Learn Phonics with Memoria Press #hsreviews

Have a little one eager to learn to read?  I have a little girl who is 4 and simply has been begging me to let her do school since the start of the school year when she was only 3!!  Recently we got a review item from the TOS Crew just for HER!  She is working on reviewing First Start Reading from Memoria Press.   We have found a great way to learn phonics with Memoria Press and she is now constantly asking me to do school with her.

 

We received physical copies of the Student Books A-D as well as the Teacher’s Guide.  On their site they state that this is for Kindergarten.  They don’t define that by an age, but I can say that my four-year old is adoring the program.  She loves learning and often begs me to let her do school and then begs me to let her do more school.  She has been writing her name for a few months now and knows most of her letters.

 

 

If you have been reading about me and my blog you know I actually have two little four-year old children.  If you are going to use this with more than one child you will need to purchase a student set to go with the full set.  You’re going to want the teacher’s book too, so don’t just buy two student book sets thinking you’ll just figure it out.  Honestly.  Don’t do that.  You’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration by just getting the book.  I’m one of those people who doesn’t always buy the teacher’s book, but for this set I can honestly say that I would buy the teacher’s book for myself.  

Want to know why this program is so great?  The first for me is the way it teaches your child to read.  It doesn’t teach them to sound it out by putting the first letters together in the way some programs do, but by word families.  Using the word family approach the child learns a vowel-consonant sound.  So they would learn how to say the letters -at together and then start adding letters in front of that so cat would c-at instead of going at it like ca-t.  This may not be a big deal for some people, but this is a deal breaker for my family.  I tried to teach my older children in the second way when they were little and they just couldn’t get it.  Once we switched to the word family learning it went so smoothly!

Not only does your child learn how to sound out words with the vowel-consonant or word family approach but they are also going to learn common words so they don’t have to sound them out all the time.  In the four workbooks they learn a total of 45 common words.  They also learn all the consonant sounds as well as long and short vowels.  Being that this is a complete phonics course in four books you also are given short stories(total of thirty-one) that your child can read and assessments in each book.  Your child will learn proper pencil grip(oh so important) as well as the proper formation of letters, how to sound out the letters and so much more.

When you go through the book it is eye catching without being loud and obnoxious.  There is room for the child to draw and write without feeling squished but not an overabundance of white space that can seem daunting to young children(and even adults).  There are cute pictures to help them learn what sound the letter makes.  They also have a spot for them to draw their own picture of something that starts with the letter you’re working on as well.  You as the parent are merely helping them with this to make the correct sounds and letter formation with proper pencil grip.  You will also be telling them how the letter sounds in different spots in words(beginning versus end) so that they can use that knowledge to write words that they are hearing.

 

 

 

This is a great set for learning to read.  I had used a different phonics program for my older kids when they were learning to read and comparing the two in my head I really like that this program works on how to properly hold the pencil as well as shape and form their letters.  It not only works on reading but also on handwriting as well as thinking skills.  

Some things that my little girl loves about this is that it makes her free independent and like such a big girl.  She has known most of her letters for a while and some of their sounds but she has really wanted to learn to read.  She was so excited that she could read a word her first day.   She is enjoying getting to color and read at the same time.  The writing is not her favorite part but she is doing so well with it.  She has better handwriting already than some of my older children!  Not sure if that is this program or if it’s just the fact that she is more of a fine detail type girl where the others could care less.

I really enjoy that the teacher’s book contains all I need to know.  I don’t have to prep a lot of stuff.  It’s already figured out for me so all I have to do is work with her.  This is great for me because I have nine children.  With adding my four-year old to the schooling mix I now have seven of those nine doing school on a daily basis.  And yes I said daily.  My sweet little four-year old would already be done with all four books if I let her go at her own pace.  She is so excited!  So driven to learn and ready to take on the world!  Love seeing her learn and want to learn.

We’re still working on this program and haven’t finished it yet but I can say that it has already become a favorite.  If your little one is eager to read you should let them learn phonics with Memoria Press and First Start Reading.

Want to connect with Memoria Press and learn more?  Check them out on facebook, twitter, pinterest, google +, and instagram.  Still want to learn more?  Make sure to head over and check out the other reviews on the Main TOS Crew blog page.