My daughter loved practicing her fluency words by "finding" words on post it notes throughout the house and running them back to me to read. She asked to do that game all the time!
Another loyal AAR and AAS family here! We have finished levels 1 and 2 with my oldest, moving into level 3. It's fabulous. We did try 3 other reading programs before coming to this one, and they all felt piecemeal. I love the comprehensiveness of this one. We also use it alongside AAS, and that incorporates writing, as they produce the words from their own brain. And they teach the same phonics concepts in both AAR and AAS, so it works wonderfully together.
Piecemeal is how I feel right now! I keep trying to convince myself that this is simple I can do this with just the basics but feel like I’m not providing the great start I wish I had. What did you try first if I may ask?
@Dre We worked through "4 Weeks to Read", which is now Frontline Phonics. It worked well for what it was designed to do, which is teach just basic consonant sounds and then long and short vowels, but there is so much more than that to learn of phonics. Teach your child to Read in 100 Easy lessons is much the same, just introductory phonics skills, but not even close to everything they need to know. We also did Plaid Phonic by Pearson. That taught most concepts, but the teacher had to figure out how to actually teach the concepts, the TG was not helpful in that way. We tried Masterbooks LA, whoch is very piecemeal. And we did Progressive Phonics as a fill in, while we decided on the next step. In the end, I wish I had bought AAR from the beginning, because I ended up spending more on trying a million things than what the cost of AAR was. Investing in quality from the start would have saved me money.
I used this to teach my oldest when she was 6. And then I used it this year with my “baby” (also age 6). The two in between them have been wild cards. AAR didn’t work with my second child but Logic of English did! I am going to be using/trying out WowzaBrain with my special needs 3rd grader next year. I LOVE teaching phonics! It’s my favorite 🤩 It is interesting how teaching instruction seems to be moving from whole language approach to phonics! There is a lot of research lately saying most kids need phonics which I find so interesting!!
Well I'm glad that some folks out there love teaching all the 'learn to read' skills. We all have our favorites. ;) My mom stumbled into "Sing, Spell, Read, and Write", a systematic phonics curriculum for kid #2, who has dyslexia, and she stuck with that same curriculum for all the rest of her kids. It's out of print now, but I've used the readers and some of the games that my mom has for additional practice with my son. I feel like phonics has long been popular with the homeschool crowd, even when it wasn't popular in some traditional schools.
@@cindyhuang4760 Both are excellent programs! AAR just teaches phonics. If you want a FULL language arts program LOE has it. It has phonics, spelling, handwriting, and even some basic grammar in Level D. I actually just purchased a used AAR Level 2 set for my youngest because AAR worked so well for him last year and I really wanted to do level 2 but I didn’t want to pay full price. I have LOE waiting for him for next year. He needs to mature some before I use LOE with him. I fully intend to use LOE foundations A-D with him starting next year. Personally, if I had to pick just one I would choose LOE. It is such a solid LA program and gives such a wonderful foundation to English for young learners. It is fun to teach and my daughter I did it with a few yrs ago LOVED it. The learning games/activities are more fun in LOE. But if you are wanting just a SOLID phonics program go with AAR!
I love preschool/kindergarten...but phonics just isn't my favorite. I think I'm more of a college professor at heart (one of the potential careers I might have chosen if life had taken a different path). I'm enjoying this season but I also look forward to upper-level classes.
We love AAR.❤ I didn’t even think about saving and reusing the activities until the end of level 1. I kept everything from level 2 and on, but I’m going to have to re-prep some. 😢 We didn’t use the Fluency pages as much either. 😊
So far I have taught my two oldest to read, and we tried a couple other programs and then finally landed on AAR and it has been the best! I don’t love the fluency sheets, but the overall approach is great! The two other programs we used involved writing, and that was a huge stumbling block. I do think that having the child try to spell the words and think about the sounds is so great. I think the tiles are perfect for that if you have child (like mine) that detested writing. Thanks for the review! I always enjoy your videos, and can relate!
