Language Arts

A Reading Program for Overcoming Dyslexia

Book cover
Author(s): 
Cheryl Orlassino
Number of pages: 
284 pages
Copyright: 
2007
Publisher: 
Lulu.com
Binding: 
Spiralbound
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Resource Type: 
Review: 
I recently came across a program entitled A Reading Program for Overcoming Dyslexia by Cheryl Orlassino. My eight year old falls under the generic term of dyslexia. We've been struggling the last two and half years with reading. We have not completed the book yet as I only ordered it a month ago. So far so good---he does not clam up and cry every time we start our reading/phonics lesson and is beginning to decode on his own without just memorizing the words. In fact, he's writing words from his lessons all over his art work. (My son is an avid little "illustrator".) The book contains 55 well laid out lessons (you know, open the book and teach without prior preparation). I have found that the first two lessons can be done in one sitting but from lesson three on dividing the lessons into two sessions seems less overwhelming. The difference between this program and others we've tried unsuccessfully is the following:
  1. Consistent repetition
  2. Giving the reluctant reader more consonant/vowel blends to practice---not just the basic phonograms
  3. Taking the consonant/vowel blends and presenting them in different orders so the brain can learn and reinforce the visual input
  4. A nice balance between oral and written drills and dictation.
  5. Teaches and drills high frequency words
This is not a beginning reading program. The author notes that a student needs to know the alphabet, basic sounds, and how to write before beginning her "reading boot camp". Consistency and repetition are the key to this program. Hence, it is a big lesson in self-discipline for both student and parent. It is imperative to drill from the lessons and read to the child everyday--- as in seven days a week. The book cost about $28--$30. It is spiral bound softcover and printed in black & white. For more information: www.yourkidcanread.com Reviewed by: Christine Hamel Available from: www.yourkidcanread.com Christine Hamel is a Catholic homeschooling mom of 4.
First reviewed: 
2-09-2008

Accent Your Syllables

Book cover: 'Accent Your Syllables'
Author(s): 
Cathy Behrens
Number of pages: 
30 pages
Copyright: 
1999
Publisher: 
Cathy Behrens
Binding: 
Stapled Softcover
Subject(s): 
Resource Type: 
Review: 

This is a 30-page, self-published book with an answer key that fits into a unique category within the language arts curriculum. Accent Your Syllables is a brief worktext that first introduces the rules for syllabication and accents in English, then provides many exercises to practice applying those rules. The rules are printed in a blue ink and are easy to find on the pages. This course would be best suited for a student who is reading fluently, as the words are generally multi-syllable. Choosing words at random from the exercises provides this list: displease, exported, scripture, soapstone, Mediterranean, bacteria, and sedimentary. I plan to use this course over the period of a few weeks, rather than using it once a week throughout a school year. This course promises to be an excellent preparation for a student beginning the formal study of a foreign language as well as a course in a specific part of the study of English.

Additional notes: 

Available from the author at 300 Marsh Street, Sedan, MN 56334

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
4-9-01

Along the Paths of the Gospel Series

Book cover: 'Along the Paths of the Gospel Series'
Number of pages: 
71 pages
Publisher: 
Pauline Books and Media
Binding: 
Sewn Hardcover
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 
These little saint stories, beautifully illustrated by Augusta Curelli, are very appealing to children because of the nice hardcover format and the full-color pictures on each page. The moderate amount of text (about 4-10 lines per page) makes it fairly accessible to beginning or reluctant readers. We found this series to be an excellent help to our eight year old son who was struggling with reading. I was delighted at how much he enjoyed reading about the saints and he didn't even mind reading about the girl saints. :) The sewn binding (so unusual even in hardcover books nowadays) make the books very sturdy for heavy family use. Children may need help reading the names of people and places.

Individual Titles:

  • Saint Angela Merici: Leading People to God by Sr. Maryellen Keefe, OSU
  • Saint Anthony of Padua: Proclaimer of the Good News by Marie Baudouin-Croix
  • Saint Catherine Laboure: Mary's Messenger by Sister Marie-Genevieve Roux and Sister Elisabeth Charpy
  • Sister Colette: In the Footsteps of Saint Francis and Saint Clare by the Poor Clares of Poligny and Sister Elisabeth
  • Saint Francis of Assisi: God's Gentle Knight by Francoise Vintrou
  • Saint Therese of Lisieux and the "Little Way" of Love
  • Saint Vincent de Paul: Servant of Charity by Sister Catherine Ethievant

Perspective: 
Catholic
Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
2-18-04

Black? White! Day? Night!

A Book of Opposites
Author(s): 
Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Number of pages: 
20 pages
Copyright: 
2016
ISBN: 
9781596431850
Publisher: 
Roaring Brook Press
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Resource Type: 
Review: 

Here's a clever picture book about opposites! We loved it so much, the kids told me this had to be a picture book of the week.

Each page has a one-work question, such as "alike?" Each page has one or more cut-out windows, showing a picture–in this case, several "alike" diamonds. Flip the page and the picture of an opposite concept is shown: the little "alike" diamonds were actually all part of several very differently-shaped snowflakes!

Have fun with his colorful and imaginative book of opposites!

