Our latest review opportunity was the Scaredy Cat Reading System, level 2, from Joyce Herzog. Dr. Joyce Herzog has been an educator for over 25 years and has developed many different learning products that cover grammar, reading, writing, history, and more.
About Scaredy Cat Reading
This is a mastery based phonics program that covers spelling as well as phonics. It incorporates a variety of games, stories, and songs to make learning to read fun. The program includes a teacher's manual, study activity book, audio CD, and a Fun Learning Pack.
The Learning Pack includes letter and word cards, letter and word magnets, games, and stories. There is something to appeal to every type of
Our Experience
The first thing I did after receiving the Scaredy Cat Reading System was prepare. There is quite a bit of prep work to be done before beginning. Mainly cutting out all of the cards and magnet tiles. When I first saw it all I did sigh a bit, but it didn't take me nearly as long to do as I feared. I just dug in and started cutting until I was finished.
Next I began reading the teacher's manual (TM). At first I was a little overwhelmed. There is a lot in the manual and student book (SB). I wasn't exactly sure how to proceed. So when in doubt, jump in with
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| Finding All of the Vowels |
I decided to begin by reading the Story of the Letter Master. This mini-book, in a comic format, gives you the thought process behind the story hidden in a cute story. Kayleigh thought this book was hilarious and, while much of it was over her head, we've read it several times. I know that it will make more and more sense to her as we progress through the program.
Next we listened to Lesson 1 on the audio CD. Joyce herself "teaches" the lesson and Kayleigh actually sat and listened to the entire thing. It was easy to follow and the song was super catchy.
From there I just picked and chose activities from the TM and SB that I thought Kayleigh would like. The program is like a buffet where you can pick and choose what appeals to you. Like a buffet, there is a ton to choose from and you don't have to do them all. We spent two weeks on Lesson 1 alone and we still had a ton of activities that we didn't get to. I plan on revisiting some of them as review down the line.
This is pretty much the format that we've been following ever since. Listen to the lesson on the CD and spending a couple of weeks working on different activities in the TM and SB. It is working well for us and Kayleigh looks forward to each lesson.
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| Sorting the Words by the Vowels "Scared Sounds" |
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| Detective Kayleigh is tracking down the vowels |
All in all, we are really enjoying this program. The "box checker" in me wouldn't mind seeing the TM more organized and there were quite a few typos in both the TM and SB. I liked how versatile the program was. I guess the plus to the less organized format is that I didn't really feel to bad that we didn't do every activity in each lesson.
F.Y.I.
Website: http://joyceherzog.com/Joyce_Herzog/Welcome.html
Age Range: Varies depending on child's prior knowledge. Level 2 is appropriate for any child who has already mastered basic letter sounds.
Pricing: $75 for the complete system
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