I very much agree with the idea that writing, especially too much physical writing, can be a stumbling block in learning to read. Like I mentioned, that's one of the things that drew me to the program. But as always--we have to adapt to the kids we are teaching, and I have found it to be really helpful to start incorporating small amounts of writing into our days for him.
Yes! Being able to adapt to what your kids need is amazing! Sorry if my comment came off as anything other than that, I wish I had boys that were excited to write, or at least didn’t hate it haha!
@@karifacer Oh no, I didn't take it like that at all--it's just a comment on the fact that I went in to the program intentionally gung-ho on the idea of NOT involving writing in our practice of learning to read...and later discovering that for this specific kid, it was actually helpful! Who knew?
We love AAR. On level 4 with my eldest and level 2 with my second. Plan to reuse all with the younger children. They really like it. I also wanted something that did not require writing.
We love All About Reading! We are finishing level 4 with my third grader and level 1 with my Kindergartner. We have been able to reuse everything for my younger daughter. It is very effective. I love how it is explicit and systematic. In 4 levels I think there has been 1 word in 1 story that my daughter had not yet learned how to read.
I really started liking AAR more once we got to level 2 and now I am sold! The reader and activities got better in my opinion and I think it is cause they can read more so there is more to work with! Once we got to level two reading picked up and lessons are fast now 😂I will be interested to see what you say when you get there! I love watching your videos, I did the same thing as you started, Math With Confidence and AAR with My ( for his grade) older more advanced pre k student! We are One year ahead of your little guy!
I have been using other programs for teaching my sons to read, and really have no intention to change. And yet, I just watched your whole movie about AAR, so I might be a homeschool nerd too! 🤓
That's awesome that you've found a method that works for your students! As I'm sure you know, for some students, learning to read is a simple, quick process...for others, who have special needs that affect the process...it is not nearly such a simple or 'efficient' process, but a worthwhile endeavor, nonetheless. Even when the road to reading is long and winding, it's a journey worth the taking.
@SevenInAll we were using the good and the beautiful. Now we are overseas and he goes to a small private school it's only 4 hrs. And we still are doing homeschool things in the house cause I need him to keep advancing
@@kirstenbarbero1099 Definitely for kids who struggle with reading, I wouldn't recommend TGATB, because it combines so many different subjects, and that can hinder progress with those who need to focus on just phonics and get a lot of review to gain mastery. It's ideal to use a resource that focuses on JUST phonics and mastering reading. All About Reading is a very solid option because it focuses solely on reading skills, they have 4 levels so you can place him at the level that best suits his abilities.
Yes! He knew his letters, sounds, and already had the basic idea of blending letters down. I would not start this program unless a child already has that foundation and has the general idea of blending letter sounds.
We love AAR and I kno my kids need phonics instruction!!! I’m not worried about the speed as I want mastery and reading confidence!!! We have mainly struggling readers and 1 who seems to be doing ok and probably normal!!! I’ve only taught struggling readers before my youngest!!! We are finding AAS not helping at the moment!!! I’m thinking there is a reading issue!!! My older kids are doing writing assignments as well and their reading is improving more but we went from struggling with just sight words to phonics helping!!! The writing could be helpful as well!!! We use fluency sheets for only the kids who need it and if the sheet is a sheet they don’t need too much review we skip it and we can come back if needed!!! It’s not our only resource as well!!!
I’m back again asking for your help 😂 we just took an entire week on lesson 26 in level one. My son got so overwhelmed with the review sheet. I took some words from that lesson and put them on flash cards and made up a silly game and it finally got the job done. He can do it but why does it all the sudden throw so many blends at once? Should we try something else? Help! haha!
I think it's very, very normal to spend an entire week or even several weeks on that lesson 26. Some phonics programs teach consonant blends gradually, but AAR takes the approach of teaching them all at once--I believe it's because it fundamentally IS the same concept. ( reading st- does not require a fundamentally different reading skill than reading bl-, for example)....however...for young, beginner readers, figuring out how to wrap their tongues and minds around all those different blends at once is a LOT! I would just take your time with it, he will get more comfortable with blends with time and practice. I think the flashcards and games idea is right on track--you're doing the right thing! Just keep practicing and it will get smoother with time and becoming more familiar with those different blends. If you even have the words written on cards already, you could play read-and-sort games and have him sort them into different piles after he reads each word, grouping words that feature the same blends.
