My son already completed Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Should we skip Little Stories for Little Folks?
Question
I have a son who will be in 1st grade next year. We did Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and loved that program. He went to Kindergarten for most of this year, then I pulled him out to homeschool. He is reading wellâhe easily reads Level 2 and some Level 3 books in Little Stories for Little Folks. I was wondering if I could start him with the second-grade reader, Bigger Stories for Little Folks, and skip Little Stories for Little Folks. Iâve looked at the second grade reading but I do not want to push him too much. I think Little Stories will be way behind his level, however.
Dear Parent,
What a good start you have given your son. Isnât the contrast between what is learned through public schooling and what can be learned at the knee of a loving mom amazing?
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons ends about where Level 3 in Little Stories for Little Folks begins. This means that completing Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons in 1st grade will not be sufficient to prepare your child for CHC’s 2nd grade reading curriculum. There will be a gap in his reading/phonics instruction, which may cause problems both in reading and spelling, perhaps for years to come.
The best and most cautious approach would be to make a quick, story-by-story run through Little Stories for Little Folks. This âtestâ will probably take a very short time, and be well worth the small effort involved. Have your son begin with the first story and continue reading until he begins to encounter phonics and word study skills that are new and unfamiliar to him. That is your signal for where to begin, so no gaps are left in his instruction. You can find detailed directions for reviewing the first part of Little Stories for Little Folks in this article.
I also highly recommend that he completes What Do You Like to Do and What Can You Do, which provide wholesome supplemental reading for practice and pleasure. The words in these easy readers are âat levelâ instead of using a mixture of primary and advanced phonics concepts, like most library books. What Do You Like to Do is designed for students who have completed Level 2 in Little Stories, and What Can You Do is for students who have completed Level 3.
When your son has completed Little Stories for Little Folks, What Do You Like to Do, and What Can You Do, you will know without doubt that he is ready for Bigger Stories for Little Folks.
God bless you as you continue this wonderful adventure in homeschooling!
Nancy Nicholson
About Nancy Nicholson
Nancy Nicholson is one of the founding authors of Catholic Heritage Curricula. Equipped with an abundance of God-given talent, a major in Secondary EducationâEnglish, and years of experience homeschooling her own children, she has written over thirty educational titles, beginning with Little Stories for Little Folks. Her unique ability to develop programs and workbooks that “fit” both advanced and struggling students is due to her experience raising children of different ability levels and learning styles: two of her children are developmentally challenged, while another went on to graduate from Harvard and is now a college professor.
