The program is excellent and it is working! I was thrilled to see that Henry quickly detected that “commanding” was not “coming” in today’s lesson, indicating that he is guessing less and decoding more. I have also observed that Henry is now interested in reading signs (traffic, on buildings, etc.) whereas he used to avoid looking at words altogether. I think we’ve made it over a big hump.
I didn’t notice a big difference when the highlight went off on the story. When Henry reads the story, he reads quite well, and fluidly. Because he is going faster, he reads “place” instead of “palace” (I stop him, correct him, and remind him to decode and look at all of the letters rather than guess) which indicates that he may be guessing more often when he is reading a string of words and perhaps trying to get through it quickly (he knows there is a time limit so he wants to go fast). He pauses for the longest time on words he rarely sees, like “polyfilla” (we call it “spackle” in the states) or even “fond”. The blue highlighted words with explanations are terrific, and I fill in with my own explanations for other words throughout the lesson that he may not know very well (like “fond”).
The spy theme for the prizes is wonderful, and I especially appreciate that you send things that are of good quality. We will actually use and keep them!
I am so grateful for this program!