Phonics Road--why did you switch?

[Micron4]

I seem to have a case of Phonics Road Fever.

 

Today I read through a massively long old thread about PR (31 pages, I think?). There were quite a few people in that thread that were just starting PR Level 1. So I was wondering:

 

--Are you still doing PR? How is it going? What do you like/dislike?

 

--If you switched, why? What are you using now? What did you like/dislike about PR?

 

Looking forward to reading your comments. :bigear:

[abrightmom]

Here is a thread that may answer some of your questions:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=345826

[MiztrezzLyn]

We have used PR1 and half of PR2. I stopped halfway through PR2 through no fault of the program but that I was getting nervous about him going on to PR3 and it becoming too much for him since I started him on PR1 when he was 5 and he was 6 when we started PR 2. So, we'll be restarting PR2 in July when he starts 2nd grade and he'll be 7. For now, we've been reviewing the phongrams and going over spelling with marking just to keep things fresh in his mind.

 

PR1 and even the work we had done in PR2 was no problem for him, the amount of writing jumped up from PR1 to PR2 but he rose to the challenge. I had just heard that PR3 starts to really ramp it up and I wasn't sure if maturity wise he'd be able to keep up. I don't know if it was a good decision or not to stop our progress through PR but I don't think it has hurt us in anyway.

 

I wouldn't give up PR for the world. I love it, he loves it and even my 3 year old has gotten a LOT from it, just from hearing us go over the rule tunes and the phonograms. I like that it teaches all the phonograms and the sounds that they make. Its systematic and helps him be sure he writes the sounds as he hears them when he is spelling. The rule tunes really help him remember certain rules for spelling.

 

Dislikes? I'm not sure, I don't use the handwriting instruction as we use Getty-Dubay here and he was already well past that point of instruction anyway. I am a little uneasy about the vowel sounds of y only including short i and long i sounds. I get it but its hard to explain to young ones. My 6 year old has no trouble remembering it now but it was just weird since we all hear long e here :)

 

A lot of people dislike watching the videos. I don't have any problem with it. I watch it every few weeks, take some notes if I feel I need to and that's it. It doesn't take me that long, maybe 30 minutes every month or so, if even that long.

 

The grammar we were doing in PR2 was thorough and he was learning a LOT. I liked the parsing of sentences and he got plenty of practice doing it.

 

I am not sure what else to say about it :) It is an expensive program but for everything that you get and all that it encompasses, I think it is worth it.

 

Hope that helps :)

 

**Edited to add that we did not use PR1 to teach reading. I cannot say how it works in that regard since my son was reading very well by the time we started PR1.

Edited April 12, 2012 by MiztrezzLyn

[didadeewiththree]

We started Phonics Road last fall for our first year in homeschooling, using PR 1 for our newly turned six year old, kindergarten son and almost 8 yr old, 2nd grade daughter.

 

All year long I have been drilling phonograms and words to my kindy and he has made progress, but is still not reading yet. He is very hands on, and is more into math, but has made great improvements. His handwriting is great, Ive even shown him some cursive. He likes the rule tunes but doesnt really know how to apply them. Im not consistently watching the videos, maybe I should be. We have just now got to the readers and it is still painful to watch him sound out most words. I had to skip some material in weeks 13-14 because he was not understanding the phonograms like ie, ei. I told him that ie says e i and he insisted that they did not say e i, for they are i e! I decided not to beat a dead horse and just move on, Ill go back to those later. What has been hard for me is not learning spelling words in families. All 4 spelling words he has have nothing to do with each other, they all have different rules. Ive just had to figure out that we have to go slowly because a lot of the work in PR 1 is more like 1st grade work, or at least what I would consider to be.

 

With my daughter, Ive decided to vary things up. In the beginning, we went through PR 1 quickly and I felt she needed more grammar, so I got Shurley Grammar and MCT, and we have just kept that up a;ong with using PR 2 now for spelling and the Little House lit study. Its kind of expensive to use it only for spelling, but I guess I will get my money's worth when my son moves up. I think overall she has learned alot from the rules and methods though. We wont be giving up PR for awhile.

