On Learning to Read in 100 Easy Lessons

Ice cream and celebrations are in order, for on this day Noogs has finished Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

I have to say that the book has lived up to its name: there were 100 lessons, they were easy, and she's definitely reading. We've enjoyed the stories, which seem to me more interesting than the "See Jane run. See Dick hop." variety. I didn't look at any other reading programs before we started the 100 Lessons, but this one seems to work fine, and we'll probably use it for Babs when it comes time for her to learn.

I don't think that the book's special font for the earliest lessons was either a help or a hindrance -- Noogs mostly paid it no attention. I also found that by the end I wasn't paying much attention myself to the teaching directions but tailored the lessons to Noog's strengths and weaknesses. (The teaching scripts were a great help in the beginning for building my confidence, however.) I had planned to stop using the book at about lesson 80 because it seemed like, aside from the stories, the lessons were mostly drill without any new material, but it soon became obvious that Noogs needed the drill or else she grew lazy about sounding out her words.

So congratulations to Noogs! Next step: Houghton Mifflin Literary Readers Book 2.