Amazon Customer Reviews

I have tried many reading programs over the years and this one was the fastest and easiest. You sit down with your child and the book tells you exactly what to say. Each lesson takes about 10 minutes. My son didn't get bored or frustrated in that amount of time. The book doesn't teach all of the phonics sounds and then teaching reading. like other programs. It teaches a few sounds, then teaches a few words, so the child is reading words after only a few lessons. There are some simple illustrations. If you are looking for something colorful and attractive, this is not the book for you. It is rather bland looking, but if you are looking for an effortless way to teach your child to read, this is the way to go. I taught my active 3 year old to read words within a month and he was reading independently when we finished the book. It covers rhyming, letter recognition,and reading comprehension as well. I would recommend this reading program to anyone!

The title says it all. I used this with my 4yo son, starting shortly after his 4th bday. He was very interested in learning to read and had all the readiness signs. This book was very appealing because it made teaching reading sound so easy...everything in one place, short 20-25 minute lessons, and only 100 lessons etc.

The pros:
It was relatively easy. My son is now 4.75 and we're now on lesson 90, and he really can read and ENJOYS reading. He can independently read many various "level 1" nonfiction books you find at bookstores.The process was interesting and different, and I highly approve of the modified alphabet to teach the various sounds one letter can make, silent letters, blends, etc. My son had been exposed to traditional phonics prior to this via leapfrog videos, etc. It didn't hinder, only helped in my opinion, because he was already familiar with most letter-sound associations. I also really liked the sequence in which the sounds are taught and the explanations to parents on how to properly teach sounds. I also appreciated the way the book introduces blending sounds. It makes it easy for kids to hear how the letters come together to make words.

The cons:
THE STORIES ARE AWFUL! Some are silly and fine for 4-5 year olds. Many were just plain strange. But a few are very offensive in that they use the word "fat" in a derogatory way. Also the messages of a couple of the stories are totally bizarre (for example, the eagle who is made fun of in one story has to save a life in order to get the others to finally respect him). This all went past my son, I'm sure. But I was really annoyed that such horrible stories made it in this book. I realize the stories were limited by the vocabulary, but I was able to use the same words to come up with better stories. (I started previewing the stories and changed many of them for the 2nd half of the book).

As for getting this done in "100" lessons, I can't see that working with most kids. Starting with lesson 40, I went back after every set of 10 and repeated, and I felt this was necessary. So it turned out to be about 160 lessons for us. Feeling regular success by doing old/familiar lessons was very important as a motivation for my son. (I also used a sticker chart as a motivation, where my son earned a reward every 10 lessons).

I gave the book 4 stars because it did work and was pretty easy, but I really wanted to give it 3.5 because of the quality of stories!

I've already recommended this book to tons of friends. They all laughed at me because this book sounds like a gimmick, but it's not. It's great. My daughter is almost done with the book and is reading! The best advice is: have a parent or adult do this book with a child that has patience and stick to a special "school time" routine. My daughter thinks we're playing school time with her and loves it. I would spend $100 on this book because it's so worth it!

Enjoying the product very much in the instruction of my just now 6 year old son.

After meeting with a homeschool group and hearing great reviews we decided to add this book with our Kindergarten Curriculum. Our Five year old is doing so well (currently on lesson 78) and enjoys uncovering the pictures to see what was really happening in the story. Our 3 year old decided he also needed to learn to read. He is currently on lesson 34 and doing very well, and totally understands what he is learning. To see your child learn to read before your very own eyes is such an amazing gift.