Get Set for the Code - Book B

I have really been impressed with this curriculum. We started with Book A and are now onto B. My son just turned 4 and has really excelled with it. Here are my observations--mostly wonderful, but with one concern:1. This book introduces several consonants, including the letter "S." I wondered how it would teach letters that make more than one sound. For example, the "s" says "sss" like "sock," as well as "z" like in "closes." Well, this book teaches only the first "sock" sound. At don't know at what point they decide to introduce the "z" sound, but I feel slightly disappointed that we are pretending S only says one sound. If it's an issue of the child not being ready yet, then there are still plenty of single-sound consonants that could still be taught before we get to S. I've told my son that S makes two sounds, but that we are learning just one of them for now.2. Most of the pictures are clear examples of the sound being taught, but occasionally you get an ambiguous exercise. For example, there is a one with a picture of a "telephone" for the letter T (introduced in book A). Nowadays with cell phones, most kids have never seen a telephone, let alone heard it referred to as that. My son thought "phone" started with the letter F. No big deal, I just told him what a "telephone" was and he rightly identified it. In another instance, there is a "rabbit" for R. My son identified it as a "bunny" and looked for a B instead. Sometimes I help him re-identify the picture if B is not an available option, but if the exercise is open-ended, like simply writing the correct letter, I don't worry too much about it. He is still learning and demonstrating an ability to sound out the word and identify the letters. If I wasn't helping him and witnessing the learning process, I might think he had gotten it wrong, but because I am there to see him doing it right, I let him have a self-directed learning experience and let it be correct.3. This book teaches consonants p, j, h, s, n, and d (not necessarily in that order). It introduces both lower-case and capitols and the letter names, but the focus is mostly on letter sounds and lower-case letters. That is a good balance for me. All the writing and tracing is lower-case.4. If you are not at all familiar with these books, they really do have wonderful and repetitive exercises that really solidify each letter. Several pages are devoted to each letter. There is a combination of identifying words and their starting letters (circle the letter, draw a line to the letter, etc.) and writing the letters (tracing with fingers, tracing with writing utensil, drawing on your own). I thought writing the letters would be too advanced for him, but was surprised and amazed that my 4-year-old has learned to write pretty well. He is very proud that he can write various letters and I've really seen him progress in his fine motor abilities, as well as being able to hold a pencil correctly. For each letter, the exercises start off easy and progress to more challenging. My son really loves the work and will often beg to do extra pages. Eventually, I often have force him to "save some for later" because I don't think he should be doing so much bookwork at this age.5. For each letter, there is one page that doesn't have instructions. These are found in the mysterious Teacher's Guide. Maybe there is some very valuable info inside, but from what I can see, this is a ruse to get you to purchase an additional manual you otherwise wouldn't need. We just skip this page or make up our own instructions for it.6. As you can see from the cover, the pictures are kind of rough and imperfect, but I think they're cute. Everything inside is black and white, which is fine with me. Some of the exercises (and optionally all of them) have the child color the pictures. It's clean, black and white, and distraction-free. And if being monochromatic is what makes these workbooks so affordable, that is great by me.7. Every child is different, but my son really caught on to this at about age 3.5 to 3.75 years old. I bought book A for him when he was almost 3 (jumped the gun a little?) and would periodically bring it out to see if he was ready. If he didn't grasp it, away it went for a few more months. He is quite precocious with an incredible attention span and LOVES to read books (aka have books read to him) and will read for hours, if I'm willing. He will sometimes sit through chapter books and books with few or no pictures. If your child is like that, he or she may be ready for these introductory books at 3-4 years old. Other children may do better at 4-5 years old.I debated giving 4 stars for that unusable Teacher's Guide page and for the fact that it only teaches one letter sound, but in the end, neither of this is a really big deal to me so far. It seems like an excellent program that really enforces the concept of letter sounds; my son loves it, and he is learning so much through it. He loves picking out the letters and sounds he's learned in every day life, like spotting familiar letters in signs at the stores, or sounding out what toy he's playing with. Although this book deals with sounds at the starts of words, he is starting to sound through the words and identify several letter sounds in them (like "Pain-T-B-R-ush"). I am eager to see later on how it teaches reading, blending, and more complex sounds, letter combos, and reading rules.

These books are wonderful. I used it with my 3.5 yo old who knew most his letter sounds but not all the time. The 1st couple of days with the 1st primer A DRAGGED, I thought I was going to have to get different material! But this was son's 1st introduction to anything like book work, so as he got the hang of it he came to enjoy it, and we flew through it doing about 4 pages a day.The activities are pretty fun, there is a good mixture of variety for interest and enough repetition to where the kid can feel masterful of the process. They get incrementally harder, withing the book and as compared to the 1st primer.By the end of this book my son was really starting to try to figure out what letter things begin with on his own, I'll hear him saying "Ffish... Fffish.. F!" We're now on primer C "Go for the Code" and my son is really confident sounding out beginning letters and even writing some.I would enthusiastically recommend these 3 primers.

The Explode The Code Primers (A, B & C) are wonderful pre-literacy workbooks that teach the 21 consonants. I purchased these primers to use for our homeschool language arts curriculum. Both of my kids loved these workbooks! In each letter section, your child will practice critical thinking skills, writing, tracing, and phonics. Note: If you are planning on using Bookshark Language Arts Kindergarten program, these three primers are used in this program. We completed the primers and then I purchased the Bookshark Languages Arts Kindergarten program only to realize that we really needed to move onto the Bookshark Language Arts First Grade program. Ages: Children three years old and up. Multiple Children: A workbook is needed for each child.

I purchased the ETC Primers A, B and C for homeschooling my 4 year-old. He loves the Get Ready for the Code books! We do about 6 pages a day and the activities on each page keep his attention. No boredom here! In fact if he had his way we would finish the book in about a week!Primer B teaches the consonants p, j, h, s, n, d. Each letter has 12 pages dedicated to it. Your child will practice the shape of the letters, first by tracing the letter with their finger and then writing the letter in lowercase. Mixed in are pages with matching, same/different and coloring. There is one page for each letter that you will need the teacher's manual for the instructions. This series is excellent for children just learning the alphabet and letter sounds.

Save $$! You don't need to spend a ton on expensive reading programs to teach your children to read!I have a degree in Elementary Education and have used the Explode the Code series to teach my three oldest children how to read and am now getting ready to start it with my fourth. My three oldest children were reading at the age of three years old. I was not pushing them... just working through the explode the code books with them and they took off reading.I really like the way the series focuses on lower-case letters and small motor skills, in addition to providing a phonics foundation.I highly recommend the series to everyone I know who is searching for something to help them teach their children how to read.

My three year old son loves this book! Honestly, I wasn't so impressed when I received it because it looked so simple in black & white with childlike drawings. Not exactly what I'd expected, especially with all the amazing reviews! But, what can I say, kid approved works for me. I'm happy that it keeps him busy, but does take hands on assist from the parent. I plan to purchase the rest of the series. I'm using this as part of a preschool home schooling curriculum.

My son Loves his books

Awesome! Used for kindergarten would highly recommend!

This is the second book of the series and a good second step for young learners.