More for the 'Reasons We Homeschool' files

Teachers.Net Gazette ^ | April 2003 | Cheryl Sigmon

[lainie]

I'm currently trying to find out-of-print texts which are described to me as good sight readers for Grade 1 (and having no luck), but I found this website and thought I'd share the tidbit.

It's a teacher's website, and this column was written on my subject (loosely), and you know, I read about half of it because it's quite boring, then I asked myself, 'well, who is this woman of such authority?' Here's the answer at the bottom:

Grant Support: If your school is submitting a grant, I'll be happy to submit a letter to support your training. Often, grant readers are impressed that you've secured someone with credentials to assist with training and implementation. Contact me at cmsigmon@aol.com if I can help you.

Training Opportunities:

Below are seminars that I have coming up in the future. The fall schedule will soon be posted. Hope to see you at one!

[lainie]

She sounds willing to sign off on anyone's grant request -- apparently sight unseen.. as long as you sign up for her workshops. I have no clue what a "Four Blocks" school might be.

She also recommends a book written by someone she saw on the Today show.

[lainie]

How do we ask for "homeschool" to become a choosable topic?

[bcoffey]

"Four Blocks" is teacher-speak for a certain educational approach, which my daughter (a 4th grade teacher) calls a dismal failure.

Some people will sign on to anything for a lucrative consuting contract. Look at all those retired generals on TV.

[Slyfox]

What readers are you looking for?

[lainie]

You're absolutely right. I suppose it's prejudicial but something told me "Four Blocks" couldn't possibly be a stellar public school achievement process.

[Ed_in_NJ]

NJ just changed the minimum GPA to get a teaching license from 2.75 to 2.5...guess they felt the 2.75ers were too bright!

[lainie]

I have a book that combines the merits of phonic and sight reading, saying all these pooh-poohers who strictly adhere to phonic teaching ignore the fact that not all English is phonetic.

Anyway, I have six publishers (certain years only), a Seventh-Day Adventist publisher, and an Amish set of readers. I found and purchased the Amish set because they're based on farm life and character building (and they were very cheap). I'll go ahead and post the series I'm searching for, on the off chance that freepers have sources.

Economy Reading Series (1975)
HBJ Reading Program (1979)
Holt Basic Reading System (1977)
Macmillan Reading Series (1970 or 1983)
Scott Foresman Basic Readers (1956)
Ginn Reading 720 (1976)

[TxBec]

ping.

[lainie]

Thank you! I was just about to ping you but you found me first.

[lainie]

From the same website: We're Still Leaving Teachers Behind

"No matter how many hundred of millions of dollars are spent, school reform initiatives will continue to produce unsatisfying results until we unflinchingly address the critical problem of teacher quality.

"Successful education reform depends on transforming teaching from an isolated, freelance culture into an open, collaborative culture that fosters professional excellence and accountability. To turn teaching into a professional career would require offering teachers a multi-level career path that rewards advanced experience and expertise with higher levels of pay, responsibility, supervision, and team management."

Funny, an "isolated, freelance culture" is exactly how I describe our home's solution to the problem I Can't Send My Kids to L.A. County Public Schools. :) Not professional advancement and added bureaucracy for NEA members. Criminy.

[Slyfox]

You might try Powell books in OR. They have a website. Also, thebackpack.com or any of the rare/used book websites. Some really good readers are the Bob books and the Let's Read set from Educator's Publishing Service.

[valkyrieanne]

A Beka (Christian homeschool curriculum publisher in Pensacola, FL) has books that are very traditional and combine sight reading & phonics.

[expatpat]

Both phonics and word-recognition are OK. I 'taught' my two daughters to read by reading to them on my knee so they could follow the words above my finger as I read.

One of them clearly 'taught herself' by word recognition and the other clearly used phonetics. The first acquired a bigger vocabulary quickly, but the second one was better able to handle new words seen for the first time.

[lainie]

Really. I've read stories about that sort of thing.. one child will teach himself to read over Sunday comics, and the other one will sound out every word. Did their reading comprehension differ as they developed?

[dawn53]

My son started school while we were living in the Cayman Islands.

They taught phonics, but also sight reading.

I think the sight reading text they used was called "Ladybird" books. They were printed in England. Anyway, the readers were numbered and each book in the series added more vocabulary. He really liked the stories.

When we came back to the states I started homeschooling. This was many years ago, he a teenager now, so I don't know if those books are still in print.

[BamaGirl]

Hi Lainie,

Have you heard of something called the "McGuffey" set of readers? They were an alternate set of readers we used in conjunction with our usual reading book.

I remember how in third grade (1983) we thought they were REALLY ADVANCED readers, because they had fancy new words like "vivid" and "effloresce."

In retrospect I get the feeling that those books were the real deal, and everything we have now is an incredibly dumbed down version of the McGuffies.

BamaGirl

[expatpat]

Not that I noticed. They both have baby boys now; it will be interesting to see how these two read.

[goodseedhomeschool]

"Sing, Spell Read Write" for grade (1), We used McGuffy Readers (outstanding) and a good phonics program.

[MarMema]

We love McGuffy, both old and new versions.
I especially like the set with Open Roads, etc, and they are easy to find on ebay for inexpensive bids.

[lainie]

Thank you -- I'm going to search for those.