Explode the Code 1

Love explode the code. Just make sure to check the books when ordering from here. My book was missing 10 pages towards the middle so I didn’t notice.

I purchased and have used Explode the Code books 1-4 to date. I also bought and am using the Teachers Guides as well. I enjoy the Guides as they take me through the process of introducing a skill, by offering short and effective interactive presentations or exercises. These usually take only minutes each, and with only a small amount of creativity can be extended when needed. Such activities include a short review of previous skill(s), a phonemic awareness activity, fluency, comprehension, writing, and a challenge, as well as the introduction of that unit's skill. The feedback from these is just what I need to know if its time to progress or not. The exercises also allow me to teach objectives from several angles despite my limited experience. Additional exercises are also presented to appeal to various learning styles. My student enjoys the Student pages in the Explode the Code books. Once a student learns to do each type of exercise they can be completed with a great degree of independence. Some times we spend more time on student pages one day and more time with other activities the other just to mix it up a bit. The ETC 1/2 numbered series offers more practice on the same skills taught in the whole numbered books. For those on a budget, or who are not ready to commit to purchasing an entire phonics system, as well as others who only need to remediate certain objectives, the fact that these books are sold separately is nice. While I use these as part of our home schooling day, I feel these books would be well suited for parents who wish to challenge a reader who is not being challenged in early grades at school, or who wishes to help remediate a slow or struggling reader. Explode the code is actually written for use in a class setting but well designed and lends to any student to teacher ratio.

The progressive phonics introduction, the engaging little drawings, the repetitive tasks, the systematic skill progression, among other educational objectives, all boil down to one fact ~ THIS WORKS! I've tried several other methods to assist my special child in spelling and reading. While these workbooks are marketed more as a supplement to a reading program, nothing has been more influential in my daughter actually GETTING IT! She is always eager to pull out her Explode the Code book first. The publisher of this series also produces the wonderful Wordly Wise 3000 workbooks which are equally successful and well-received by my students.

I'm a children's reading specialist and author ("Teaching Kids To Read for Dummies"). I've reviewed dozens of workbooks but use only a handful of the best. Nancy Hall's workbooks are among my favorites because they make absolute good sense. I could go into a lot of technical hoopla about the systematic and progressive teaching of "phonemic awareness", but really, this is what it boils down to: Nancy Hall knows her stuff and presents it in an easy to follow, attractive way with plenty of repetition and reinforcement. Great books.

I bought this workbook when my child was about halfway through "How to Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons." We were beginning to stall out and "Explode the Code" has been a good choice for expanding our phonics program. "Explode the Code" contains worksheets that reinforce both reading and writing. The same sound is covered again and again but with different activities so that it doesn't seem repetitious. It's very hands-on and my five year old can work fairly independently on it, once I read him the directions. "Explode the Code" is a nice supplement. I also recommend the "Victory Drill Book" for helping children improve the speed at which they read.

Both of my children have done this workbook and have found it thoroughly rewarding. There is a lot of repetition and good focus on spelling. Lots of phonics repetition as well. It is certainly one of the best workbooks I have ever seen for beginner readers.