Victoria - Ladybird Books Question

: Victoria,: I’m curious about the Ladybird Key Word Books that you often mention.
: It appears to me that Ladybird is (was?) a British publisher and
: that there are a lot of Ladybird titles out there.: Could you describe the books you’re talking about? Titles (or
: description of the series), copyright dates, etc. And, what
: reading levels do they cover?: Thanks….RodThe ones I swear by are a specific reading program, the **Ladybird Key Words Reading Scheme**, specifically books numbered 1a to 6a and 1b to 6b. I also like Sunstart (written for West Indies). They are hard to get in this country, but I am finding sources over the internet. Key Words 1 - 6 are aimed at ages 4 through 6 (numbers 7 through 12 are aimed at kids still not catching on fast to reading, ages 7 through 10 or 11).Books 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b are pre-pre primers, introducing a gramd total of 17 words in level 1 and 26 new (total 43) in level 2. On the other hand, they are actually written in real sentences, up to ten words in length, and they include long stretches of running text, so the child practices those words over and over again, but in meaningful contexts. Books 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b are pre-primer to primer level. Books 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b are low first reader level by vocabulary (still around 200 words) *but* second reader or above by sentence structure — by level 6, down to regular-size type and perhaps a hundred running words per page, a continuous story almost like a chapter book. The vocabulary is carefully chosen to include the highest-frequency words in English, so the skills transfer immediately to almost any other books.I swear by these because you can develop a solid vocabulary of high-frequency words at a nice easy pace with immense amounts of repetition, but without boring or insulting your student. The student can see real progress, moving through twelve books on six levels and reading real stories with beginning and middle and end, but at the same time is not frustrated by hitting ten new words on a page, or vocabulary that is introduced and then thrown away again. You get the repetition by reading new pages with the same words in different contexts, not by beating the same page to death.The books are written with a word-memorization plan in mind, but I simply ignore that and teach phonics alongside, using some other good materials I have. The combination is very effective.

Did you ever figure out an on-line source for purchasing these? They sound like just the sort of thing I need for my daughter.

: Did you ever figure out an on-line source for purchasing these? They
: sound like just the sort of thing I need for my daughter.Three answers:(a) Yes, I do have an online source, sort of; I have found a certain number used, and I have found a bookshop in Ireland where the owner can scrounge up a certain number of new ones. However I get first dibs on his supply …Try reaching the nice gentleman [email protected] do have to be specific about what you want (Key Words Reading 1a to 6a and 1b to 6b; you don’t want the c books [after-the-fact phonics, which doesn’t work well] and you don’t want the several thousand storybooks the publisher has printed over the years), you have to pay incredibly high British postage, and be patient while he scrounges things up.(b) Of course, it’s not the materials alone, it’s what you do with them. These books, wonderful as they are for reading practice and vocabulary development and confidence building, score zero in the phonics departmkent. You need a good phonics program in parallel, or your efforts will stall. Please ask if you want advice on how to combine efforts.I also swear by the “Check and Double-check” phonics from Scholar’s Choice in Canada, available online. And here again it isn’t just the materials, but what you do with them; please ask if you want suggestions.(c) There are also workbooks to go with the Key Words readers. I have numbers 4 through 6 and am awaiting delivery of 1 and 2 (still on the lookout for 3 - help!) I’m going to check on the copyright rules about photocopies, but think it’s OK for educational purposes, and if so could let you have them at cost.

Victoria, My son is at the high gr. 1/low gr. 2 reading level. (He’s 8 yrs old and in gr. 3). What would your suggestions be for Check and Double Check Phonics books. Which book do I start with and how to use them most effectively? Love your posts!Three answers: (a) Yes, I do have an online source, sort of; I have
: found a certain number used, and I have found a bookshop in
: Ireland where the owner can scrounge up a certain number of new
: ones. However I get first dibs on his supply …: Try reaching the nice gentleman at: [email protected]: You do have to be specific about what you want (Key Words Reading 1a
: to 6a and 1b to 6b; you don’t want the c books [after-the-fact
: phonics, which doesn’t work well] and you don’t want the several
: thousand storybooks the publisher has printed over the years), you
: have to pay incredibly high British postage, and be patient while
: he scrounges things up.: (b) Of course, it’s not the materials alone, it’s what you do with
: them. These books, wonderful as they are for reading practice and
: vocabulary development and confidence building, score zero in the
: phonics departmkent. You need a good phonics program in parallel,
: or your efforts will stall. Please ask if you want advice on how
: to combine efforts.: I also swear by the “Check and Double-check” phonics from
: Scholar’s Choice in Canada, available online. And here again it
: isn’t just the materials, but what you do with them; please ask if
: you want suggestions.: (c) There are also workbooks to go with the Key Words readers. I have
: numbers 4 through 6 and am awaiting delivery of 1 and 2 (still on
: the lookout for 3 - help!) I’m going to check on the copyright
: rules about photocopies, but think it’s OK for educational
: purposes, and if so could let you have them at cost.