@@SevenInAll thanks so much! I feel so much better. I think it went from smooth sailing to what in the world? 😅 I think we may need another week or so in this lesson. I printed some games from the all about learning press website to try out.
We love the AAR readers but I don’t love the teachers manual and my kids didn’t enjoy the games and activities. But they were older remedial learners. They wanted straight forward instruction and review. We have been enjoying Happy Cheetah with a couple kids and the original Ordinary Parents Guide to teaching reading for the oldest. We prefer the Happy Cheetah letter magnets and white board. The magnets are in the shape of the letter and thicker and easier to manipulate. One small zipper bag is all that is needed to organize and the white board fits nicely in the same container as our other school books.
What I am planning to do is when we get the word cards the child writes them in a notebook. Then we can go back and see which ones she mastered and put a check by it...
Such a great review! I was wondering, since you’re a bilingual household, are you teaching your son to read in Spanish at the same time as English? Or are you focusing on one language at a time when it comes to reading?
I'm taking a 'delayed simultaneous' approach to reading instruction. We've gone further with English reading practice than we have with Spanish, but we are coming along behind with work with the letter sounds in Spanish and identifying initial sílabas in words...and have just begun working on decoding short words in Spanish.
Learning to read is probably one of the toughest things out of all the things learned in homeschool. Stay consistent, and follow a good curriculum...but most importantly, small, consistent times of practice.
My son was a struggling reader. One my son's favorite games was the treasure hunt. I would out the cards on the ground and he had to read the cards and if the made it to the end he got 5 gummy bears. We did 2 levels and are now using all about spelling, but his reading has taken off.
Hi! Seeking a little advise if you can help me. I have a 6 year old I’m looking at doing the HBL K with but I’m really wanting to focus on teaching him to read this year. I’ve heard a lot of good about the All about reading program but I was concerned my child then would not be getting enough language arts with just the reading program. Do you have one you would suggest that’s a good all around program or something I could add to the AAR program? Thanks for any help!!
If a child isn't reading yet, I wouldn't worry too much about other elements of LA until they have a solid start with reading. To me, reading definitely ought to come first before worrying about nouns, verbs, etc. I would want to incorporate some work with handwriting for a 6 year old--there are many handwriting curriculums to choose from, or you can always DIY with copywork--for some, having a handwriting workbook is an easier way to make sure handwriting practice actually happens consistently, but it also can be nice to do copywork with the words the child is learning to read. If you're already doing HBL K, you'll be doing a lot with reading aloud and discussing what you read (building comprehension)--one thing you could add if you wanted would be notebooking--with a pre-reading, pre-writing child, that usually looks like asking simple questions like "What's one important thing you remember from this reading?" and writing down their answer in a complete sentence or two, or "Can you tell me what happened in this chapter?" and writing down their answer in a notebook--then the child can illustrate the page. Explode the Code is a nice, easy add on if you're looking for 'word work' type of activities.
Did you use AAR - Pre-Reading? I just feel like it's too easy for my little one (3year old) as she is reading cvc words...yet level 1 looks a little to difficult. what are your thoughts?
I did not use the Pre-Reading, that isn't necessary if your child already knows their letters and sounds. If your child can already read CVC words, Level 1 won't be difficult (many lessons are spent on CVC words). You just might do shorter reading sessions with a young child if they don't have a long attention span.
I’m currently using Explode The Code along with Alpha Phonics. I wouldn’t say there is a problem but like everyone else I want my little one to have the best foundation. I’m so torn on whether I should buy AAR! This was an excellent video, thank you.