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
August 26, 2009

Bob Books

Author(s): 
Bobby Lynn Maslen
Illustrator(s): 
John R Maslen
Number of pages: 
12 pages
Copyright: 
2006
ISBN: 
9780439845007
Publisher: 
Scholastic Inc.
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

The Bob Books and subsequent titles (five sets of small reading booklets in all) are sets of very small, stapled booklets with black and white line drawings and colorful covers, which contain very simple stories. They are approximately $15 per set (although I've seen them at Sam's Club and Half-Price books for less). Each set comes in a colorful box with two little cardboard finger puppets and a cardboard puppet theatre. Although the booklets can hold up pretty well through several children (if you keep them from the little ones, since each book is generally read only once), the puppet theatre and finger puppets, and even the box, will probably not survive long in a busy homeschool family. Although I hesitated for quite awhile to purchase these books because I prefer stories with more beautiful pictures and more meaningful text, I have, in the end, found these books to be quite useful tools in teaching and encouraging reading and motivating children through some of the more tedious stages of getting comfortable with reading. They also fill a need. If you look at early readers at the public library, you will be hard pressed to find anything (except perhaps a bit of Dr. Seuss, who I don't care for all that much) that starts out at such a simple level.

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
1998-99

Bob Books First!

Book cover: 'Bob Books First!'
Author(s): 
Bobby Lynn Maslen
John R. Maslen
Number of pages: 
12 pages
Copyright: 
1976
ISBN: 
9780439145442
Publisher: 
Scholastic Books
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

In this first set (originally titled simply "Bob Books"), the stories start out very easy (words like Bob, Sam, sat, etc.) and very gradually increase in difficulty. All letters are introduced except "Q" and the stories are made up almost entirely of three-letter-words. We found the pace and order in which new words were introduced to be very helpful. We have used the Bob Books to teach two of our children to read. They were both interested in learning to read when they were four years old. After they had worked a bit on learning the basic sounds of the alphabet, we found this first set to be an easy and rewarding practice for little eager readers. My daughter started this set at age four and finished it early in her Kindergarten year. My son started the set at about the same age, but took a little longer to complete it. Although I try to encourage my children to finish what they start (which generally means finishing a small book at one sitting), there are times when things go much more smoothly when I learned to follow the pace that was appropriate to their needs.

Additional notes: 

Set contains: 12 stapled softcover booklets of 12 pages each

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
1998-99

Bob Books Fun!

Book cover: 'Bob Books Fun!'
Author(s): 
Bobby Lynn Maslen
Bobby Maslen
Illustrator(s): 
John R Maslen
John Maslen
Number of pages: 
12 pages
Copyright: 
1999
ISBN: 
9780439121989
Publisher: 
Scholastic Books
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

This second set was just released and wasn't around when I taught my oldest to read. Although she did fine without it, I thought that the additional practice on this basic level was very helpful for my son (who has just finished this second set). Like the first set, the stories are designed entirely for the purpose of practicing beginning reading skills by introducing sounds in an intelligent order. The stories are very simple and usually quite silly. This set does introduce several two-letter phonograms - "ar" (book 3), "aw" (book 3) "ow" (book 4), "ou" (book 7), "oo" (book 12).

Additional notes: 

Set contains: 12 stapled softcover booklets of 16 pages each

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
1998-99

Bob Books Kids!

Book cover: 'Bob Books Kids!'
Author(s): 
Bobby Lynn Maslen
John R. Maslen
Illustrator(s): 
John R Maslen
Number of pages: 
10 pages
Copyright: 
1996
ISBN: 
9780439145466
Publisher: 
Scholastic Books
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

Formerly titled Bob Books Plus! I did not have this set when teaching my daughter to read, but have just started using it with my son (we picked it up at Sam's Club at a discount and thought it would be helpful for additional reading practice and confidence-building). The stories include practice of words ending in "y" and "ed" and the introduction of more two and three letter phonograms.

Additional notes: 

Set contains: 10 stapled softcover booklets of 16 pages each

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
1998-99

Bob Books Pals!

Book cover: 'Bob Books Pals!'
Author(s): 
Bobby Lynn Maslen
Illustrator(s): 
John Maslen
John R Maslen
Copyright: 
1987
ISBN: 
9780439145473
Publisher: 
Scholastic Books
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

Formerly titled More Bob Books This series provides practice lots of with two-letter consonant blends (such as "nt", "nd" and "dr"). Book six introduces words with long vowels ending with a silent "e". The books increase in number of pages and number of text lines on each page quite a bit as this particular set progresses. While using this series with my daughter, we started running through the phonogram cards (from The Writing Road to Reading) each day. I introduced (and explained) spelling rules as they came up in the stories from this set.

Additional notes: 

Set contains: 4 stapled softcover books of 16 pages and 4 of 24 pages

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
1998-99

Bob Books Wow!

Book cover: 'Bob Books Wow!'
Author(s): 
Bobby Lynn Maslen
Copyright: 
1987
ISBN: 
9780439145022
Publisher: 
Scholastic Books
Binding: 
Softcover
Subject(s): 
Grade / Age level: 
Review: 

This set provides practice in words with long vowels ending in a silent "e" and phonograms with long vowel sounds (such as "oe", "ee", "ea", "ai"). While my daughter was working her way through this set of books, we continued drilling the phonogram cards each day (in a somewhat Montessori style) and discussed spelling rules as they came up in the stories. By the time we got to the later books in this set, Jacinta was anxious (and fairly able) to start reading other types of books. We skipped the final book in this set and began reading the Primer from the Catholic National Readers.

Additional notes: 

Formerly titled Even More Bob Books.

Set contains: 4 stapled softcover books of 16 pages and 4 of 24 pages

Reviewed by: 
First reviewed: 
1998-99

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