Companion Beginner Guide For Teaching Bob Books
Are you looking for a user-friendly curriculum to use in teaching your child to read? Bob Books are a simple and practical way to teach reading. I love them so much that I have used them to teach eight of our children to read. This Companion Beginner Guide For Teaching Bob Books is the perfect handbook to accompany you as you teach your child to read using Bob Books.
As a homeschool mom to ten, I have seen plenty of curriculum come and go!
The Bob Books series by Bobby Lynn Maslen, however, remains my go-to for teaching kids to read.
The phonics-based method of Bob Books series uses very simple stories and funny pictures to engage young children. It is perfect for kids with short attention spans. These easy-to-read books are a great way to build young readers’ confidence and give your kids a love of reading.
Teaching Kids to Read Using Bob Books
When I first started using Bob Books to teach our oldest son to read fifteen years ago, I felt like something was missing from the Bob Books set. I liked the simplicity of the program. I loved how it slowly progressed from simple words to more complex sounds and sentences, but I thought it would have been more helpful to have a parent guide that introduced new sight words and phonics skills as they appeared in the books.
Looking online, I found other Bob Books resources like workbooks and Versatiles. They also have several Bob Books boxes, in addition to the original sets 1-5. What I wanted, however, was a handbook to tie it all together and lead me and my child step-by-step through Bob Books level.
To fill this void, I did what many homeschool moms do when they can’t find a certain helpful tool… I made my own!
I began with a simple manuscript tablet. I divided it into two parts: sight word list and phonics sounds. As we came to a new word or sound, I jotted it down in my notebook. This tablet became so handy that I have used it to teach eight of my ten kids to read.
Just recently, I had the idea to take my original manuscript tablet notes and make it into this Companion Beginner Guide For Teaching Bob Books so that other parents can use this great resource as well!
The Bob Books Method
What I love about Bob Books is the slow progression from simple to more complex words and sentences. The first reader in Box 1 has short words that are easy for kids to sound out. The following first stories are also short with two to four words on each page.
As the levels increase, the simple sentences become more complex. I noticed a marked jump in the number of new phonics sounds in Box 3 and again halfway through Box 4.
Towards the end of Box 5, the sentences become longer and longer. Occasionally I had kids who struggled to adjust to reading the longer narratives. To help them transition, I would have them read a page and I would read the next page, alternating through to the end of the book.
For Which Bob Books Is this Guide Designed?
Because the Bob Books website has created several box sets in addition to the original five, it can be a little confusing to know which books to use and in what order. When I teach our kids to read, I use only the Box Sets 1-5 as listed below.
*This post may contain affiliate links from which I may make a small profit at no extra cost to you.
How Will I Know If My Child Is Ready to Begin Bob Books?
When I am teaching beginner readers, I play some games to help them with letter recognition and sounds.
For young children to be ready to read Bob Books, they should be able to do two things.
- Identify the names and sounds of each of the letters of the alphabet.
- Sound out basic three-letter words.
The games I use to help my kids be able to do this are described in the section of the guide “Getting Your Child Ready For Bob Books.”
How Do You Use the Companion Beginner Guide For Teaching Bob Books?
After a child exhibits signs of readiness as prescribed above, we start with the first stories in Set 1. Before our reading lesson, we use the Sight Words List and Phonics Sounds List in the guide to review the new sight words and phonics sounds in the next Bob Book. This review should be very brief, 5-10 minutes.
What’s Included in the Companion Beginner Guide For Teaching Bob Books?
This 24-page guide includes the following:
- A description of how to use the guide
- Some ideas and games to help you get your child ready to begin reading the first Bob Books Set
- An index of sight words and phonics sounds in the order they are introduced in the books
- Sight Words List
- Phonics Sounds List
- Additional notes and FAQ
Sight Words List
The sight word list in this guide will help early readers identify irregular words that can not be sounded out. These high-frequency words are important for kids to recognize easily.
Phonics Sounds List
This systematic phonics instruction will help your beginning reader progress through the reading levels seamlessly. As they move through the book sets, this list will help introduce new sounds.
Short vowels
Long Vowels
Endings
R Controlled Words
Words Ending in Y
Blends
Dipthongs
Digraphs
Compound Words
The playful stories with silly illustrations in Bob Books are a wonderful tool to help your kids have a positive first experience with reading. I hope this Companion Beginner Guide For Teaching Bob Books will be as helpful to you and your beginning reader as it has been for me and my children over the years.
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I was an elementary school teacher and used these books to teach my own kids how to read before kindergarten. They’re very well thought out and I love them.
How interesting! We love Bob Books too! They are so user-friendly. They have made learning to read easy for our kids.
This looks great! I have some Bob books for my daughter who is still pre-reading, so this looks like a great option for her!
Thank you! I hope it can be useful!
Thank you for sharing this super useful guide and all the tips! Great option to teach our kids to read.!