I'm glad it was a helpful video! In general, if you feel like your child is already making solid progress and showing a solid understanding of phonetic concepts with what you're already doing...I wouldn't worry too much about changing or adding more. I didn't know before starting this with my son if he would have an easy/hard time learning to read...for kids that have an easier time learning to read, pretty much any phonics program will work. For kids that struggle more, that's when you'll start wanting a more robust program. When picking this, I decided to err on the side of 'more robust' because I knew I didn't need to use every part if they weren't necessary for his learning (i.e. the fluency sheets).
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This was very practical and I appreciated the points for areas that you did not use, as I’ve been tweaking the program for my little one for it to work the best for us.
Hey Rachael... were you able to save the activity for the next child... im all about saving for the next child 😂 also one more question did you use explode the code teacher manual? I just rec'd my AAR box today 🎉
Yes! I have every activity from AAR saved and organized in page protectors in a binder. And no, I haven't used the Explode the Code manual. Hurray for getting your AAR box! Fun to dig in and set it up!
There is definitely a LOT of cutting out. Some people prefer to prep all the lessons at once, I didn't do that, I just usually cut out 2 or 3 lessons at a time, enough for a week or so, so that it was a never a long session of cutting and prepping. @@cyn8733
I bought this program with the intention of using it with my twins who will be 5 this summer. I still think one of them will really benefit from it but the other one somehow taught himself to read at 3 years old and is now reading at about a 2nd grade level on his own. I'm at a bit of a loss what to do. 🤷🏻♀️
In that case, I'd just continue having him read aloud to you and chat about the stories to make sure he's understanding the vocabulary and comprehending the story. I was one of those kids--flummoxed my mom by picking up the original "Little Women" by Alcott and breezing through that long novel at 5. A lot of my LA in the first few years was just reading books and writing summaries of what I read, because the curriculum designed for kindergarten and 1st grade is all phonics-focused, making it challenging to create a plan for those kids that naturally read fluently at a young age.
@Seven In All thanks for the advice! I think that's what I'll do for him. He gets very bored with most curricula designed for his age. He's either bored or starts pretending he can't read to get the same attention that his brother is getting with reading at the moment. I'm having him work through the Sonlight 1st grade readers right now, but they're very easy for him. Since he's only 4 I was afraid of him having gaps in phonics and hitting a wall at some point, but it seems like if there's a word he doesn't know he only has to hear it said once and he's got it.
This is exactly my daughter. She just turned 5 and sees a word once and knows what it is afterwards. That's about the same reading level as my daughter.
My daughter loved practicing her fluency words by "finding" words on post it notes throughout the house and running them back to me to read. She asked to do that game all the time!
I bet my kid would love that too!
That's a great game! We love 'scavenger hunts' in our routines!
The readers look so good! I noticed that writing helps as well.
I love your honest thoughts and review, Rachel!
Yes, adding in some writing practice has been awesome for us--and that was kind of unexpected!
Another loyal AAR and AAS family here! We have finished levels 1 and 2 with my oldest, moving into level 3. It's fabulous. We did try 3 other reading programs before coming to this one, and they all felt piecemeal. I love the comprehensiveness of this one.
We also use it alongside AAS, and that incorporates writing, as they produce the words from their own brain. And they teach the same phonics concepts in both AAR and AAS, so it works wonderfully together.
Good to hear!!
Piecemeal is how I feel right now! I keep trying to convince myself that this is simple I can do this with just the basics but feel like I’m not providing the great start I wish I had. What did you try first if I may ask?
@Dre We worked through "4 Weeks to Read", which is now Frontline Phonics. It worked well for what it was designed to do, which is teach just basic consonant sounds and then long and short vowels, but there is so much more than that to learn of phonics. Teach your child to Read in 100 Easy lessons is much the same, just introductory phonics skills, but not even close to everything they need to know. We also did Plaid Phonic by Pearson. That taught most concepts, but the teacher had to figure out how to actually teach the concepts, the TG was not helpful in that way. We tried Masterbooks LA, whoch is very piecemeal. And we did Progressive Phonics as a fill in, while we decided on the next step.
In the end, I wish I had bought AAR from the beginning, because I ended up spending more on trying a million things than what the cost of AAR was. Investing in quality from the start would have saved me money.
