Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons: Revised and Updated Second Edition

I first bought this book in 2004 when I had a rising 4-year-old. She was a very keen little learner anyway, knowing all her letters and sounds. Using this book, she was reading independently by the time we got to Lesson 33.Three children later, they've all stopped before Lesson 60, reading independently.I don't think that's entirely up to my brilliant children <smile>. I think it's due in large part to this book.Why does this deserve to be the top book for teaching a child to read? Well, I've seen a lot of styles of reading education: Montessori, whole book, phonics, etc., as I am a homeschool teacher as well as a trained secondary school teacher.This book is the best because: it teaches letter sounds phonetically; it teaches how to write them from Lesson 1, choosing two letters at a time; it teaches blending better than any other method I've ever seen (it isn't kuh-a-tuh, but cat); and because it introduces "b" a long time before it introduces "d", there doesn't seem to be the confusion between those two letters that other methods struggle with.The best thing about it is, that as a parent, it's completely foolproof. You simply read what it tells you to read, in the way it tells you to read it, and honestly, bob's your uncle!There are three things that I think are important to remember, though: first, you as the parent have to be consistent in working through the book (c'mon, it's only 15 minutes at the most, so fitting it in as daily routine shouldn't be impossible); second, your child has to be ready and willing, so you might have to try to start it on several different occasions (note: you might have to whiz through the first ten lessons if you're child is anxious to start -- I had one who kept wanting to do Lesson 55 from the beginning, and though she wasn't actually capable of doing it, I realised she wanted to start a bit further ahead in the book than Lesson 1); and finally, read aloud as much as you can of other books so the child can see the joy and pleasure in the whole experience and not think of it as yet another chore centred around homework.

I didn't even get half way through this book with my 4 1/2 year old and she could read. The book actually got tedious for her because she become so proficient. Of course, we had been teaching her the alphabet since she was 2 1/2, and she could recognize words like Bible and her own name.My daughter is now a very good reader, and regularly gets positive comments from adults at how well she reads. Some parents have told us that she reads as well as their 8 year old. A friend of ours was so impressed that she bought the book to help teach her 6 year old who goes to public school.Our 4 year old is now using it, and she is struggling a little. We were not as diligent to teach her the alphabet at a young age, nor could she recognize simple words. We just felt we didn't have the time. We also feel her natural strengths don't lie in the same areas as our first daughter. All said she is progressing using this book, and it is a book we will definitely be using for years to come (we have 5 children and our oldest is 5).Definitely well worth it, and the price at the moment is amazing. We paid almost 40 for ours (still worth it)BTW I almost gave up on the book, because of the lengthy introduction, but don't give up. I got determined, I sat down, I read through it in one sitting and I have never looked back. Once the intro is out of the way you will have a good undertsanding of how it works, and you can always look back for reference, as I do, if you get a bit confused or forget if a sound is long or short.

I love this book. I started using it to teach my son to read when he was 3 and a half years old. In my eagerness, I probably started before he was ready because it was a bit of a struggle getting him to concentrate. So we put the lessons on hold for a while. Over the last year and a half, we've revisted the book several times. He's now in his second term of reception year and his reading is at an advanced level in comparison to his peers. Nowadays, he loves doing a couple of lessons whenever we have time before bed (I have a younger child who protests if her brother gets all the attention!)A couple of key changes we've made - I've dropped the writing part of the lessons. I think he found this section a little tedious and it played a role in his decreased concentration when we first started. This has turned out to be a bonus as his school teaches a cursive writing style from the very start of reception so if we'd persisted he'd have been exposed to, and confused by, two very different writing approaches.The other tip I can give is to be aware of the American style language used throughout the book, and adapt your words accordingly. One example is a 'full stop' which is referred to as a 'period' throughout.These are minor issues however. The book is fantastic and it enables any loving parent to give their child a firm foundation with regards to their education. The ground we've covered far surpasses the classroom teachings at my son's school, and it's been fun and a fantastic bonding experience. I've now bought this book a few times as gifts for friends.