Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

This book will allow any literate parent to teach their child how to read!

Teaching Reading includes 231 lessons!!! Each lesson has narrative dialog for the parent to read to the child. This dialog the parent reads is usually just 2-4 sentences that you read out loud to your child. An example from lesson 58: The Digraph Blends TCH and NCH- ¿Today we are going to learn about another special letter pair. When you see the letters c and h side-by-side, you should say /ch/. /Ch/ is the sound of a choo-choo train slowly chugging uphill- /ch/, /ch/, /ch/, /ch/, /ch/.¿ ***** After the parent's brief narrative lesson the child is presented with the new words that go along with the new phonics rule of that lesson. They are usually presented with 5-15 new words each lesson. For the digraph ch the words were chat, chip, chin, chug, chum, Chet, check, chess, chill, and chuck. Jessie Wise suggests that you read each word to the child and have the child read the word right after you¿ve read the word. I chose to change that part a little so that my son would rely more on sounding it out rather than repeating what I had just said and it was more challenging for him so it suited his learning style better. So instead I will read all the words on a line '5'. Next we read all the words together. Then he will read all the words on his own as I point to the words for him, coving up portions of the word at a time if needed. ***** Following the new words is a short story for the child to read. The words used in the story are cumulative of what they¿ve learned thus far in the book. The first sentence of the short story for ch is ¿Chet and Chan will get on a ship.¿ Because it uses words already learned my son can read the stories with little or no help. ***** This book allows parents who don¿t remember all the rules of phonics to refresh their own skills and educate their child at the same time. This book will provide you with the skills needed. ***** It works! My son learned to read at 4. We didn¿t discover this book until he was about 4 ½ and was already a pre-reader and already able to read most 3 letter words and some sight words. Within months of starting this book he was able to advance to reading step 1 reader books on his own. He can even read many step 2 books with only a little help. This book is priceless! He was ready for this book well before I knew of it and could have started at three, which Jessie Wise says some children are ready by then. My son just turned 5 two weeks ago and we¿re about ½ way through it now. Everyday he is increasing his reading skills and vocabulary¿proof this book is a must have for every child! ***** Following the lesson Jessie Wise has suggested interactive methods of exploring the new words for the lessons. We have created a similar game. We have a Mega Blocks Linxters school bus that comes with letters which we use for making our new list of words for each lesson. He especially loves making the sounds ¿crash¿¿ b-ank then s-ank where he can physically make the b and ank blocks crash together. We do the ¿school bus¿ after every lesson. Words that he might have had trouble with in the book he will then read with little error once he puts the letters in front of him and builds it letter for letter himself. Also, not only is he reading but he¿s learning to spell at the same time too this way.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great learning tool!

I am working through this book with my four year old and she is already reading a couple of the Bob Book primers! She loves learning and asks for more and more. We have actually moved through the first section on phonics fairly quickly! Great and easy to follow lessons!

Solid Gold

I see that someone gave a bad rating to this book and didn't even give their name OR any reason for their rating. That stinks.

My husband and I decided to homeschool our two kids, and I thought that teaching a child to read would be one of the hardest tasks of homeschooling. Perhaps it would have been had I not found this book. I LOVE this book. I have become a gret fan of Ms. Wise and all of her books. If you can read, you can teach your child with this book. Really. She tells you exactly what to say and walks you through teaching your child step-by-painless step. As we did the lessons it also occurred to me that she sneaks lots of vocabulary words into the instructor dialogue that my daughter picked up on before I did :) While teaching the kids, I was surprised to realize how many little details I didn't know or remember, like that the letter x says "ks".

After the first 50 lessons my daughter could read well enough that we could do the lessons in the car on the way to the grocery store or wherever. I copy 5 pages at a time and keep them in the car.

I do not believe you could be disappointed in this book.

Highly Recommended for all families!

My first exposure to homeschooling was through SisterL and her decision to do so. She's a Catholic Stay-at-home Navy Wife and Mama to six and it fits their life perfectly. My second introduction was not just to homeschooling, but also to a Classical Christian Education through my job as a long term and short notice substitute teacher at a Classical Christian Education School in Georgia. Working there was some of the best months ever as I learned about the methods in teaching a Classical Christian Education and really involving God on all levels of the educational experience as well as using a tried and true method of teaching that works so well. It was through preparation to work there that I found The Well-Trained Mind and in essence Jessie Wise. (More to come on TWTM...)

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading is a perfect place for people to start if they are going to homeschool in a Classical Christian Education method. Better yet OPG is for everyone! If you're using any method of homeschool, or even if you are sending your child to school, you could benefit from the OPG to Teaching Reading. Some children pick up reading skills easily and others may find them a bit later and need more effort to acquire them. Yet once those skills are established the entire world is opened and an adventure of education awaits.

I am absolutely delighted to get my hands on a copy of The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading! True, AppleBlossom is only 16 months old, but I'm not opposed to venturing out and making some decisions on where we might go in the next few years. Already she has a vast vocabulary far more varied that I would have expected both in verbal language and sign language (more to come on the sign language...). When she is ready, because I have equipped myself with the OPG I feel confident of what to do and where to go. After reading TWTM I was ecstatic to discover co-author Jessie Wise had continued on with other materials to aid in the education of children's minds. The OPG is the perfect place to start.


"The complete set, with everything related to the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. Included in [the] combo pack are 1 paperback copy of the OPG, 1 copy of the flashcards, 1 copy of the Audio Companion, and 2 magnetic letter boards (1 set of the board and letters, 1 additional letter storage board). All of this is available at $55, a savings of almost 14%."

When we get a bit closer to time where AppleBlossom is talking more and ready to really learn the alphabet and to read, I definitely plan to invest in the other parts of the OPG kit or pieces like them. Reading through the lessons, I can definitely see where they will come in and be valuable. In addition to lessons that take you through the vowels, consonants and many combining words... there is a great FAQs section that answers so many questions in a clear light. This really is a book that they have made where anyone may be qualified to teach their child to read. (Even an avid reader with poor grammar like myself...)

*Thanks to Kim Norton of Peace Hill Press for providing a copy for review.*

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