@@amandab.6815 I understand that point! Sometimes making the initial investment is worth it. Thank you so much for sharing, that is very helpful. 🙂
Have you used logic of English? I am trying to decide between AAR and LOE currently
I have not, I only have experience with AAR. I believe Angie from Science Mama has videos on Logic of English.
I used this to teach my oldest when she was 6. And then I used it this year with my “baby” (also age 6). The two in between them have been wild cards. AAR didn’t work with my second child but Logic of English did! I am going to be using/trying out WowzaBrain with my special needs 3rd grader next year.
I LOVE teaching phonics! It’s my favorite 🤩
It is interesting how teaching instruction seems to be moving from whole language approach to phonics! There is a lot of research lately saying most kids need phonics which I find so interesting!!
Well I'm glad that some folks out there love teaching all the 'learn to read' skills. We all have our favorites. ;) My mom stumbled into "Sing, Spell, Read, and Write", a systematic phonics curriculum for kid #2, who has dyslexia, and she stuck with that same curriculum for all the rest of her kids. It's out of print now, but I've used the readers and some of the games that my mom has for additional practice with my son. I feel like phonics has long been popular with the homeschool crowd, even when it wasn't popular in some traditional schools.
Do you like AAR or LoE better? I am trying to decide which one to buy and I cannot decide!
@@cindyhuang4760 Both are excellent programs! AAR just teaches phonics. If you want a FULL language arts program LOE has it. It has phonics, spelling, handwriting, and even some basic grammar in Level D.
I actually just purchased a used AAR Level 2 set for my youngest because AAR worked so well for him last year and I really wanted to do level 2 but I didn’t want to pay full price. I have LOE waiting for him for next year. He needs to mature some before I use LOE with him. I fully intend to use LOE foundations A-D with him starting next year.
Personally, if I had to pick just one I would choose LOE. It is such a solid LA program and gives such a wonderful foundation to English for young learners. It is fun to teach and my daughter I did it with a few yrs ago LOVED it. The learning games/activities are more fun in LOE.
But if you are wanting just a SOLID phonics program go with AAR!
I always appreciate your reviews. I actually enjoy teaching phonics, but I am a kindergarten teacher at heart.
I love preschool/kindergarten...but phonics just isn't my favorite. I think I'm more of a college professor at heart (one of the potential careers I might have chosen if life had taken a different path). I'm enjoying this season but I also look forward to upper-level classes.
We love AAR.❤ I didn’t even think about saving and reusing the activities until the end of level 1. I kept everything from level 2 and on, but I’m going to have to re-prep some. 😢
We didn’t use the Fluency pages as much either. 😊
Hey, at least you have things saved from the other levels! Having the two boys so close together has always kept "reusability" very much on my mind.
So far I have taught my two oldest to read, and we tried a couple other programs and then finally landed on AAR and it has been the best! I don’t love the fluency sheets, but the overall approach is great! The two other programs we used involved writing, and that was a huge stumbling block. I do think that having the child try to spell the words and think about the sounds is so great. I think the tiles are perfect for that if you have child (like mine) that detested writing. Thanks for the review! I always enjoy your videos, and can relate!
I very much agree with the idea that writing, especially too much physical writing, can be a stumbling block in learning to read. Like I mentioned, that's one of the things that drew me to the program. But as always--we have to adapt to the kids we are teaching, and I have found it to be really helpful to start incorporating small amounts of writing into our days for him.
Yes! Being able to adapt to what your kids need is amazing! Sorry if my comment came off as anything other than that, I wish I had boys that were excited to write, or at least didn’t hate it haha!
@@karifacer Oh no, I didn't take it like that at all--it's just a comment on the fact that I went in to the program intentionally gung-ho on the idea of NOT involving writing in our practice of learning to read...and later discovering that for this specific kid, it was actually helpful! Who knew?
We love AAR. On level 4 with my eldest and level 2 with my second. Plan to reuse all with the younger children. They really like it. I also wanted something that did not require writing.
That's awesome that you're able to reuse again and again!
