the reading lesson vs alphaphonics

[mombygrace]

Has any one used both? I need help deciding which to use with my ds. He is eager to read and asks for the lessons but does not like using the alphaphonics book. We have done only a few lessons in both.
I used alphaphonics with my dd and older ds successfully.
I now have The reading lesson which he prefers. Trouble is I don't know much about it so I am worried it would not teach him well.
I also have phonics pathways and 100ez lessons given to me by friends.
He loves using magnetic letters and the dry erase board for his lessons. He can sound out and blend 3 letter words.We read to him at least 1 hour daily not counting group read alouds. Has done leap frog dvds and starfall. He is 3 1/2 by the way( my other children learned to read about the same age with the same early signs).
I don't want to keep hoping around but want to give him a good start in reading. Any ideas about the above programs would be helpful.thanks

[Kuovonne]

I've only used "The Reading Lesson" but it worked great with my daughter. Now, we are using a spelling program to add the advanced phonics stuff.

[mombygrace]

Thanks for the input. Did you find your daughter guessing with this method? thanks

[TaraTheLiberator]

The Reading Lesson worked great for my daughter, who picked up reading very easily. In fact, we never finished the book because she got beyond it very quickly. We are using Explode the Code now.

The Reading Lesson has NOT worked well for my son, who is struggling with reading. Imo, there has not been enough practice with the sounds, and he's just not carrying over to the next lesson what he learned previously. We hit a wall at Lesson 8 where he just wasn't progressing and would get very upset and cry during reading lessons. We switched to Phonics Pathways.

Imo, Phonics Pathways is a better overall program.

Tara

[bethben]

I am using Alpha-phonics with my ds. He doesn't like the alpha-phonics book either. So...I spell out the words using letter tiles (from All About Spelling) on a magnetic white board. When we do long sentences, I write them on the white board and he erases the word when he reads it. So, technically, we're doing alpha-phonics, but he never reads from the book.
Beth

[Kuovonne]

No, I didn't find my daugther guessing with "The Reading Lessons." I liked the balance of pictures and words.

For what it's worth, my daughter knew her letter sounds from the LeapFrog Letter Factory video and could blend sounds together before we started the book.

[mombygrace]

Thank you all so much for responding.