I know how you feel.
{{hugs}} and breathe, it’ll be OK. I promise.
I went through at least 6 different sets of materials when I was first teaching my dd to read along w/ at least as many to check them out. I like a solid phonics approach w/ few sight words and prefer the blend ladder (ba, be, bi, bo, bu) vs word families (sat, cat, fat, hat, bat). Like jawgee, I needed something that would hold my hand and help me walk through each and every step, not just a guide to follow. Also, I found that my dc needed to work w/ the letters and sounds, so workbooks were helpful for reinforcement of the skills they learned along w/ keeping them practiced. I’m not one for workbooks just to keep them busy, but to use them when they need them is helpful.
Does he know his alphabet or at least each letter’s basic sound? In the sample of Delightful Reading, it said that this was a Baby/Toddler phase. IMO, this is just as much a PreK/K phase as well – depending on the individual dc. LeapFrog’s Letter Factory dvd is great for this. There are also 3 others for reading – Talking Words Factory, Code Word Caper, Storybook Factory. It’s OK to camp out here for a while, too.
I have a few that I really, really like; a couple more that I have found since my dc were reading which I wish I could look at more closely; one that has recently come out which looks GREAT; and another new one that looks good but. These are my recommendations . . .
MFW – K is a great one. It’s a nice mix of learning styles and is most like CM. A good combination of approaches. It’s very gentle in its approach, taking a week for each letter, but it’s also very flexible and can be done faster. I took a day or two for each letter because we needed to review while giving his brain time to develop. http://www.mfwbooks.com/products/M50/20/0/0/1
All About Reading is a new program, from the author of All About Spelling (which I LOVE). It is similar to RightStart in how it’s set up and utilized. There is a Pre-Reading level and Level 1, w/ Level 2 out soon.http://allaboutlearningpress.net/go.php?id=139
Pathway publishers is what I used for both my dc successfully. Mixed w/ Phonics Pathways, this is a gem. It’s not very CM, but it’s effective, inexpensive, uplifting and moral, and fairly easy to use. http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Pathway_Readers_Grade_1/
PP — http://www.dorbooks.com/
My dc both started K at 6 and weren’t really reading well until 1rst grade. Also, both dc hit a wall – dd w/ was basic blending near the beginning of her learning; ds was when we added silent e and the long vowel sounds in the middle of 1rst. This is normal and OK. I just took my time teaching them and it worked out well. Dd10, in 4th, really improved last yr. Ds8, in 2nd, is finishing up what would be 1rst gr reading and will review the phonics sounds this yr. He hasn’t learned all of his vowel blends solidly.
I share this to encourage you and let you know that you’re doing OK. You are not failing your son and he WILL learn to read.
HTHK