As most of my readers know, Wesley and I read a lot. I look forward to our time every night were we cuddle up and read a few books(or several) together. The night he decides he's too big for this routine, I don't know what I'm going to do.
Now that he is becoming more confident with his reading skills, I have to always be on the look out for good books for him to read. They can't be too easy, they shouldn't be too hard, but still challenging. Most important, they have to be interesting. I also want them to build off of each other. Well as a first time homeschooling mom, I went on amazon and bought the Bob Books series because they are commonly talked about among homeschooling parents. While they were easier readers, they did not build up to certain words like I would have liked, and well they were boring. My son wanted nothing to do with them. So there I have 3 box sets of book, collecting dust on his book shelf. I also tried the Clifford Phonics Box sets, but they included random words that were too difficult to keep the story going. While these were not what I wanted for a reading program, at least my son enjoyed reading them with me. But yet again I was left looking for that perfect reading program.
Then one night I was once again searching online for something to help me teach my son to read better. And that's when I stumbled upon iseesam.com. At first I wasn't sure what to think. The more I read the more interested I became. The testimonials sounded great! And the previews of the Little Books looked like something we could use. So I contacted them and they agreed to do a review/giveaway.
The day my box of Little Box arrived I was so excited. We had picked them up at the post office and my hubby had to run in somewhere's else after, so I sat in the car and opened my box. When I opened up Set 1, I started flipping through the book. Well my son started reading over my shoulder. They were an instant hit!
The Reading for All Learners “Little Books” program is a sequence of 141 color coded books. There are 8 sets of books from Kindergarten to 3.6 reading level. Each set contains up to 27 books.
The Little Books were researched, revised and field tested to provide high success and fun learning experiences in beginning reading. The series directly correlate to core curriculum and mandates set by No Child Left Behind. Each book is built on the skills learned in previous books. For high success they should be taught in sequence.
The Little Books are used successfully around the globe in a variety of settings. Schools use them in small group instruction and for individual needs. The instruction can come from teachers, parents, paraprofessionals, parent helpers, older peers, anyone! They are inexpensive, easy to use and the research is solid. They work!!
The sets are favorite materials for teachers because of their easy-to-use format, embedded cues, and assessment tests located throughout each set. The students enjoy the fun characters, group interaction, reward certificates, and coloring sheets.
What I love about our Little Books
- The first few pages are practice pages. You review letter sounds, New words and review words.
- The last page provides "Coming Attractions" which are New Words that will be introduced in the next book.
- Every six books or so there is something called "Looking Back". Here there are few few sentences using words your child should know after reading up to that point. If your child can breeze through them you know you can confidently move on to the next book. If your child is struggling with them, you then know you should work on the last few books a little longer. Once your child can read those sentences with confidence, you can then move on.
- Wesley loves the pictures and the characters. They are what make the story interesting without being overwhelming. They are able to give the books with such simple words a storyline. We often find ourselves giggling about the trouble this characters get themselves into.
- Each book builds on what the child has learned in the previous book. There is also lots opportunity for the child to practice their new words.
- On the bottom of several pages in each book, there is a question written in small print for the parent to ask the child to make sure they are understanding what they are reading.
- You can use their free Scope and Sequence to see where you should place your child.
Overall I'm thrilled with this product. Wesley and I are on Set 1 Book 17, after one month or so. I decided to start him right at the beginning of the program even though he knew a lot of what is taught. First of all he needed to brush up on some of his skills. I also wanted him to have a lot of success right off the hop so he could feel confident and want to work with this books more. I'm already noticing a big difference in his reading. Even with books that are not "The Reading for All Learners- Little Books", he's reading them with a lot more ease.
Would you like to win a set of your own?
Head over to my blog to enter to win
http://domanandaba.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-see-sam-review-and-giveaway.html
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