Recently my dh and I stumbled upon video we recorded of our sons reading their first decodable books. We laughed until our sides split! They were such cuties working through the words one sound at a time until at last they read every word and exclaimed "I did it! I can read!"
It was so much fun to watch the recordings of days gone by, but as I watched, I recalled the agony I felt at the time. It took them so long to decode all the words on the page. The passages were too long in my opinion. And the stories… oh! There is just so much that can be said about Pat and his cat, rat, and hat.
Soon after watching that video, I received Beehive Reader 1 from All About Spelling. Oh how I would have loved to have had this book when teaching my boys to read. It correlates 100% with All About Spelling level 1 by following the same instructional sequence and incorporating the same words.
The Beehive Reader has many great qualities, all designed with the young reader in mind.
The book is hardcover and sturdy. Not only does the quality binding have a nice feel to it, but it looks like a chapter book or something one of your older children would read. I remember our paperback readers did not hold up well, either. This book seems durable enough to be the first reader for all your children.
The paper is non-glare and easy on the eyes. The font is customized and is clear. Care was taken to distinguish between b's, p's, d's, and q's to help young readers and students with dyslexia.
Have you noticed the subtle underlining? This is faint enough to go unnoticed but serves to help children with tracking problems.
The illustrations are beautifully done and add to the reading experience. However, they have been done in a way to prevent students from using them as clues for predicting words in lieu of actual reading.
Most important to me is that the stories are story-like. They are not just a stream of words that include the same rhyming sounds, like Pat is a cat with a hat. The stories incorporate the words introduced in AAS level 1, using natural language in real story lines. This is much better for the young reader who needs exposure to good literature and for mom who must listen to her dear child's accomplishment 50 times over.
Well, I cannot go back in time to use this wonderful reader with my sons but I will tuck in safely away for the day I can sit with my grandbabies and listen to them read about The Pet Duck and The Bat and King Sam. I can also encourage you to check out this great book for your immerging reader by giving it two thumbs up!
Beehive Reader 1 is available from All About Spelling for $19.95.
Please Note: I am an AAS affiliate and will receive a commission on any purchases made from AAS using the links I provided in this review or elsewhere on my blog. I also received one copy of Beehive Reader 1 for free in order to complete this review. I have received no other compensation and have provided my honest evaluation of this book and AAS.
For more reviews, please visit the TOS Homeschool Crew blog.
3 comments:
I ordered this for our 6 yr old recently and she has loved it. In the back of the book it advertises a second and third reader, but I couldn't find any mention of it online. Does that mean they're in the works?
Yes, there are more books in the works which will match the next levels of AAS. I hope they will be available soon and I plan to post about them as soon as they give their affiliates the go-ahead.
Dawn, I'm pleased to tell you that you won the tea giveaway! If you will e-mail me your address through Facebook, I will get it in the mail.
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