Product Endorsement(s) #3 (Or, How "Bob Books" and "Primary Phonics" Books Have Revolutionized Matthew's Life)

Matthew's preschool has been great, and he has learned a tremendous amount there. We couldn't be more pleased. And his extra year of Readiness with Ms. Betty (he loves Ms. Betty!) was well worth the time and money.

As he learned letters and their sounds, I started working with him using this GREAT website. It offers lots of interactive stories, and it starts out at a nice easy level (just associating letters and sounds) and progresses to higher reading levels (maybe up to 2nd grade-ish).

But I figured Matthew would benefit from actually reading (gasp) books, too. Enter "Bob Books" (http://www.bobbooks.com/) written by Bobby Lynn and John Maslen. The downside to them: very simple text with simple drawings. The upside to them: very simple text with simple (but charming) drawings. These, too, get progressively harder with each successive series/kit. But they gave Matthew the confidence to continue learning when he was first starting to read. Each book has about eight pages with single sentence lines on each page. We have been reading the second set this summer. Cheapie that I am (at times), I checked these out of the library.
We have also been using these "Primary Phonics" books (http://www.epsbooks.com/dynamic/catalog/subject.asp?subject=70S) written by Barbara Makar to practice reading, too. I discovered these at the library several months ago in their "easy reader" section. These are at a similar level as the "BB", but each book is longer (up to about 14 pages on average), and each page has about four lines of text. Again, simple pictures, simple stories, but it really works. Matthew is also learning phonics rules like short vowels, silent "e", "when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking", etc. I'm hoping he won't be bored in kindergarten this fall. On the other hand, there's no reason not to go ahead and challenge his sharp little mind. We are on the second set of these, as well.

Next week I'm planning to start him on Moby Dick. I think he's ready.