We are at nearly lesson 50 (halfway point woohoo) and we have been unable to complete a lesson a day every day because it’s not that easy! 🤷🏻‍♀️ Oh truth, you sometimes hurt. I’m not ready to through this resource out completely because there is a lot of gold in it but the reality is

A. My very bright 4 1/2 year old doesn’t get some of it and gets overwhelmed by the nuances

B. The presentation of “sounds” instead of letters is very informative to the parent (because seasoned readers take phonetic sound variations for granted) but it’s strange for the child learning because when they encounter real print, it doesn’t look like that.

C. There are so many foundational skills that precede actual reading that it is unnecessary for a 4-5 year old to start reading (awesome and appropriate for some of course, but starting to read at age 6-7 after pre reading skills are established is extremely beneficial!).

Now the pros of us doing these lessons, on days that little miss is ready to focus, with modifications from momma, are:

A. Huge leaps in her phonemic awareness! She’s been saying words in conversation and determining beginning and ending sounds! She’s not “reading” many of the words in the book but she’s beginning to sound out words and she is zeroing in on sounds in spoken words. Big deal!

B. The picture stories and comprehension questions are phenomenal skills for her to begin honing early. She’s making predictions and verifying when she heard the text. Big deal!

So we will continue at our pace! She’s gravitating towards using her hands (pre writing skills) so that is getting priority right now. In the future I’d like to share more of my modifications for other parents that are trying this book and having struggles.

Stay tuned for a future update!