Essentials Teacher's Manual A Systematic Approach to Reading, Spelling, and Writing Hardcover – January 1, 2012

Ideal for teachers and reading specialist!

I purchased this book 2 years ago when it was fairly new with hopes of helping my intelligent but somewhat dyslexic daughter. She was reading poorly, spelling was a joke, and yet she was my earliest talker, great at math, and very smart. In 4th grade, I completely stopped all spelling and grammar to focus on this book. I homeschool, so this was an intervention for her. I needed to back up and get this processing disorder with letters "fixed". This was a fantastic program. I had taught a vertical phonics before with My Father's World, but this program offers many more details to help a child set down the neurological pathways in which to file reading and spelling. My daughter is now on par with her peers. She is still fighting the good fight of spelling but she has tools with which to work with. I can point out that this is a Greek or French word in our language and she knows which phonograms to switch to. She knows her phonograms and when they are used or not used. A huge aspect is she can now hear the individual phonograms...she couldn't spell "tree" because she couldn't hear/process the "t" and the "r" sounds. This program breaks down the sounds of our language and really helps unlock the logic behind our words. I highly recommend. One thing I would add to the program that isn't emphasized is the practice of spelling words aloud; This is a tip I have picked up from IEW and have found helpful for her. I have since started my younger boys on their Foundations program and it is also going well. One surprise I found was how teaching this program to my 4th grader was prepping my then K5 student. My K5 student basically taught himself to read. We did the phonogram flashcards from this program with the whole family (3, 5, 9, 11). He learned them along with his older sister and frankly needed very little actual reading instruction. He reads fluently as a 2nd grader and is not intimidated by a book like Diary of a Wimpy Kid. His Spelling too is phenomenal and he can complete his sister's spelling (Sequential Spelling 3) with similar accuracy as she has. I have him finishing the Foundations D book but mostly because I feel he is too young to start Saxon Grammar which is where I plan to go after Foundations. So the Logic of English was great for remediating my 4th grader; it accomplished its goal. And, it totally launched my bright son who probably would have done fine with reading and spelling but not at his high level of achievement. You want the teacher book, the workbook, and at least a set of basic flashcards. I like the advanced flashcards too.

The newer edition of this curriculum was the choice for the homeschooling co-op that we were in. This method is wonderful. I'm sure for a gifted teacher it makes a big difference for struggling kids. However, I'd been spoiled with "The Phonics Road to Reading and Spelling" and found "Logic of English" way too cumbersome for a bright kid and a tired homeschooling mother. If we'd been using it exclusively for spelling that would have been one thing. But this had been selected as a full English curriculum. In 6 weeks of class, not one of the 3-4th graders had written or been taught the parts of a complete sentence. With phrases only, I'm afraid it sets up a poor idea of how English works in the minds of the students. I was tempted many times to swear and throw the whole set of books and flash cards right in the trash. I finally gave them back to the faculty, withdrew from the co-op, and chalked it up to a learning experience. If you are tempted to use this, please look at the "Phonics Road" first and save yourself a huge learning curve. At first I really balked about the Phonics Road being too involved. But after using it for a few weeks, I found it so easy, so complete and so enjoyable that I wish all homeschoolers would know about it. The reviews of the Phonics Road are too few and too inaccurate. A parent really has to teach it to find out really how amazing it is.