Reading Made Easy: New Stuff!

I thought I'd share with you my all time favorite reading program- Reading Made Easy. This program is a very gentle approach to phonics and reading. A basic lesson means sitting with your child on the sofa and reading together- well much like the picture on the cover of the manual! After trying a traditional phonics curriculum, I was so frustrated and so was R9. She took to Reading Made Easy right away and really took off with her reading.

One of the things I like best about it is that Mrs. Bendt works with both the long and short sound of a vowel before moving on to the next vowel. I find that kids have trouble switching up those shorts sounds so much as they fill in endless numbers of phonics sheets. You don't need to know the names of letters or their sounds to start this program so it's great for the four year old who just wants to learn to read but isn't quite there with his letters and sounds.

There are games incorporated along with copywork and arranging sentences using cards. Site words are taught and visual cues are used. The visual cues work very well and as the kids progress through the book, the visual cues begin to drop away.

I am such a fan of Reading Made Easy and Mrs. Bendt's book Unit Studies Made Easy and I emailed her to let her know how much we enjoyed the programs. I was delighted to learn that she was making a set of workbooks to accompany Reading Made Easy. I was even more excited when she asked if I would try them out with I-7. I've been holding on to this fun secret for months!

I'm pleased to tell you all that the workbook series is $25 on CD and is available on her website now. In August the hardbound copies of the workbooks will be ready for purchase. The exercises are not typical phonics fill in the blank stuff. She uses a variety of ways to have your student practice his reading and here's the fun part- if you are an RME user you will love the fact that she includes the pictures and copywork from the manual in the workbook. What a time saver! Not that it's all that hard to do it yourself, but what a bonus that it's done ahead of time. Imagine the notebook that could accompany those lessons now! This will especially appeal to those families who feel their children need more written practice.
If you've never thought about using Reading Made Easy, I encourage you to try it out. I can't emphasize enough how successful this program has been for our family! I'm only sad I have just one more student with whom to use it!