Explode the Code 3

Based on Orton Gillingham, these workbooks have helped my new and struggling readers gain confidence and skills. Some of the sentences are silly which causes them to chuckle and be less anxious as well as to really read.

We loved these books. All three of my kids learned to read and start spelling with the explode the code books. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

I was very glad I started my 14 year old with Down Syndrome on these early books even though he was above this level. It gave him confidence to do the work books and helped him focus on following directions which will help when getting to the books in the series he struggles with. Great pictures. The only issue I have is sometimes the pictures can be confusing like for the letter N the picture is a tie in a collar. The first word that came to my mind and my son’s was “tie” but I realized since we were on the letter N it must be “necktie” that seems like two different words to a young reader and there are a couple of other compound words like that which young kids and ones with learning disability might struggle with so it is important to sit with your child and make sure they understand the right word for the drawing.

I can’t recommend this program enough! I done the first 3 books with my oldest daughter when she was 4 and we moved on to all about reading and she is an excellent reader! I forgot about these when it came time for my next 2 to learn to read! Tried several different programs and nothing was sticking they were still getting confused and forgetting the letters and/or the sounds. Remembered I done these with my oldest so I ordered them. I’m telling you these work like magic! Both my girls loved doing the work and quickly caught on so much faster than they did with any other program! Highly recommend so much so that I may just continue this program for the rest of their phonics instruction!

We had been doing a different phonics curriculum (Spell to Write and Read), which was perfect for one of my children, but one of my kids was struggling to remember the various rules (like silent e's and long vowels) the way SWR presents them (kind of...haphazardly). We needed more regimented structure and ridiculous amounts of repetition to boost his confidence. So we jumped right in to this book for my 1st grader and (remedial) 2nd grader without doing any of the others in the series. My kids love: 1. The silly sentences 2. The "tricky" choose-the-right-word sections 3. That they can jump right in and do pages without my help. I love: 1. That they can jump right in and do pages without my help. 2. The VERY methodical approach and plentiful repetition. My struggling son really needs the repetition, but he gets annoyed and discouraged when I remind him of the same things over and over. He seems to accept the repetition from the workbook more happily than from me. My not-struggling daughter doesn't really need the reading repetition, but she thinks the activities are pretty fun, and she benefits from the writing practice. 3. The pictures of the other levels on the back of the book. My kids are stoked to "move up a level" when they're done with this book. I DON'T love: 1. That there's no cursive option. We have been doing cursive since age 4 and love it, but there are unfortunately no phonics workbooks available that use cursive. 2. That some phonics rules are kind of loose. SWR (which is like the Spalding method or Writing Road to Reading method) is amazing at being thorough and closing all those dumb English loopholes, and this is a bit less intensive. But it's working for us right now.

A reading specialist in my school district recommended that I buy Explode the Code for our three year old to get them started writing and identifying upper & lower case letters. The sequential nature of the books kept our daughter engaged for over a year. Mazes, puzzles, picture identification, etc. played a role in the student she is today. She has an almost unfair advantage over other kindergarten students that are still learning their ABC’s. Now I’m not saying you’ll get the exact same results, what I can almost guarantee is that your child will enjoy plowing through the pages & learning along the way.

I found this too easy for the average 3rd grader as it seems to be geared more for second grade. The 3 1/2 level seems more appropriate. That aside, I love this series. The format for each page is basically the same so after doing about 4-5 pages, children easily pick up the different directions and work independently.

Layout of book is great. Helps break the words down nice for the kids.

Got for my child struggling to read. 100 easy lessons wasn’t working for her, so switched to this. Books were new, good course.

The kids love these books!

Love these books for homeschooling!

Really pleased with advances in learning using this. Next Book please!

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