expand his and his child's vocabulary. We've also had a problem with pronunciation of certain words...words that are pronounced (with a correct but alternative pronunciation) in our section of the country. This confused my child at first.
We've used both the phonics and sight-word flashcards extensively, but not the phrase cards.
To sum up, I think I'd say that I consider these materials to be thorough and even advanced. They offer good grounding in basics with no "nonsense" and at modest expense. Some children may not like the simple line drawings, but my little girl doesn't mind them, and even enjoys coloring them.
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LiveLearnLove
- Reviewed on Thursday, July 10, 2008
- Grades Used: 1st-2nd
- Dates used: 2007-2008
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tisha cash
- Reviewed on Friday, April 11, 2008
- Grades Used: 1st
- Dates used: 2007-2008
We used both the reading and phonics.
Reading: Is suppose to be sight words but daughter would just read the words herself. I didnt use it like is was suppose to be used though. When it would introduce the words I would have daughter sound them out by herself. Then after she would read the story she would fill in the workbook.
Phonics: Is totally great. It has taught daughter so much over the past year. She is also getting to the point that she can do the pages in her workbook by herself with out my help.
Using both programs the way that we did this year. Wow. Daughter is able to read chapter books with out any trouble. She is getting faster at being able to read. WE have already purchased rod and staff 2nd grade books for reading and phonics. SO we will stick with R&S until it no longer works for us.
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nicolama
- Reviewed on Tuesday, March 04, 2008
- Grades Used: 1
- Dates used: 2007/2008
This is a review of Rod and Staff Phonics Grade 1 Workbook Units 2,3
I'm very impressed with this program. We started R&S Phonics with this workbook. We did not use the readers or reading program at all, just the phonics workbooks.
This is a rigorous, in-depth phonics program which could be used (at a slower pace) for reading instruction. This book starts with long vowel sounds which are introduced in a combination of vertical and horizontal phonics and progresses through all the major phonetic sounds. Sight words are not taught in this book and there are only a handful presented throughout the entire book. Other than phonics, syllables are also introduced near the end of the book.
Students start on the first page reading lists of words such as "bake", "Gail" and "hay" and end on the last pages reading sentences such as "Sally gave me a crisp cookie" and "Can you jump from the edge of the porch?"
This course has been perfect for my son (7yo) who has needed to take reading instruction slowly. There is an abundant amount of repetition and constant reviews that have kept him progressing at a steady pace.
We are continuing with next book in the series.
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