ETC Question

[Mama2Three]

Hi there,

My 1st grader DS just started ETC book 4. The first lesson was compound words, and now he is on the second lesson for common endings (-ful, -ing, -ness, etc). But after this lesson, the remainder of the lessons work on syllable division. Ten lessons on syllabication seems like an awful lot for this age -- it would work out to about 3 months of phonics. I am tempted to skip the rest of the lessons in 4 and move onto 5, which works on word families, 3 letter blends, -ey, and -ed. He did well on book 3, but I could buy 3 1/2 for extra practice.

I can understand that some work on syllable division would help with sounding out words, but is this too much for a first grader? Or would I be doing my DS a disservice by skipping over these lessons?

TIA for your help! :)
Amy

[Emmy]

When I did ETC with my oldest I actually skipped book 4 and 5 and went straight from book 3 to book 6. I did it that way because I was using Winterpromise's language arts program and that is how they scheduled it. I ended up dropping the WP LA but continued with ETC and it ended up working out fine.

I now have my 2nd son (age 6, 1st grade) doing the same. I might have son #2 go back and work on book 4 or 5 later but for right now it will best serve him to move through book 6 first since we are covering the book 6 concepts in learning to read right now.

[klmama]

We went in order. It worked fine. There are compound words and multi-syllable words in the later books, anyway, so your dc will need to know how to read them.

[laughing lioness]

I just use the books in order.

[Erica in OR]

I did book 4 with my dd at the end of 2nd grade/start of 3rd grade. It wasn't for the phonics, but rather for the syllabication rules, and knowing how to use the rules to attack harder words. It was really a slog to move through all those lessons. I think the suggestion to skip ahead and then come back to 4 later would be a good one. We had a difficult time in 2nd/3rd grade with it, even with an established reader, and my inexpertise with the rules.

Erica in OR

[NJKelli]

We're on ETC 4, and I've been wondering about all the syllabication. It's been helpful, meaning I really have been seeing good results in her reading. I'm wondering if someone could please tell me what's in book 5 in case it gets too much and we decide to skip ahead?

Thanks!

[Another Lynn]

We're on ETC 4, and I've been wondering about all the syllabication. It's been helpful, meaning I really have been seeing good results in her reading. I'm wondering if someone could please tell me what's in book 5 in case it gets too much and we decide to skip ahead?

Thanks!

I think somewhere in your book (maybe inside back cover), there's a list of each book and what it covers.

To OP a lot of folks here skip book 4 altogether. I think that was about the time I left ETC for SWR with my oldest. With my 2nd, I think we'll probably skip book4 or do it later.

[TaraTheLiberator]

Ten lessons on syllabication seems like an awful lot for this age -- it would work out to about 3 months of phonics.

My kids go through a book in about 6 weeks. Maybe you could increase the speed at which you work through a lesson.

Tara

[Mama2Three]

Thanks, everyone! I feel relieved to hear that others have skipped book 4 as well. After DS finishes lesson 2, we'll skip the rest of book 4 and come back to it later. I'll look at Phonics Pathways (our other phonics book) to see whether it would be better to go on to book 5 or 6.

[Josie]

I have gone through book 4 with two children. I really didn't *get* why syllabication and all the rules were important with my first child. I *got* it with my second child. I really do think it can be very important depending on how your child learns to read. I think it is beneficial regardless of how a child learns to read. So, I think it is important. Would I hold off on book 4 until nd grade? Yes, I think many children aren't able to understand the importance until then. Oh, and you have to reinforce the importance. Keep making sure they really get what they are being taught. I believe ETC book 4 really is intended for 2nd graders.

[Mandamom]

that I work for we use the books out of order and skip after 3 either use 6 or 5 next. Dividing syllables is important but it should be taught when the student is ready for it whether that is 5 or 9.

[KarenNC]

We skipped some of the lessons in book 4, particularly the ones on open/closed syllables. They were confusing to my daughter at that age (I don't remember if she was a late 5 or early 6 at the time) and not having them has not hindered her (she's 8 now). Reading, however, is her strength, along with vocabulary and spelling, so that may make a big difference. She seems to intuit words the way I've heard others describe their kids as intuiting math concepts (something that we don't *dare* skip any parts of and in fact often need extra practice on some of them). You can always go back and do those lessons if you feel they are needed later on.

[siloam]

Amy,

I think it is important to teach, but I also agree that without regular reinforcement it is going to be quickly forgotten. My oldest scores well in comprehension test, but she can't remember how syllables work for the life of her, and she did ETC in order. I would recommend you skip book 4 and come back to it when they are older.

Heather

[Laura Corin]

I skipped book 4 completely, and haven't found that Hobbes missed out.

Laura

[Mama2Three]

Dividing syllables is important but it should be taught when the student is ready for it whether that is 5 or 9.

I agree with this, and I don't think my little guy is ready to learn, understand, and retain syllabication. He might be able to muddle through, but I'm not sure how much would really stick. I'm going to pause with ETC for a couple weeks so we can catch up in Phonics Pathways, then we'll pick up again in either ETC book 5 or 6.

Thanks again for all the responses! :)

[Laura Corin]

Whilst students should be able to divide syllables (so they can break a word if they run out of space at the end of a line) it can actually be learned quite casually, without an entire book of rules.

I taught Hobbes to clap out words, hearing the beat of the syllables. For example, he would clap once for each syllable in 'ri-di-cu-lous'. Once he could clap out the word, then he already knew how to divide the syllables: in the way that made them pronounceable/clappable.

Best wishes

Laura

[Mama2Three]

Well, we tried skipping book 4, but book 5 seems like too much of a leap for DS. Book 3 has only 1 syllable words, book 4 introduces 2 syllable words, and book 5 moves to 2 syllable words + endings (eg, invented) then moves on to word families. DS had sailed through book 3, but was getting stuck in book 5 because he hadn't had practice sounding out "invent" before moving to "invented." I thought about skipping to the word family part, but the sentences use words from 4 and 5 so that didn't make sense for us. So, DS is back in book 4 and feeling more comfortable with his work again. I plan to briefly go over the syllabication rules as they come up but try not to get caught up in them. I think this goes against the general sentiment of just skipping book 4, but I think it'll work better for DS.

Thanks again for all the responses. It helped me to flesh out what we wanted to do.

[Jennefer@SSA]

Just one more thought...

You might consider going back and doing some of the half books (1 1/2, 2 1/2 and 3 1/2) if Book 5 seems like too big of a gap but your dc is not quite ready for the information in Book 4 yet. We loved the 1/2 books as they provided more practice to really cement those skills. At least that's how they helped us! ;)