I’ve been using McGuffey for a couple of years and thought I’d share what’s worked for spelling ... now my dd is15 but has delays so we just finished the 2nd reader .. when she begins a new lesson I test her Orally on the lessons words so that she only has to work with the ones she missed .. she writes them 3x each ..midweek I test her Orally on those words and repeat the process .. thus far it’s working and her spelling and vocabulary has improved greatly ...❤️
Another great, informational video!! Thank you! I'd love one about the Harvey's Grammar as I plan to use that after your Gentle Grammar. Again, thank you for being a Titus 2 woman and sharing your knowledge on practical and spiritual levels! ❤
Thank you so much for all your insight. I was wondering if you could make a list of what books go with different grade levels. I know you mentioned it in the video. I have never used these books, and it is hard to see and understand what books go with suggested grade levels. There is no criticism just trying to gain a clear understanding ☺️
What I have done with my kiddos this summer is start right at the lowest book oldest to youngest. I felt the stories and language was not to be missed and figured they could go very quickly through them until they made it to the instruction level. The olders completed the first 2 books in a week and then I am having them do 1 lesson a day until they reach true instructional level...then I will move to 1 lesson weekly as daily rereading and studying spelling and vocabulary is great to review... Thank you again for such an awesome video. I just love Ruth Beechick...she will have a lot friends she never knew as we reach heaven😉🤗😊
My 7 year old daughter loves the McGuffey readers. It really shocked me how she much ask to read them. We are in the primer and she is flying through it and giving her great confidence. We plan to continue with the Raiders throughout our education.
So I have never used or even seen a mcguffey reader in person and I have been homeschooling for 9 years...I know crazy 🤪 right. So I have tried every method with our homeschool and we fall somewhere in the relaxed unschool CM style of learning and I have done my best to give time to middle son on his reading journey. I admit in the beginning I laid it on to thick for a 5 year old, but after a few harder than necessary years I let go of the pressure and slowed way down and went at his pace ever since. He is now 12 1/2 years old and refuses to read...! We I ask why I get "I don't like too, the words are too small and I'm not wearing glasses plus I just don't like too read unless it's a comic book that's in color." He listens to an audiobook everyday mostly the same one over and over. So I'm looking into this whole world of mcguffey readers wondering if this would help his like to read. By this video I'm thinking the 2nd readers would be a good place, but all the marking over the word is so confusing even I don't know what they mean. I'm still a struggling reader myself...product of public school...🤷♀️ We do all the things like read alouds and listening to audiobooks and copywork. I love the idea of good rich reading but I'm a little intimated by these McGuffey readers, but starting at the beginning looks even more intimidating than the 3rd and 4th readers. Do the original have all those markings and are the better than the revised. It's about $85 is for the whole set of original McGuffey readers and free to download and print. But the print version is the revised and they look so confusing to be honest my brain is like...what?...just not sure what to next step is for this child going into the middle school, but not willing to read... Granted at his age I only read what I absolutely had to. I hated to read and didn't really know howuch less read well, but I was willing to try so I could complete my assignments. Any advice is welcome. Thanks for you videos so much well need advice!!
Do you think it's ok to place a child in a book that's easy for them to read? My 6 year old just got done with our phonics program and reads pretty well, but does not spell well. To give you an idea, she can read the NKJV bible out loud to me pretty well. We do Robinson Curriculum, so she would be going through that booklist, but I'll be using the McGuffeys for the writing portion of RC. I just started her on lesson LVIII of the pictorial primer, but she whizzes through it.
I’m a touch confused as to how to implement the use of the McGuffey books. How often to narrate/dictate? Do you do vocabulary lists from the books as well, and if so how often? Thanks!
Just a random question. How many copies of the mcGuffey do you have for you and your children to use. I homeschooled 5. When all of them where schooling I found that I needed one set for me and then 2 other sets for the kids. Do you do the same? P.S. Thank you, for doing the video on the readers. I have tried to help other homeschoolers with using the readers. Now I just send them to your page.
That's a great question! I actually have had to make due, but having the revised on disk or free download can help (there are instructions for printing and binding on my blog at MomDelights.com
Thank you for this! I’ve seen this video about 3 times and I am still unsure of where to start my upcoming 5th grader. I would say she is at her level maybe a little above her grade level. I purchased the Original second reader and the revised 3rd reader. I don’t know if I should start her in the middle of the second reader or just start the revised 3rd reader. Could you please help me figure out where I should place her? Thank you!
Sherry do you have any videos or blog posts about your Gentle Grammar books? Amazon has a decent sample of book one, but not really of book 2. I'm curious about the different levels and what they contain. Thanks!
