Need ideas for twaddle free easy readers

I asked that question myself a few months ago. Here’s the link to that thread:

http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/twaddle-free-easy-readers#post-14715

In keeping with Charlotte’s method in teaching reading; the readers that most resemble her method that I have seen are the Sloane readers.  If your child is reading from the Frog and Toad books then you may want to look at the First Reader.  Here is a link to her books.  http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=Katharine%20Emily%20Sloan   After my children play with long vowels a bit I introduced them to the somewhat silly poems by John Ciardi called You read to me, I’ll read to you and buddy read with my children from Ciardi’s and the Treadwell along with books such as Rain Drop Splash by Alvin Tresselt.  I remember we enjoyed many of Alvin Tresselt’s books.  At this time some of the All Aboard Science Readers they enjoy such as Planets they like but the title Frogs they did not.   I remember at this stage I was a bit nervous with my eldest son.  I handed him A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson to play with.  Let me explain what I mean ‘play with’.  My son was still decoding words, he didn’t know every rule there was to phonics.  We at this stage were doing work such as in the Sloane Reader at one time of the day and buddy reading another time of day.  And I knew he was going to stumble on words, and he did, but I had realize from buddy reading that poetry was the most forgiving of literature for him to stumble on the words and read over and over again with different voices, high, low, authoritarian, giddy, etc… and different accents, his version of french or italian.  He turn the poems over and over to get the author’s meaning.  See I never told him to do any of that because I didn’t know how. I truly had a disdain for poetry before reading CM’s books.  I did not want to reflect my feelings towards poetry onto my children and only hoped they would have an appreciation for it.  I never thought it would be the literature to help them in reading well.  After reading Stevenson I handed over Frog and Toad, Hill of Fire, Along Came a Dog by Meindert De Jong, Tony’s Birds and Seeds and more seeds by Millicent Selsam for them to read on their own and come back to me and narrate.  Here is a list of I Can Read Science books.  http://www.belovedbooks.net/Articles/I-Can-Read-Science-Books.html  Here again the children enjoy some books more than others.  At this time we buddy read from Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein, Bible, and CM’ Geographical reader.  I tried to place the books in graduated effort.  I hope this helps you in making decisions for your own children.

Julie S.

In addition to the Treadwell Readers, the Elson Readers are excellent literature and are progressive.http://www.lcbcbooks.com/elson_readers.htm

They can be found for free or at Amazon or at LOst Classics. There are Teacher’s GUides to go with if you want to use them that way; I don’t. I’ve used them for 3 years and mine read them (the first 2 years aloud, now to themselves) and then narrate to me.

Rachel

Gaeleen,

I’ve bought all of ours, but I looked around and found this:

Primer-http://books.google.com/books?id=_v5EAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=elson%20readers%20primer&source=gbs_slider_thumb#v=onepage&q=elson%20readers%20primer&f=false 

it’s manual:http://books.google.com/books?id=FPUAAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=html

Book one:http://books.google.com/books?printsec=frontcover&dq=reader&id=gM8AAAAAYAAJ&output=html

I also found Book 8, in addition to 4 and 5. Here’s a site for free online vintage children’s readers other than Elson; one called Merrill looked good:http://freehomeschoolinglibrar.blogspot.com/search/label/Children%27s%20Readers

HTH, RAchel