When I opened the package containing All About Spelling’s Beehive Reader 1, I was so surprised. This is a real book, beautifully hardbound with over 150 pages of creamy thick paper and lovely illustrations.
Despite the fact the Beehive Reader 1 is a first phonetic reader, the stories are remarkably interesting. ‘At the Pond’ and ‘The Nap’ are realistic outdoor stories. ‘The Pet Duck’ and ‘The Bat and King Sam’ are sure to tickle any child’s funny bone. ‘Ten Wishes’ and ‘Fast Fun’ are full of zany word games. The appealing illustrations in shades of gray are cute, whimsical, or realistic, depending on the story. With ten stories, this book has lots of practice and interest for a beginning reader.
The first day we had the book, Miss 7 and I sat down on the couch together to read ‘At the Pond’ and she did quite well, even though she was sleepy and ready for bed. This story went with the lesson we were studying in All About Spelling at the time.
Miss 7 could read a fair bit from her other reading program, but it has sight words as well as phonetic words and that has confused her a bit. In fact, she still often guesses at a word based on what she thinks it should say. This is a personality quirk as much as anything, but I think that she will do well with a more phonetic approach for now. We will continue to work though the relevant All About Spelling lessons before starting a story in the Beehive Reader. This will help her to look closely at words rather than just guess what they are.
Even though the Beehive Reader 1 correlates carefully with All About Spelling (see my earlier review here), it can be used to supplement any phonics program. If you are interested in a quality phonetic reader for your little ones, do ‘look inside the book’ on the Beehive Reader 1 page. You’ll be able to see samples of the stories as well as illustrations. Enjoy!
You can read more homeschooling parents’ reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew blog and on the Beehive Reader website itself.
The Beehive Reader 1 is available for $19.95 US.
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Disclosure Policy: As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I received the Beehive Reader 1 in order to review it.