Great questions! I believe the application of the Charlotte Mason method covers these areas pretty well, and the rest can be done via writing daily/weekly essays. See Karen Rodriguez over at Our House for information on that :)
I’m so glad I’ve found your videos! I have the original McGuffey’s and I’m thinking I’m going to switch my 3 kids to them. I’ve been using TGATB and IEW for Language Arts, but I’m starting to think I should go back to the basics. I believe my son, who has learning difficulties in LA, would benefit from these readers. I’ve been trying to catch him up to “where he should be” (🙄 I know.) I need to take a step back and simplify it for him. I think that’ll benefit him tremendously. Also, implementing more of God and morals in his reading can never be a bad thing, right?! 😂 Thank you for making these videos ❤️
You said there’s too much of a big leap between the eclectic second reader and the third so you recommend the revised third reader instead. Do you ever go back to do the eclectic third and fourth readers and when?
I used how to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons with my last daughter, she is now 7 and doing well. Now my slower learner Im really just having a struggle with choosing what to use. I tried the same book, but she just isn't ready. So im wondering if she just needs more read alouds and the McGuffey primer with handwriting? She knows how to write her name and other letters. I really don't want to spend a couple hundred to find a right fit. We are a family of 8 so budget yay!! She is using easy peasy at the moment and it works on letters and sounds but I want something more … Thanks so much.
Hi I saw your comment and wondering what you used to help your reader. My 1st grade 7 year old is having to work at reading. He just doesn't like to read. I bought phonics pathways and started to use the Learn to read with easy peasy that uses the mcguffey reader.
You can make either work. I am using the revised versions that are sold on a disc from www.dollarhomeschool.com. My daughter is almost done with the Eclectic Primer and will start the First Reader in a couple of weeks. We started with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and around the 50th lesson, I had her start reading a McGuffey lesson one per week for a while. Now that we're done with 100 Easy Lessons, I'm having my daughter read one lesson per day from the Primer. When we start the First Reader, we will do one lesson per week for all of the language arts components spelling, vocabulary, grammar through copywork, dictation, narration, and reading.
Can you help me please? I have an older child who reads well but doesn’t spell higher than a second or third grade level. Placing her is so hard because her reading/spelling don’t match. Do you have any suggestions please and thank you
I'm actually working on something currently that I hope to release soon. Until then, there is a free program at k12 reader (I think) or you could try the affordable Flash Kids spelling books.
Thank you for these videos. You are so encouraging! Where would you recommend starting a 12th grader who can read the words, but still struggles with comprehension?
I would take him back to about the fourth revised book and do some oral narrations at first. This means he reads the lesson, then tells you back what he read in his own words. If this is too difficult, start with something a bit shorter and more familiar to get the idea of what you are looking for, such as retelling a favorite movie in his own words, then an event he experienced, then a short story such as those in the McG's. After he feels confident and is pretty comfortable telling back the lesson orally, have him narrate a lesson in a single paragraph. Gradually work on extending the length of the narrations. This should help greatly in comprehension, much better than a bunch of multiple-choice questions, and better for the rest of his life.
Actually, no, but I really should include that in the description area of my videos! I did just a quick search and found them all over the place, and you can even find links to free downloads, which you could print and bind yourself (I have blog and vlog posts on how to print and bind old books). Hope this helps!
These readers were created for one-room school houses where there weren't any grades, just different ability levels. Each reader covers about two years' worth of work. The best way to find your level is to have your child read a paragraph or two in a book and note how many words are unfamiliar. You want to keep from frustrating your child while keeping him challenged. I think I covered this somewhere...perhaps this needs a new video?
If you can only find the revised you can still make it work--just make sure and do more phonics and rewrite the word lists so they will not be confused by the diacritical marks in the lower readers. There is actually an excellent cursive alphabet you could use to teach your children.
I think they can be helpful, but they are pretty easy to give to them if you do them contextually. I don't think they need a separate program or anything.
As a person...I just think you have such a beautiful spirit.
Thank you, Jesus :)
I’ve been using McGuffey for a couple of years and thought I’d share what’s worked for spelling ... now my dd is15 but has delays so we just finished the 2nd reader .. when she begins a new lesson I test her Orally on the lessons words so that she only has to work with the ones she missed .. she writes them 3x each ..midweek I test her Orally on those words and repeat the process .. thus far it’s working and her spelling and vocabulary has improved greatly ...❤️
This was very useful. I wish i had seen your videos sooner! Thanks for sharing so much information.
So glad to be of help!
Another great, informational video!! Thank you! I'd love one about the Harvey's Grammar as I plan to use that after your Gentle Grammar. Again, thank you for being a Titus 2 woman and sharing your knowledge on practical and spiritual levels! ❤
Thank you so much for all your insight. I was wondering if you could make a list of what books go with different grade levels. I know you mentioned it in the video. I have never used these books, and it is hard to see and understand what books go with suggested grade levels. There is no criticism just trying to gain a clear understanding ☺️
LandOfKakiak has one on their Etsy site!
