Anyone use "I See Sam" readers & Phonics question

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  • October 18, 2009 at 11:01 pm
    Blessed with seven
    Member

    Hi!

    I haven’t been on here in awhile.  I have an almost 6 year old chomping at the bit to start reading and teaching reading has been one thing that I have COMPLETELY complicated!  I am afraid of not doing enough etc..etc…

    I have had some recommend the “I See Sam” readers, they look really neat.  Has anyone used them?

    Also..I was reading a post from several months ago and someone said they get them going on Phonics but then just give them the “rules” as they go.  What “rules” do you mean?  Like if they come across the word “they” tell them that “ey” says /A/?

    I am not sure why I complicate this soo much.  My older two are doing a phonics program w/ controlled readers and I know that is not recommended but my oldest son has struggled w/ reading so I decided to use those for “practice” but am going to use the Pathway Readers as he really liked those.  Anyway….his phonics program is also teaching spelling, which is great because he is older and ready for that.

     

    Anyway…let me know what you all think!!

     

    Blessings,

     

    Kim

    October 19, 2009 at 10:37 pm
    crazy4boys
    Participant

    Kim –

    We used the I See Sam books online for about a week.  They were driving me crazy and were no better, and in some cases worse, than the other phonics books we’d tried.

    A great place to start is http://www.starfall.com.  It’s free and has a lot of fun, interactive things your son could do either with your or indpendently.

    I really love the Now I’m Reading series by Nora Gaydos.  They are my first choice for beginning readers, with some Dr. Suess and P.D. Eastman thrown in.  Once your child knows the letter sounds they can begin to read any of these books.  The Leap Frog videos were very helpful for one of my sons to learn to read.

    As far as telling them the rules as they go, I think your example is right.  Or when you see “meat” you discuss why the “ea” makes an “ee” sound.  Or that “th” blends to make a sound.  I prefer something a little more structured but many parents can wing it better than I can.

    We use All About Spelling for our spelling program and it teaches the spelling/phonics rules as well.

    We changed reading/phonics program 3 or 4 times with my first two and they turned out all right.  Sometimes you just have to jump in and try something…and then not be afraid to switch if you need to.

    Best of luck.

    Heather

     

    October 25, 2009 at 6:07 pm
    lolmomof4
    Member

    Kim –

    Are you talking about the readers from I See Sam.com ? I have used these exclusively after failing with Pathway Readers and 100 EZ lessons. There is another company that prints these same readers but I much prefer the ones from I See Sam.

    So, if this is indeed what you are referring to, I think I can help answer your questions.

     

    Nicole

    April 12, 2010 at 5:16 pm
    BobbiDollPDX
    Member

    I learned how to read using the I See Sam books. I was 3. (I’m 40 now).

    My sister is 2 years older than me and these books were used in Kindergarten at the school we attended back in Maine.

    I was very competitive even at that age, so when she brought the books home from school, I made my grandma teach me how to read them.

    By the time I started Kindergarten, I knew them all by heart.

    April 13, 2010 at 3:08 am
    my3boys
    Participant

    I have only *formally taught* one child of mine to read so far, so my experience is limited:)  My oldest ds went to ps for 2 years/2 months so when we decided to hs him he already had some basics down.  He did have problems and had 1/1 tutoring.  When I became his full time teacher I had no idea what to do, but just starting plugging along anyway.  Oh, how I wish I knew then what I know now:)

    So, that brings me to my second ds.  He was mine from the get go.  We began with Handwriting w/o Tears and  Sing, Spell, Read and Write.  A girlfriend of mine gave me what she had (her kids went back to ps) so I just needed the supplements. IMHO, it’s too expensive for something you can do for practically nothing.  Anyhow, my son loved the workbooks, tapes, games, etc. so we continued to use it.  It did help with some basics:)  In the meantime I found a book called Reading Reflex and it was more help to me than I ever felt I got from a full program.  The book it has all of what is necessary to teach (you cut up pages in the book or you can buy them from their website), but more importantly it gave me the words to use when referring to our alphabet and the sounds they represent.  It has really helped me to help my oldest with the problems he had and has REALLY helped me to teach my 7yo.  If I had to do it over, which I kind of do for my 4yo, I would/will skip the SSRW and just do the Reading Reflex, coupled with lots of read aloud time, etc. 

    I think it’s so interesting how different all of our children are, and I mean within in our own families, and I’ve wondered how different it will be for me when I begin with my 4yo. Who knows if the same plan will work?! 

    Needless to say, my 7yo reads much better at this stage than my oldest did, but I do believe some of that is personality/strengths/ps vs. hs/a more experienced and relaxed mom, etc. 

    I think I just rambled, hopefully this is on the right thread and is helpful, even just a smidge:)

    February 11, 2011 at 10:42 pm
    jsignet
    Member

    I case anyone would be interested in knowing about it, the “I See Sam” system has now been adapted in a beginning reading video program, called Read Now! I recently purchased the program and I’m delighted with it. My kids were really entertained with the Sam the Lion walk-a-round character and the music was great (for once the children’s music didn’t drive me crazy).  So it was no surprise to me that they loved to watch the program over and over.  The reading booklets which were included followed the original booklets very closely.  Being able to watch the synchronized animation on the video with the reading booklets in hand, allowed them to quickly pick it all up. The product is not cheap- but worth every penny to me.  I also noticed that they have an Affiliate Program which allows stay at home moms to make money sharing the program with other. It’s too much for me to understand but maybe some people would find that of interest too.  Their website is http://www.readnowabc.com

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