Open Court Reading

Has anyone had any experience with this reading program in their children's' schools? My husband and I went to orientation yesterday at the school our daughter will be attending for kindergarten and were told they used it. I can't find a great deal of information on the web, although the Florida Department of Education seems to be quite in favor of it, which given the state of Florida schools, is enough to turn me off to it immediately. If anyone has had any experience with Open Court, I'd be grateful for your thoughts on it. Thank you.

Every few weeks they send home a new "book" which the child can keep, but it is really more like a pamphlet than a book.

In K, Open Court starts with a "pre-decodable" series. The words are simple, repetitive and closely match the pictures so the kids can make a good guess as to what word they need to "read" next. I believe that now we are doing a more difficult series, but I don't pay much attention since my daughter progressed way beyond it long ago. My preschooler seems to enjoy them very much, so at least someone in the family is getting something out of it ;)

If your daughter is already reading or close to it when she starts K, Open Court will be too easy. My sense is that it is a good system for teaching the slower readers, but if your daughter is more advanced, you and/or her teacher will need to supplement with more difficult material.

If you want to start with something similar over the summer at home to give her a head start, you can try the BOB series http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Books-Set-1-Beginning-Readers/dp/0439845009/ref=sr_1_5/002-3177943-2173656?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1178931381&sr=1-5 or Brand New Readers http://www.amazon.com/Brand-New-Readers-Green-Set/dp/076362599X/ref=pd_ybh_12/002-3177943-2173656?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0XE0K1326BCJVVKW0TKV&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_p=280800601&pf_rd_i=ybh

They are similar to the Open Court system. My daughter got a pack of Brand New Readers when she was four and she really enjoyed them.

My youngest was not reading at all when he started kindergarten. (not reading well,anyway) Two years later he is reading chapter books. After two years my second grader is reading books that my husband or I would read! He is reading the adult 'Star Wars' series that are books with really hard words and about 20 or so chapters. Does he need help with it? Yes, here and there but some of those characters have made up names that are not similar to 'Bob Smith'!!!!!! I am very pleased with their progress.