What I have done with my kiddos this summer is start right at the lowest book oldest to youngest. I felt the stories and language was not to be missed and figured they could go very quickly through them until they made it to the instruction level. The olders completed the first 2 books in a week and then I am having them do 1 lesson a day until they reach true instructional level...then I will move to 1 lesson weekly as daily rereading and studying spelling and vocabulary is great to review... Thank you again for such an awesome video. I just love Ruth Beechick...she will have a lot friends she never knew as we reach heaven😉🤗😊
That's so true! Sounds like a terrific plan :)
My 7 year old daughter loves the McGuffey readers. It really shocked me how she much ask to read them. We are in the primer and she is flying through it and giving her great confidence. We plan to continue with the Raiders throughout our education.
So I have never used or even seen a mcguffey reader in person and I have been homeschooling for 9 years...I know crazy 🤪 right. So I have tried every method with our homeschool and we fall somewhere in the relaxed unschool CM style of learning and I have done my best to give time to middle son on his reading journey. I admit in the beginning I laid it on to thick for a 5 year old, but after a few harder than necessary years I let go of the pressure and slowed way down and went at his pace ever since. He is now 12 1/2 years old and refuses to read...! We I ask why I get "I don't like too, the words are too small and I'm not wearing glasses plus I just don't like too read unless it's a comic book that's in color." He listens to an audiobook everyday mostly the same one over and over. So I'm looking into this whole world of mcguffey readers wondering if this would help his like to read. By this video I'm thinking the 2nd readers would be a good place, but all the marking over the word is so confusing even I don't know what they mean. I'm still a struggling reader myself...product of public school...🤷♀️ We do all the things like read alouds and listening to audiobooks and copywork. I love the idea of good rich reading but I'm a little intimated by these McGuffey readers, but starting at the beginning looks even more intimidating than the 3rd and 4th readers. Do the original have all those markings and are the better than the revised. It's about $85 is for the whole set of original McGuffey readers and free to download and print. But the print version is the revised and they look so confusing to be honest my brain is like...what?...just not sure what to next step is for this child going into the middle school, but not willing to read... Granted at his age I only read what I absolutely had to. I hated to read and didn't really know howuch less read well, but I was willing to try so I could complete my assignments. Any advice is welcome. Thanks for you videos so much well need advice!!
Do you think it's ok to place a child in a book that's easy for them to read? My 6 year old just got done with our phonics program and reads pretty well, but does not spell well. To give you an idea, she can read the NKJV bible out loud to me pretty well. We do Robinson Curriculum, so she would be going through that booklist, but I'll be using the McGuffeys for the writing portion of RC. I just started her on lesson LVIII of the pictorial primer, but she whizzes through it.
I’m a touch confused as to how to implement the use of the McGuffey books. How often to narrate/dictate? Do you do vocabulary lists from the books as well, and if so how often? Thanks!
Are there answers to the questions at the end of each stories?
They aren't really needed as the questions are more for consideration and discussion.
Just a random question. How many copies of the mcGuffey do you have for you and your children to use. I homeschooled 5. When all of them where schooling I found that I needed one set for me and then 2 other sets for the kids. Do you do the same?
P.S. Thank you, for doing the video on the readers. I have tried to help other homeschoolers with using the readers. Now I just send them to your page.
That's a great question! I actually have had to make due, but having the revised on disk or free download can help (there are instructions for printing and binding on my blog at MomDelights.com
Thank you for this! I’ve seen this video about 3 times and I am still unsure of where to start my upcoming 5th grader. I would say she is at her level maybe a little above her grade level. I purchased the Original second reader and the revised 3rd reader. I don’t know if I should start her in the middle of the second reader or just start the revised 3rd reader. Could you please help me figure out where I should place her? Thank you!
Why not start with the 2nd reader, and if it is not challenging enough, go on to the third reader? I don't think she will be harmed in any way :)
Great advice, thank you so much!! I only just discovered your channel not too long ago, but you have been very helpful, thank you.
Sherry do you have any videos or blog posts about your Gentle Grammar books? Amazon has a decent sample of book one, but not really of book 2. I'm curious about the different levels and what they contain. Thanks!
What do you recommend to teach structure of paragraphs and poetry? What about writing a term paper?
Great questions! I believe the application of the Charlotte Mason method covers these areas pretty well, and the rest can be done via writing daily/weekly essays. See Karen Rodriguez over at Our House for information on that :)
I’m so glad I’ve found your videos! I have the original McGuffey’s and I’m thinking I’m going to switch my 3 kids to them. I’ve been using TGATB and IEW for Language Arts, but I’m starting to think I should go back to the basics. I believe my son, who has learning difficulties in LA, would benefit from these readers. I’ve been trying to catch him up to “where he should be” (🙄 I know.) I need to take a step back and simplify it for him. I think that’ll benefit him tremendously. Also, implementing more of God and morals in his reading can never be a bad thing, right?! 😂 Thank you for making these videos ❤️
My pleasure entirely, I think they will really help your son!
