Alpha-Phonics First Readers Set

Sam Blumenfeld's Alpha-Phonics uses the 44 unique sounds of the English language to assist beginning readers with the task of identifying those sounds and the letters that make them. Through 128 lessons, students progress from the most basic sounds to those that are more and more complex. By the last lesson, they should be able to read most words by decoding their sounds.

This series of Alpha-Phonics Readers is meant to act as a series of milestone markers as kids progress through the main lessons in the Alpha-Phonics text. They're nothing more than small saddle-stitched volumes with one-page stories for students to read once they've completed the corresponding lesson in the main book.

While you could simply use these as tests of a sort (if the kids can't make it through all the stories, have them work on what they're struggling with), it would be more fun to use them as rewards. There is no reason a child who's finished the appropriate lesson shouldn't be able to read the paired reader, so you could "award" them with a reader.

The first ten readers are all comprised of stories using words from the main text, but the eleventh reader is a short anthology of classic poems by Hilaire Belloc, Walter de la Mare, and others which are decidedly more fun than the stories in the previous readers. These aren't necessary to use Alpha-Phonics successfully, but they do help break up the monotony.

• First Readers Book 1 is for readers who have completed Lesson 14
• First Readers Book 2 is for readers who have completed Lesson 28
• First Readers Book 3 is for readers who have completed Lesson 37
• First Readers Book 4 is for readers who have completed Lesson 39
• First Readers Book 5 is for readers who have completed Lesson 49
• First Readers Book 6 is for readers who have completed Lesson 71
• First Readers Book 7 is for readers who have completed Lesson 86
• First Readers Book 8 is for readers who have completed Lesson 100
• First Readers Book 9 is for readers who have completed Lesson 117
• First Readers Book 10 is for readers who have completed Lesson 128
• First Readers Book 11 is for readers who have completed Alpha-Phonics

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.