Review: Logic of English

It was such a privilege to review Logic of English, Foundations A.  This curriculum is geared toward four to seven years old. My daughter is five years old and she loved it. Foundations is an all-in-one kind of program, covering phonics, handwriting, reading and spelling. 

Logic of English is a company created by Denise Eide, an ESL teacher and homeschool mother. The program uses a systematic multi-sensory approach to learning how to read, spell and write. It is important to note that this method does not use sight words. The lessons use 74 phonograms and 30 spelling rules to teach students why words are spoken or spelled certain ways. The result is a program that is unmatched!

Here's what we received for our review:

Foundations A: Teacher’s Manual  $38

Cursive Workbook: Level A $18

Cursive Tactile Cards $28

Basic Phonogram Flash Cards $18

The Rhythm of Handwriting Cursive Reference Chart $10

Green Cursive Phonogram Game Cards $10

Red Manuscript Phonogram Game Cards $10

Student Whiteboard $12

Phonograms App for iPad $2.99

Before this company appeared on my review list, I had only heard of them a handful of times. I honestly thought it sounded interesting but never took the time to research the products. However, when my box appeared and I had a chance to go through the materials, I was impressed. The words "quality" and "solid" were what came to mind immediately. 

Level A contains 40 lessons and 8 assessments as well as lesson reviews. There are 22 phonemic awareness games and 28 phonogram games. Upon completetion of the program, your child will be able to decode 25 high frequency words. Your child will also learn 26 phonograms. Here is a list of phonograms, in case you need a review like me.

We began our review on Lesson 1. Since my little one has just mastered writing manuscript letters, I wanted to start from the beginning so we didn't miss any cursive lessons. I am so glad we started at Lesson 1. Although she is a fairly decent reader, she really didn't know about voice or unvoiced sounds. And there is certainly something to be said about building some confidence with a program so that as the difficulty increases, the child is able to stick with the lessons. We did about 4 lessons a week, so we made it quite a ways into the program and she never lost interest.

The other aspect of this program is the handwriting. I was a bit hesitant teaching cursive to a girl who has only just mastered printing! But remember, this a multi-sensory program. The tactile cards are nothing short of genius. It is helps the child learn strokes on a grander scale than traditional pencil and paper. The strokes are broken down into the most basic movements and before long, the child can actually form a letter. 

You can see in the picture above the texture on the tactile card. The green part is like 200 grit sandpaper. Just enough for the child to feel the stroke. After my daughter practiced the stroke on the tactile card, she would then make a few strokes on the dry erase board. It was awesome to see her transfer the learning from her fingertip to an actual marker. 

If you have a iPod, iPhone or iPad, then you'll want to have the Phonograms app. At only $2.99, it has to be the most used app on our iPad, by the kids at least.  Children can play a matching game where they hear the phonogram and then find a matching card. There is also an option of reading words, which my daughter loved. There are 10 levels, so you're sure to use it for a long time.

This program is what I would consider to be open-and-go. Of course, you'll want to read over the lesson and have the materials ready. But the teacher's manual is so user friendly. The lessons are quick, meaningful and fun. I love to see my daughter walking around with her hand on her throat trying to decide if the sound she is making is voiced or not. I'd say the program is a hit in our home.