Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons vs Explode the Code
The sharpest difference is parent involvement: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is parent-taught, Explode the Code is light. Five more separate them, which puts real distance between the two.
At a glance
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Grades PreK-1
Owners report it suits
Multi-age familiesExplode the Code
Grades PreK-4
Owners report it suits
Independent workersBoth are reported to suit Struggling learners.
Skip to who fitsWhere they differ
| Attribute | Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons | Explode the Code |
|---|---|---|
Rigor
?How demanding the material is versus grade level. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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Parent involvement
?How much the parent is present and teaching. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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Independence
?How much the child can do alone. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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| Approach | Mastery | Blended |
| Format | Textbook | Workbook |
| Used as | Spine | Supplement |
| Best for Tags show where owners consistently report a good fit. They are not exclusions. | Struggling learnersMulti-age families | Independent workersStruggling learners |
| Method | TraditionalSynthetic phonics | TraditionalEclecticSynthetic phonicsOrton-Gillingham |
| Grades | PreK-1 | PreK-4 |
Solid tags are unique to that program. Muted tags are carried by both.
Where they match
- Prep loadboth open-and-go
- Screen timeboth fully offline
- Time commitmentboth 15 to 25 min
- Faith contentboth None
How each one plays by grade
Explode the Code runs 3 grades further than Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. If you want one program to carry the subject for the long haul, plan on leaving Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons around grade 1 and choosing again.
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Grades PreK-1
Most families start between ages 4 and 6 once the child shows readiness. After the book, families move to easy readers or a fuller phonics program.
Explode the Code
Grades PreK-4
The primers suit PreK and K for letter formation and phonemic awareness. Books 1 to 8 span roughly grades 1 to 3, placed by a free placement test.
Cost
| Cost item | Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons | Explode the Code |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $16-25 (one book) | ~$10/workbook, $40-80/yr |
| Consumable | No | Yes |
| Per child / year | ~$20 once, reusable across kids | ~$30-70/child |
What parents report
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Consistently praised
- Cheap and it works
- The script means a parent needn't know phonics
- Kids hit a solid second-grade level in 100 lessons
- One book taught all their kids
- Twenty-minute lessons keep it doable
Reported as challenges
- Plain black and white pages, no color
- The stories feel silly or dry to parents
- The "bet you can't" wording rubs some parents wrong
- The last 40 lessons drag
Explode the Code
Consistently praised
- Kids can work the pages mostly on their own
- Large print and light pages do not overwhelm
- The silly sentences and art make kids laugh
- Workbooks are cheap, around ten dollars each
- Easy to slot in as extra phonics practice
Reported as challenges
- It is a supplement, not a full reading program alone
- Lots of writing frustrates kids not ready to write
- The many books and half-books get confusing to sort
- Plain black and white pages do not grab every kid
Who Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons fits
Budget-minded families who want a scripted, no-prep way to get a young child reading and don't mind plain pages. Kinesthetic kids and children who need games or extra decoding practice often do better with something more hands-on.
Read the full Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons entry Check price Simon and SchusterWho Explode the Code fits
Works best as phonics practice alongside a main reading program like The Ordinary Parent's Guide or All About Reading, and for kids who like workbooks they can do on their own. Families wanting a single complete reading spine, or something screen-based, will need a different program.
Read the full Explode the Code entry Check price EPS LearningSome links on this site are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes how a curriculum is described or scored.
Still deciding?
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons compared with
Explode the Code compared with
Descriptions aggregate what homeschool parents consistently report across public community sources together with each publisher's own materials. Prices and editions change over time. Both entries last reviewed July 2026.