[lindsrae]

We are in the middle of PR1. I was despairing for a little while, wondering if these phonograms and rule tunes were going to "click." Then I realized that they wouldn't click unless *I* knew them and KEPT reviewing them with DD. That has made a huge difference in her progress. (Seems like a "duh!" moment now, but at the time, I couldn't see the forest for the trees, ykwim?)

 

For my own personal understanding and education, it really helped me to reading The Writing Road to Reading by Spalding and Unlocking the Logic of English by Eides. One piece that I feel is "missing" from Phonics Road is the WHY. You watch Mrs. Beers teaching on the videos and you (I) start to wonder --why is she doing things like that. We do we have to mark Every. Single. Word? Reading the other two books helped me to see why we were doing the things we were doing. Not just because Mrs. Beers said so, but because these are things that are based on research and the rules of phonics. My own knowledge of phonics has increased tremendously...I didn't know what I was missing!

[WIS0320]

Personally, I think some people stop using it because it IS teacher intensive. So far I have one child using one level. I can see it getting more nuts in a few years with three children all using different levels of the program. It isn't a "fun" program either, it is a "get 'er done" program. I've been looking closely at PR2 as I prep for next year and the teacher requirements ramp up right along with the requirements for the child.

 

With that said, I have no plans to stop using it with my oldest. I hope to use all four levels and then possibly move onto the Latin Road. The teacher training via the DVDs is excellent and I personally like the handholding. Some of it seems repetitive (yes, I fast forward through some of the spelling lists!) but the training I DO need is there for me. The program is very well thought out and thorough. I personally haven't seen anything as comprehensive with the amount of teacher training on the market.

[Micron4]

Thanks for your responses--you've given me a lot to think about!

[Hedgehogs4]

Well, I thought I had given it up, but my daughter really likes the program, so I guess we'll keep going. I've been working slowly through PR1 this year, and will finish it in the summer. I don't know yet if we'll go on to PR 2.

 

My reason is the videos. I get very weary of them...I see the value in them, and understand why she does it that way, but I would love to have an IG rather than (or in addition to) videos.

[melmichigan]

-I am almost finished with the DVD's for PR4, my last set. :party:

 

-We are sticking with it. I do add other things, but that's just the way I am and the pattern of our school year, not the program.

 

-I love the Latin tie in for PR3 and PR4.

 

-I needed the hand holding, I don't remember learning a single phonogram or a single spelling rule.

 

-My DC all read well before starting the program.

[yobella]

We're using PR3 now and plan on continuing with PR4 and then LR. I've used FLL and WWE also and it was just as teacher intensive, but more frustrating. At least for us. YMMV.

[LoveBaby]

I am using PR 1,2 and 3. I started to use PR 1 to teach my DS 6 to read and then thought I needed a "reading" program so it would go faster. I am so frustrated that I didn't just continue to trust the process. We are now back to PR 1 for him and it is going very well. My older ones are doing really well with PR, too. I will continue to use it for the foreseeable future for all of my kiddo's and move my olders into the Latin Road when the time comes.

[sassenach]

I seem to have a case of Phonics Road Fever.

 

Today I read through a massively long old thread about PR (31 pages, I think?). There were quite a few people in that thread that were just starting PR Level 1. So I was wondering:

 

--Are you still doing PR? How is it going? What do you like/dislike?

 

 

--If you switched, why? What are you using now? What did you like/dislike about PR?

