Alpha-Phonics Reviews
(from real readers and teachers!)
“Alpha-Phonics, Sam Blumenfeld’s classic phonics manual, provides comprehensive phonics instruction in a simple, straightforward manner . . . The methodology is solid phonics.”
CATHY DUFFY
Curriculum Specialist, CathyDuffyReviews.com
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Alpha-Phonics, Sam Blumenfeld’s classic phonics manual, provides comprehensive phonics instruction in a simple, straightforward manner. Rules are presented along with lists of words and syllables, and, eventually, sentences. A parent works through lessons with his or her child, working from the book. You can add extra activities, practice readers, or games if you wish. One particular extra that is very helpful is Alpha-Phonics/How to Tutor Workbook. It has fill-in-the-blank and writing activities to reinforce lessons in the Alpha Phonics book.
Print is very large, suitable for young readers.
The methodology is solid phonics. Blending is taught via the vowel-consonant method, with initial consonants added next: e.g., "am" taught first, followed by "Sam" and "ham." Words are taught in families (e.g., an, ban, can, Dan, fan, Jan). However, many nonsense syllables are included in the early stages to help students develop phonetic fluency. Some of the practice lists of such syllables get quite silly as students read through syllables and words like: "gab, gac, gack, gad, gaf, gag, gal, gam, gan, gap, gas, gat, gav, gax, and gaz." Students practice with quite a few such lists, but they also move quickly into reading actual sentences.
This program does not use pictures for key words as do many other programs. The print is very large and clear with no illustrations or other distractions. The intent is that students concentrate on the letters themselves so that they immediately recognize the sounds associated with a letter rather than taking an extra mental step to recall a key word associated with a picture.
Alpha-Phonics teaches 44 different sounds for the letters of the alphabet. It teaches basic phonic rules, but not so many rules as we find in other programs like Writing Road to Reading andSaxon's Phonics. You will want to use other reading material for additional practice once students have actually begun to read sentences. The publisher has a set of ten Little Companion Readersthat work well alongside Alpha Phonics. Also note that Alpha Phonics recommends (but does not require) teaching cursive in the early grades before manuscript printing.
Parents must work with children through this book, but it requires no preparation time and is a very efficient, even if unexciting, way for children to learn phonics.
4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon – plus over 2000 reviews
“Alpha-Phonics has been used successfully in other remedial tutorial programs in Los Angeles for many years and, based upon their recommendations, we decided to use it for WE CAN . . . We have used Alpha-Phonics for thousands of students and have found it to be very well organized and comprehensive in its review of phonics.”
MICHAEL MCLAUGHLIN
Director, WECAN Los Angeles
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WECAN Foundation is a Supplemental Educational Services provider certified by the California Department of Education to provide after-school tutorial services to students in grades K-12. WE CAN works with numerous school districts throughout the Greater Los Angeles area and, as a consequence, we serve students who come from all over the world. Many of them are learning English as a second language. We provide tutors to work with them, one-on-one, after school to help them build their reading skill, which is key to learning in all subject areas. We have used your Alpha-Phonics, A Primer for Beginning Readers since the beginning of our program as the basic primer for teaching basic phonics. Currently, we have over 1200 students receiving our tutorial services.
Alpha-Phonics has been used successfully in other remedial tutorial programs in Los Angeles for many years and, based upon their recommendations, we decided to use it for WE CAN. We have used Alpha-Phonics for thousands of students and have found it to be very well organized and comprehensive in its review of phonics. The students enjoy the large print format and the primer is both user-friendly and durable. It covers the basics of reading very well and is reusable. Being reusable is very important because, as a nonprofit organization, we operate on very limited funds.
What People Are Saying
“I used Alphaphonics to teach all 6 of my daughters to read as well as tutoring other children. Now my oldest daughter wants to use Alphaphonics to teach her own son to read using Alphaphonics!!”
— Marie Gossling
“I taught my six children to read using this thorough phonics program. Alpha-Phonics is not only an excellent reading program but very affordable. I was able to use the same book for all six of my children!”
— Robin Stiles
“My daughter is 8 and has just finished 2nd grade in our home school. We are using How To Tutor and we love it. It is straightforward, organized, and superior to so many products you find today with a lot of miscellaneous [material] on the pages.”
— Linda Melton
YouTube Reviews
With more than 40 years of teaching students to read, Alpha-Phonics has accrued a lot of praise! But don’t take our word for it – explore what others are saying about Alpha-Phonics through these insightful YouTube reviews.