Dancing Bears - alternative to Toe by Toe (dyslexia reading program)

anotherjd

Just wondering if anyone has heard of, or used "Dancing bears" or "Bear Necessities" by sound foundations. It is a synthetic phonics guided intervention in book format.

It is bit like toe by toe, but looks like it is geared to younger readers, with more varied content. (recommended age for their first "Book A" is 6-7 years old)
I would consider using it for my second daughter instead of toe by toe,
and would like to hear any experience that anyone has had.

byhookorbycrook

What age is she? Does she have dyslexia?

anotherjd

Hi byhookorbycrook
I have a 9 year daughter(2nd class) who does have dyslexia, and we have used toe by toe with her for last 4 months.
I have a 7 year daughter(1st class) not yet diagosed, but poor reading ability, and I am thinking to use "Dancing bears" with her, as I think it looks more engaging and varied than toe by toe.
Our school uses 'Toe by Toe' as default - but if I can get positive feedback I'd discuss option of using Dancing Bears.

byhookorbycrook

We have found that most children need to be in 3rd to really benefit from Toe by Toe, as it is so intensive and gets more difficult quite quickly. I have used Dancing Bears with one or two (the first book) but don't any longer since we started to use Jolly Phonics and I find that if it is done properly, it is a huge help for younger ones.

That said, if you are willing to put the time in at home with the 1st two books, it will certainly help too.

anotherjd

an (overdue) update.

I did use dancing bears for 2 of my daughters, from 2nd class (age 7 and age 8)

We found it much more engaging than toe by toe, and the silly story was actually a bit of a draw to find out how it all ended. I would recommend it for children age 7, 8 and 9.

I know resource teachers in our primary school were less keen, mainly as it does not have evidence based research and studies to back up the potential gain in reading age, but they agreed for us to use, as the sylabus is equivalent. My children definately found it more fun than toe by toe, but for one daughter with severe dyslexia is was still challenging and required repeating many chapters to benefit.

if you are interested, you can actually preview the books in the https://www.soundfoundations.co.uk shop online, to get to good idea of content.

byhookorbycrook

Thank you for the update . I’m glad it was of some help to you. The Science of Reading movement is finally gaining traction here .

anotherjd

I know it is unlikely, but if any reader of this thread is interested, just found recently the 2 Dancing Bears books, and happy to send them to someone else if they would like to use. They are second hand, but only pencil tickmarks used to mark progress, and they are in good condition.
Message me if interested.