I have been adding things to supplement the Hooked On Phonics all school year. Nothing that I've added has satisfied. We were using Explode the Code. I've added in some Ace Word Building. Both are great, they just get expensive. They also make our schooling feel like nothing but workbooks. Megan is developing great fine motor skills; but at five, all that writing is too much for her.
I've had to pick and choose carefully what workbooks I want to use. The Christian Light Education workbooks are the best, in my opinion. They focus on writing, but also add in cutting, sorting, and many other fine motor skills. We also use workbooks for math. The Explode the Code and Ace workbooks just felt like over-kill.
So... I shelved them for now. Adding in the McGuffey, slowly working through the primer, is less stress on mom and daughter.
There are so many phonics programs out there. I chose the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read program because it has real books for Megan to read. It also is very visual, with the DVD lessons and computer games and songs. There is constant review in every lesson, plus every fourth lesson is completely review. While there are worksheets I can print out from the HOP website, they are gentle. The mini-books that are available to print are my favorite.
I probably don't need to supplement the Hooked on Phonics at all. However, I like coming at a topic from more than one angle. Learning to read, and read well, is important. It's a balancing act, striving to give my daughter a solid, Christ-centered education without pushing her too hard.
This is one of the main reasons I'm going back to Heart of Dakota. The gentle, short, Charlotte Mason-inspired lessons are wonderful and won't lead to over-kill and burn-out!
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