We love All About Reading! We are finishing level 4 with my third grader and level 1 with my Kindergartner. We have been able to reuse everything for my younger daughter. It is very effective. I love how it is explicit and systematic. In 4 levels I think there has been 1 word in 1 story that my daughter had not yet learned how to read.
Also, I have girls and they love the slapping game too!
I do very much appreciate how 'systematic' it is--randomness is not appreciated in phonics instruction! :)
Wow that is amazing!! I have been on the fence for a long time. I have been using the basic Alpha Phonics workbook but I am insecure teaching reading.
I really started liking AAR more once we got to level 2 and now I am sold! The reader and activities got better in my opinion and I think it is cause they can read more so there is more to work with! Once we got to level two reading picked up and lessons are fast now 😂I will be interested to see what you say when you get there! I love watching your videos, I did the same thing as you started, Math With Confidence and AAR with My ( for his grade) older more advanced pre k student! We are One year ahead of your little guy!
Thank you for your feedback! I can imagine it might get a little more fun once we have more sounds to work with. :)
I have been using other programs for teaching my sons to read, and really have no intention to change. And yet, I just watched your whole movie about AAR, so I might be a homeschool nerd too! 🤓
This is the kind of place where it's totally cool to admit to homeschool nerd-dom.
Do you have any reviews on explode the code? I was wondering about that program and how it compares to AAR.
I will actually have a video on Explode the Code already filmed, it's coming up soon!
@@SevenInAll awesome can’t wait!
“…the slight amount of violence…” 😂 I literally laughed out loud when you said that 😊
Hey, sometimes just a little bit of excitement/drama/violence can really spice up a reading lesson. :P
Ha! Definitely. I have two boys and a bunch of ADHD running through this house, so I definitely hear that! 😂
I agree with you on the fluency sheets - not necessary. Plus a lot of busy work , I use more direct and efficient methods.
That's awesome that you've found a method that works for your students! As I'm sure you know, for some students, learning to read is a simple, quick process...for others, who have special needs that affect the process...it is not nearly such a simple or 'efficient' process, but a worthwhile endeavor, nonetheless. Even when the road to reading is long and winding, it's a journey worth the taking.
Always love your detailed reviews!
Thanks so much!
Il looking for something for my 9 year old son. He still struggles so much with reading. Not fluent at all and gets super frustrated
I would ask--what curriculums have you used in the past to teach reading?
@SevenInAll we were using the good and the beautiful. Now we are overseas and he goes to a small private school it's only 4 hrs. And we still are doing homeschool things in the house cause I need him to keep advancing
@@kirstenbarbero1099 Definitely for kids who struggle with reading, I wouldn't recommend TGATB, because it combines so many different subjects, and that can hinder progress with those who need to focus on just phonics and get a lot of review to gain mastery. It's ideal to use a resource that focuses on JUST phonics and mastering reading. All About Reading is a very solid option because it focuses solely on reading skills, they have 4 levels so you can place him at the level that best suits his abilities.
Did your 4 year old already know letter recognition before starting this program?
Yes! He knew his letters, sounds, and already had the basic idea of blending letters down. I would not start this program unless a child already has that foundation and has the general idea of blending letter sounds.
We love AAR and I kno my kids need phonics instruction!!! I’m not worried about the speed as I want mastery and reading confidence!!! We have mainly struggling readers and 1 who seems to be doing ok and probably normal!!! I’ve only taught struggling readers before my youngest!!! We are finding AAS not helping at the moment!!! I’m thinking there is a reading issue!!! My older kids are doing writing assignments as well and their reading is improving more but we went from struggling with just sight words to phonics helping!!! The writing could be helpful as well!!! We use fluency sheets for only the kids who need it and if the sheet is a sheet they don’t need too much review we skip it and we can come back if needed!!! It’s not our only resource as well!!!
I think that many people find that combining resources helps with the learning to read process.
I’m back again asking for your help 😂 we just took an entire week on lesson 26 in level one. My son got so overwhelmed with the review sheet. I took some words from that lesson and put them on flash cards and made up a silly game and it finally got the job done. He can do it but why does it all the sudden throw so many blends at once? Should we try something else? Help! haha!
