Customer Reviews

Phonics Practice Readers, Series A, Set 1: Short Vowels [With Teacher's Guide]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My daughter's school uses series A for the kindergarteners (series B is for 1st grade and series C is for 2nd grade). As soon as the children know 22 sounds, especially the short vowels, they get to start taking these books home to practice. They bring them back and get a prize when they can read one, and then they get the next one. I am stunned at how quickly my daughter is learning to read. By the end of October, 15 of her classmates were already reading these little books. It's a great program.

I first purchased the first series with "Max the Cat", in 1982, when the school system decided to utilize a new approach to reading WITHOUT using phonics, a sight word memorizing technique. That's when I decided to teach my son how to read. I purchased all four series, and susequently taught all four of my sons how to read prior to entering kindergarten. Knowing how to sound words out, helped them become better spellers as well as readers. I am presently purchasing these series again for my grandchildren. You can't go wrong, once children know their alphabet by recognition they can easily read with this phonetic series. The questions at the end of each booklet, helps them with comprehension also.

When I started my son on these readers, he could barely read and had little interest in learning. He quickly worked his way through these books and would ask to read them over and over again. I appreciated the teachers manual that included vocab words to practice and questions to ask while reading.

This set is excellent to help a beginning reader build confidence with easy to read phonics books. Most phonics books have many words throughout the book that the child needs assistance with, in these books the child is able to completely read independently, only teaching one or two memory words at a time. I have used these in my preschool(ages 3-5) class for many years these books allow the child to begin a love for reading through the independence they gain. Excellent choice for parents, preschool, and K Teachers.

My daughter is just learning to read and these books give her the confidence and motivation to continue reading. The books are large type with plenty of sight word recogition. I would recommend these books to all kids learning to read.

This series is the perfect gradient of learning. Not too steep, not too slow. My son likes the stories and is really learning to read!

This set includes 10 booklets, and is aimed at children just beginning to read, who know the sound each letter makes. A teachers' guide, which is a thin leaflet, is included. Each booklet is about 9 by 6 inches, quite thin and contains 8 reading sides (a page having two sides). The first two books focus on the short "a" sound, with one or two lines per page, such as "The pan is on the mat." The next two booklets introduce the short "i" sound, and include the occasional short "a" word, containing sentences such as "Kim tips the pan." The short vowel sounds "u", "o" and "e" are focused on in the remaining six booklets. By the last booklet there are two to three short sentences per page. Some knowledge of sight words is helpful. The illustrations are a little dated but colorful, and my daughter seems to like them. We are using these books as a supplement to a "look/say" reading set we have.

I've taught all five of my kids to read with this series. I'm on my last child, who is 5, and again I am amazed at how good these books are. I started using these books 18 years ago and have seen lots of other beginning reader series come and go. 'Max the Cat' is still where it's at! My kids really only used the first two sets, the short and then long vowel sets. After these they moved onto other beginning reader books because they had all the basic skills. 'Max the Cat' series have good story lines and adequate color illustrations to keep the child engaged until they master the text. As soon as a child knows their alphabet names and sounds they are ready for the first set. Then simply teach the long vowel sounds and then introduce the concept of 'silent E makes the preceeding vowel say it's name' and then they are ready for the 2nd set. We work with sight words all along, building their vocabulary. If you use this set and are consistently reading great books aloud to your child and having your child read their books aloud to you, you will create a happy, confident, strong reader--not to mention many happy memories together. What a great adventure it is! I wouldn't miss it for the world or delegate it to a teacher or school. The gift of reading is something every parent should give their child. Best wishes!

This set of "First Readers" is perfect for the new reader in your life. They consist of mostly words your child can sound out and only a few "sight" words. The progression from book to book is spot on. The pictures are fun and engaging. The story lines, though simple, are appropriate for a 4 or 5 year old. We have enjoyed these books and feel they were well worth the money spent!

These readers are old fashioned, but really work! They are excellent to use for teaching your child to read.