Thank you so much for this video! It really helped me decide on where to start my oldest.
I'm really glad to hear that. The McGuffey's are so amazing, it's just a matter of unlocking them.
You said there’s too much of a big leap between the eclectic second reader and the third so you recommend the revised third reader instead. Do you ever go back to do the eclectic third and fourth readers and when?
Actually, I don't use them except for interesting reading 😉
In your opinion which one would you recommend first
The original second reader OR
the revised second reader.
Definitely the 2nd revised reader!
@@MomDelights thanks
What would you recommend for a highschool writing curriculum ?
IEW Structure and Style.
I used how to teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons with my last daughter, she is now 7 and doing well. Now my slower learner Im really just having a struggle with choosing what to use. I tried the same book, but she just isn't ready. So im wondering if she just needs more read alouds and the McGuffey primer with handwriting? She knows how to write her name and other letters. I really don't want to spend a couple hundred to find a right fit. We are a family of 8 so budget yay!! She is using easy peasy at the moment and it works on letters and sounds but I want something more … Thanks so much.
Hi I saw your comment and wondering what you used to help your reader. My 1st grade 7 year old is having to work at reading. He just doesn't like to read. I bought phonics pathways and started to use the Learn to read with easy peasy that uses the mcguffey reader.
I do not have the original McGuffey only the revised. Is it necessary for the originals and the revised? Or can you make either or work?
I only have the revised...and have just been doing them.
You can make either work. I am using the revised versions that are sold on a disc from www.dollarhomeschool.com. My daughter is almost done with the Eclectic Primer and will start the First Reader in a couple of weeks. We started with Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and around the 50th lesson, I had her start reading a McGuffey lesson one per week for a while. Now that we're done with 100 Easy Lessons, I'm having my daughter read one lesson per day from the Primer. When we start the First Reader, we will do one lesson per week for all of the language arts components spelling, vocabulary, grammar through copywork, dictation, narration, and reading.
Can you help me please? I have an older child who reads well but doesn’t spell higher than a second or third grade level. Placing her is so hard because her reading/spelling don’t match. Do you have any suggestions please and thank you
I'm actually working on something currently that I hope to release soon. Until then, there is a free program at k12 reader (I think) or you could try the affordable Flash Kids spelling books.
Thank you
Thank you for these videos. You are so encouraging! Where would you recommend starting a 12th grader who can read the words, but still struggles with comprehension?
I would take him back to about the fourth revised book and do some oral narrations at first. This means he reads the lesson, then tells you back what he read in his own words. If this is too difficult, start with something a bit shorter and more familiar to get the idea of what you are looking for, such as retelling a favorite movie in his own words, then an event he experienced, then a short story such as those in the McG's. After he feels confident and is pretty comfortable telling back the lesson orally, have him narrate a lesson in a single paragraph. Gradually work on extending the length of the narrations. This should help greatly in comprehension, much better than a bunch of multiple-choice questions, and better for the rest of his life.
Thank you so much! Fourth reader is exactly what I was thinking as well.
Do you have links to purchase the McGuffeys?
Actually, no, but I really should include that in the description area of my videos! I did just a quick search and found them all over the place, and you can even find links to free downloads, which you could print and bind yourself (I have blog and vlog posts on how to print and bind old books). Hope this helps!
Can you confirm for me the appropriate grade levels for each Mcguffey Readers?
These readers were created for one-room school houses where there weren't any grades, just different ability levels. Each reader covers about two years' worth of work. The best way to find your level is to have your child read a paragraph or two in a book and note how many words are unfamiliar. You want to keep from frustrating your child while keeping him challenged. I think I covered this somewhere...perhaps this needs a new video?
Do you think it is necessary for me to purchase the original Mcguffeys if I can only find the revised
If you can only find the revised you can still make it work--just make sure and do more phonics and rewrite the word lists so they will not be confused by the diacritical marks in the lower readers. There is actually an excellent cursive alphabet you could use to teach your children.
Mom Delights thank you so much for the response and I will definitely be using it for the cursive as well
Thank you! I ❤️ the videos!
You are welcome :)
Thanks so much. This helped so much.
You are welcome :)
Do you think that children need to know the rules of spelling?
I think they can be helpful, but they are pretty easy to give to them if you do them contextually. I don't think they need a separate program or anything.
I ,ove your videos but I can hardly hear you with my speakers and volume as high as it will go
I'm sorry that is happening for you☺. Don't really know how to help, perhaps someone else can chime in?
Sometimes I have a hard time too. I put on the closed captions and this helps alot.