1st grade readers

Rod and Staff readers are not the same as Pathway readers. With Pathway (at least First Steps) the teacher reads a short story and then the child reads simple words in a Dick and Jane style that completes the story Mom read.

With R&S, the readers start very simply, with the first lesson saying “God”. Lesson 2 says “God made light”. By lesson 4 there are pictures for the word “plants”:

Lesson 4:

God made the (picture of plants).

God made the big (picture of plants).

God made the little (picture of plants).

I know a mom who has 10 kids and used the R&S readers by making flash cards of the words used in the books, teaching one or two new words to the child each day, and when the child had learned a good supply of those words she brings the reader out and reads it with the child.

Here is a quote from her:

Once in the book, I simply sit my child next to me and I point to each word and help him read. If he doesn’t recognize the word and say it quickly, then I say it for him and go to the next word. I try to always have a positive encouraging attitude and don’t put any pressure on the child. If they need repetition, then I reread the same story a couple days in a row before moving on. As soon as possible I try to get into a reader series because the vocabulary builds on itself and I can just keep going this way, a new story every day or two.

From this link:

Raising Godly Tomatoes: Homeschooling

You have to scroll about 1/4 the way down for this info.

Kathi,

We own some first grade Pathway Readers and I just have my son read them to me. I don’t make flashcards, because I figure the words get used over and over again throughout the stories. I was taught to read through the whole word method, with some phonics sprinkled in, so I guess that’s how I teach my kids too. I’m not sure if this is right or not, but it seems to work. Phonics alone confuses me because there are so many exceptions to the rules (I guess I just don’t trust myself). We also read many other early readers, McGuffey, etc. so that they are exposed to quite a variety of words. Again, not really sure if this is what you’re supposed to do, but it has worked with 2 kids so far.

Hi Kathi,

Just wanted to share that we do not normally do workbooks around here, but we do use the phonics tm and wkbs to go along with the pathway books. We do alot of it orally and some written. I love the wkbs because they go along with the story. Also, they’re easy to just pull off the shelf along with the book ~ no planning on my part. My son seems to enjoy them too- at least for now. We started with First Steps.

Blessings,

Heather

Hi everyone.  Don’t know if anyone still checks this topic, but here is a great way to add to the Pathway Readers.  You can follow the link below to a site where I purchased “Learning Through Sounds” for my son.  This series of workbooks are wonderful for teaching phonics and sight words prior to beginning the “First Steps” reader.  Everything is in the same program, so it all connects.  Hope this helps someone!

http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Pathway_Readers_Grade1/