Explode The Code

Okay, so I typically baulk at programs suggested for me by other people... at least initially, though I do usually check them out myself. Well, since I had two children reading in the early "pre-school" years, I didn't really give a good look at Explode the Code. Yeah, I'll admit it, I'm good at assuming everything is wrong, and then having to admit that I'm wrong instead!

I have been using notebooks to do reading comprehension (I read the book, or chapters, and write down questions, she answers them) and then also for writing prompts (I either start the sentence and she completes the "story" or I suggest an idea and she has to write around that). I really like this method because it forces her to come up with her own ideas and thoughts!

However, my mother works with younger children learning to read. She mentioned that children who learn to read young, and who read at very advanced levels, will suddenly stop comprehending the material because they can read words that they don't understand and they have never had to "work out" what something means. PROBLEM. RED FLAG. Not that we were at that point yet, but I didn't want to get there either.

Since she had also given me many of the Explode the Code books that were left over from last year, I decided to try them out. I was not too impressed.... they seemed overly simplified. Almost belittling to my "smart" child. But as I thought more about it, I realized that the program forces children to "slow down" and "study out what they've read" by using sentences that make sense with the picture, but would not make sense in real life along with normal real life ones. It also uses tremendous repetition.

I started my oldest two (ages 6 and 4) on these books, at different levels. They love them. So I let them continue. I know that I started Gabi lower than her level, but I wanted her to get the handle on the program without the frustration. She's already half way through her second book and we only started this last month.

She has added new words to her vocabulary (our family seems to know more big words then little... at least our children). She's learned to "speak up" and ask what something means. (She's also learned how to look up the word in a dictionary) And I've seen this spill over in our daily conversations as well. Big words that she was using correctly, she'll actually ask for the definition of, and then either admit that she'd done it right, or correct her own sentences. And she's going back and re-reading books that she loved before and coming back with more information.

My third child also wants to get started... since he's 3 and has just started to read, I'll get him the "Get Ready for the Code" books to start with. They will help him to get his writing skills down, and be better at reading so he's not frustrated with the Explode the Codes when he gets there.