: Victoria, My son is at the high gr. 1/low gr. 2 reading level. (He’s
: 8 yrs old and in gr. 3). What would your suggestions be for Check
: and Double Check Phonics books. Which book do I start with and how
: to use them most effectively? Love your posts!Thank you very much.C&DC Phonics: for a kid who hasn’t really mastered Grade 1 yet, I start right back at the beginning of Book 1, then move fairly quickly to Book 2. I tell the kid firmly and repeatedly that this is review, we are just going over the easy stuff at the beginning to get warmed up for the harder stuff later. This way it isn’t discouraging and insulting. Also finding the early part easy is excellent for the motivation and self-esteem.One small change in the directions of the books: in the early recognition lessons, they have the kids X out the right answers. This is supposedly because non-writers can make an X fairly easily. I don’t like this; it gives me a mental itch, because check is for correct and X is for wrong, and that is the system the kid will be used to seeing. So before giving the book to the student I go through all the recognition pages with a red marker and change the X’s in *both* the instructions *and* the sample answer pages to checkmarks.Most productive use: phonics is the relationship of letter codes to **sounds**. To learn phonics, you need to be **saying and hearing** the sounds you are practicing. Don’t leave the child to work alone with the books; that defeats the purpose. Sit with him and say things, repeatedly and with stress. For example, on the “p” recognition page, say “p-p-p-p-p-p”. Have the child say “P-p-p-p-p”. Say “p-p-p-p-p-P-ig” repeatedly. Have the child say it. Then if the child has difficulty with whether a picture stands for the sound or not, say it over with lots of stress: “p-p-p-p-P-ig” “Yes, Pig starts with P” “p-p-p-p—WWW-agon” “No, WWWagon doesn’t start with P!” If your son is already high Grade 1, he may not need this extra stress, but if he has any auditory/segmenting difficulties, this is both the place to find them and the place to start re-training.First, go over the recognition page orally, checking if he can separate out the first sound and if he can identify the pictures correctly. If he can, *then* give him a marker and have him check off all the correct pictures. If he can’t, go over it with him twice more and repeat it the next day until he has the names and sounds memorized. For kids who have real difficulty, it’s a good idea to laminate the pages with clear MacTac and use an erasable overhead marker; then they can do the same page five times until they get it right. If he’s already high Grade 1, this is probably no challenge at all; if he finds it super-easy, compliment him on how much he has learned and tell him he’ll get through the review in no time; if he surprises and shocks you by not being able to do page 1, well, you’ve just found out what mis-fired in his previous class and what you need to work on — be positive and tell him that this is what he needs to know and it will help him read better.As he is working, also make sure he works with proper tracking, left to right along a line, and lines top to bottom. Don’t let him circle randomly around the page. This is vital.On the writing page, check that he is forming letters properly, always starting on the left side of the letter and making main lines top to bottom. I greatly prefer a semi-script, no pen-lift style of printing to the ball-and-stick; repeated pen lifts do nothing to improve writing fluency or speed, and for kids with vision/coordination problems lining up the balls and sticks is a nightmare. However, make sure of direction and order. In particular, b is made first stick down, slide halfway up, around the ball; but d is made first circle counterclockwise, slide up to top, and down the stick. If this is done systematically, b-d confusion can be avoided. If your son aleready has ingrained habits, they may be hard to break, but it;s worth trying.Writing with a hard pencil is deadly — too much muscular effort pressing down ruins control, and it’s impossible to see the results. I prefer markers or rolling-ball pens. Have fun using a different colour each day.Have him do *at least* one full line practicing each letter, preferably two lines. Work on control and nice, smooth formation. Watch for tracking properly as he writes. (Vital!) Now, a very important cross-connection: every single time he writes a p, he should say aloud “p”. In school, he can whispoer it to himself, but with you he should say it out loud. He may think this sounds silly; tell him it’s a sort of game and you really want him to try it.Go through the first part of the book two pages per day if he is able; slow down if he hits a snag. Don’t try to do more than one letter a day; the point is concentration on one sound, and you don’t want to mix the memories. Speed will come later. Do the same kind of thing on final consonants and short vowels as above for beginning consonants.If the two pages of phonics takes less than half an hour, which we hope it should in the review, spend the extra time in guided oral reading and model sounding out new words with him.This gives you a month or two of lesson plans — go for it! Post and/or email me in a couple of weeks and tell me how it’s working out.: Three answers: (a) Yes, I do have an online source, sort of; I have