I think it's very, very normal to spend an entire week or even several weeks on that lesson 26. Some phonics programs teach consonant blends gradually, but AAR takes the approach of teaching them all at once--I believe it's because it fundamentally IS the same concept. ( reading st- does not require a fundamentally different reading skill than reading bl-, for example)....however...for young, beginner readers, figuring out how to wrap their tongues and minds around all those different blends at once is a LOT! I would just take your time with it, he will get more comfortable with blends with time and practice. I think the flashcards and games idea is right on track--you're doing the right thing! Just keep practicing and it will get smoother with time and becoming more familiar with those different blends. If you even have the words written on cards already, you could play read-and-sort games and have him sort them into different piles after he reads each word, grouping words that feature the same blends.
@@SevenInAll thanks so much! I feel so much better. I think it went from smooth sailing to what in the world? 😅 I think we may need another week or so in this lesson. I printed some games from the all about learning press website to try out.
We love the AAR readers but I don’t love the teachers manual and my kids didn’t enjoy the games and activities. But they were older remedial learners. They wanted straight forward instruction and review. We have been enjoying Happy Cheetah with a couple kids and the original Ordinary Parents Guide to teaching reading for the oldest. We prefer the Happy Cheetah letter magnets and white board. The magnets are in the shape of the letter and thicker and easier to manipulate. One small zipper bag is all that is needed to organize and the white board fits nicely in the same container as our other school books.
I've heard lots of good things about Happy Cheetah for kids who have a challenging journey in learning to read!
What I am planning to do is when we get the word cards the child writes them in a notebook. Then we can go back and see which ones she mastered and put a check by it...
That's a good idea!
Such a great review! I was wondering, since you’re a bilingual household, are you teaching your son to read in Spanish at the same time as English? Or are you focusing on one language at a time when it comes to reading?
I'm taking a 'delayed simultaneous' approach to reading instruction. We've gone further with English reading practice than we have with Spanish, but we are coming along behind with work with the letter sounds in Spanish and identifying initial sílabas in words...and have just begun working on decoding short words in Spanish.
Teaching phonics and starting to read is so hard for me to teach
Learning to read is probably one of the toughest things out of all the things learned in homeschool. Stay consistent, and follow a good curriculum...but most importantly, small, consistent times of practice.
My son was a struggling reader. One my son's favorite games was the treasure hunt. I would out the cards on the ground and he had to read the cards and if the made it to the end he got 5 gummy bears. We did 2 levels and are now using all about spelling, but his reading has taken off.
That's awesome that it worked so well!
Thank you for your review, we are using all about reading and this is very helpful thank you.
You're very welcome!
Did you use their pre-reading program as well?
I did not. But I did make sure my son knew all of his letter sounds and was able to blend letter sounds together (b-a-t) before we began this program.
Hi! Seeking a little advise if you can help me. I have a 6 year old I’m looking at doing the HBL K with but I’m really wanting to focus on teaching him to read this year. I’ve heard a lot of good about the All about reading program but I was concerned my child then would not be getting enough language arts with just the reading program. Do you have one you would suggest that’s a good all around program or something I could add to the AAR program? Thanks for any help!!
If a child isn't reading yet, I wouldn't worry too much about other elements of LA until they have a solid start with reading. To me, reading definitely ought to come first before worrying about nouns, verbs, etc. I would want to incorporate some work with handwriting for a 6 year old--there are many handwriting curriculums to choose from, or you can always DIY with copywork--for some, having a handwriting workbook is an easier way to make sure handwriting practice actually happens consistently, but it also can be nice to do copywork with the words the child is learning to read.
If you're already doing HBL K, you'll be doing a lot with reading aloud and discussing what you read (building comprehension)--one thing you could add if you wanted would be notebooking--with a pre-reading, pre-writing child, that usually looks like asking simple questions like "What's one important thing you remember from this reading?" and writing down their answer in a complete sentence or two, or "Can you tell me what happened in this chapter?" and writing down their answer in a notebook--then the child can illustrate the page.
Explode the Code is a nice, easy add on if you're looking for 'word work' type of activities.
@@SevenInAll Alrighty! Thank you so much for your help!!
Did you use AAR - Pre-Reading? I just feel like it's too easy for my little one (3year old) as she is reading cvc words...yet level 1 looks a little to difficult. what are your thoughts?
I did not use the Pre-Reading, that isn't necessary if your child already knows their letters and sounds. If your child can already read CVC words, Level 1 won't be difficult (many lessons are spent on CVC words). You just might do shorter reading sessions with a young child if they don't have a long attention span.
@@SevenInAll Great! Thanks Rachel... as always you are AMAZING!
I saw great progress using AAR this year. 😊
That's awesome!!
I’m currently using Explode The Code along with Alpha Phonics. I wouldn’t say there is a problem but like everyone else I want my little one to have the best foundation.
I’m so torn on whether I should buy AAR!
This was an excellent video, thank you.
I'm glad it was a helpful video! In general, if you feel like your child is already making solid progress and showing a solid understanding of phonetic concepts with what you're already doing...I wouldn't worry too much about changing or adding more. I didn't know before starting this with my son if he would have an easy/hard time learning to read...for kids that have an easier time learning to read, pretty much any phonics program will work. For kids that struggle more, that's when you'll start wanting a more robust program. When picking this, I decided to err on the side of 'more robust' because I knew I didn't need to use every part if they weren't necessary for his learning (i.e. the fluency sheets).
@@SevenInAll That completely makes sense. Thank you for your insight. 😊
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This was very practical and I appreciated the points for areas that you did not use, as I’ve been tweaking the program for my little one for it to work the best for us.
Oh, I'm glad it was helpful! Yes, curriculums are tools that we should definitely be adapting to fit the needs of our kids!
@@SevenInAll Yes, you’re so right. Thank you!
Always love your honest reviews! Thank you!
You are so welcome!
Hey Rachael... were you able to save the activity for the next child... im all about saving for the next child 😂 also one more question did you use explode the code teacher manual?
I just rec'd my AAR box today 🎉
Yes! I have every activity from AAR saved and organized in page protectors in a binder. And no, I haven't used the Explode the Code manual. Hurray for getting your AAR box! Fun to dig in and set it up!
@SevenInAll thanks om looking at this right now like omg I have to do all this cut outs... but so much fun 🥰
There is definitely a LOT of cutting out. Some people prefer to prep all the lessons at once, I didn't do that, I just usually cut out 2 or 3 lessons at a time, enough for a week or so, so that it was a never a long session of cutting and prepping. @@cyn8733
Thank you so much! This was helpful.
Glad it's helpful!
I bought this program with the intention of using it with my twins who will be 5 this summer.
I still think one of them will really benefit from it but the other one somehow taught himself to read at 3 years old and is now reading at about a 2nd grade level on his own. I'm at a bit of a loss what to do. 🤷🏻♀️
In that case, I'd just continue having him read aloud to you and chat about the stories to make sure he's understanding the vocabulary and comprehending the story. I was one of those kids--flummoxed my mom by picking up the original "Little Women" by Alcott and breezing through that long novel at 5. A lot of my LA in the first few years was just reading books and writing summaries of what I read, because the curriculum designed for kindergarten and 1st grade is all phonics-focused, making it challenging to create a plan for those kids that naturally read fluently at a young age.
@Seven In All thanks for the advice! I think that's what I'll do for him. He gets very bored with most curricula designed for his age. He's either bored or starts pretending he can't read to get the same attention that his brother is getting with reading at the moment. I'm having him work through the Sonlight 1st grade readers right now, but they're very easy for him.
Since he's only 4 I was afraid of him having gaps in phonics and hitting a wall at some point, but it seems like if there's a word he doesn't know he only has to hear it said once and he's got it.
This is exactly my daughter. She just turned 5 and sees a word once and knows what it is afterwards. That's about the same reading level as my daughter.
@@jaclynfisher5587 great to know I'm not the only one! 😊 it's truly amazing to me.