 

Looking forward to reading your comments. :bigear:

 

I have used 1, 2 and am now in 3. I really liked both 1 and 2. The pacing was perfect, the songs were helpful, I love the way review happens, ect. I am finding myself really disliking pr3. We're about 6 weeks in and I am still not feeling the love. The jump in the amount of writing required is nuts. It's all review, gobs and gobs of review. The second half of PR3 is completely different than the first half and I'm debating whether we should just skip forward, or ditch it completely. I also really don't love the way writing is being taught. I think my rising 4th grader is going to need an explicit writing program. I am really confused about what to do right now, honestly. PR3 is making my ds super resistant to language arts. I need to change something.

[melmichigan]

See I'm in a minority I'm sure, I don't look at the writing in PR as my writing program, I think of it as part of literature.

[LoveBaby]

I have used 1, 2 and am now in 3. I really liked both 1 and 2. The pacing was perfect, the songs were helpful, I love the way review happens, ect. I am finding myself really disliking pr3. We're about 6 weeks in and I am still not feeling the love. The jump in the amount of writing required is nuts. It's all review, gobs and gobs of review. The second half of PR3 is completely different than the first half and I'm debating whether we should just skip forward, or ditch it completely. I also really don't love the way writing is being taught. I think my rising 4th grader is going to need an explicit writing program. I am really confused about what to do right now, honestly. PR3 is making my ds super resistant to language arts. I need to change something.

 

Shannon,

 

I don't think you would be crazy to move more quickly through the first 17 weeks of PR3 since it is all review. That is what I am doing with my older daughter. Moving into new material might make a difference to your DS if he is feeling frustrated because of all the review. If I were going to add any writing to PR, I would use WWE. It won't add a ton of time to your day, the literature selections are really great and it builds necessary skills.

 

There is so much great stuff in the later parts of PR 3, I think you would be bummed to miss it!

[Hunter]

I've looked at Phonics Road a few times. I get scared I'm not going to like grade 3. I'm afraid it might cover things I don't want to invest time in as a priority. Shannon I'll be interested in your updates.

 

There is so much good stuff to do every day. I've learned that 2 and even 4 or 6 goods don't make a great though. I always feel like I am sifting, and tend to avoid programs that don't allow me to sift, because they are so integrated.

[sassenach]

Shannon,

 

I don't think you would be crazy to move more quickly through the first 17 weeks of PR3 since it is all review. That is what I am doing with my older daughter. Moving into new material might make a difference to your DS if he is feeling frustrated because of all the review. If I were going to add any writing to PR, I would use WWE. It won't add a ton of time to your day, the literature selections are really great and it builds necessary skills.

 

There is so much great stuff in the later parts of PR 3, I think you would be bummed to miss it!

 

Here's my logistical issue. We're coming up on the end of our school year. If I skip to the second half, I will not be able to finish it before June, which is fine except for the lit study part. If we started Benjamin West, I would not want to put the brakes on. So I'm modifying the first half right now and dropping the things that are overkill. I think I am probably going to skip through the review spelling words and just get the building/framing codes done with and then move onto new words/designing codes. BUT, if I did want to ditch PR, I think the beginning of the next school year is the time to do it. I don't want to keep slugging through the second half of PR3 just to discover that I really don't love it anymore. So far, I have not been that excited about any of the lit studies in PR. The fact that so much gets rolled into the BW lit study may either make me like it more, or it may be the nail in the coffin. I am going to have to decide if I want to roll those dice. Whatever happens, I don't want to do another mid year change next school year.

[HayleyKC]

Anybody mind if I join in this conversation REALLY late? :-) I've been out of the loop on WTM for the last few months but hopping back in.

 

We are to the last 4 weeks of PR 3 with my dd and PR 1 with my ds. I understand the "lack of love" in the second half of PR3. I think I just wasn't warned that the pace really changes in the second half. I think if I was mentally prepared, I wouldn't have felt so blindsided. If I know what I'm in for it really helps me or at least I could make modifications in advance. Oh well, we're just pushing through it and looking forward to a break! I'm definitely considering breaking year 4 into 2 years before moving into LR. I will probably read up on that thought here in the forum and take a look at it once I order it in order to decide.

 

It was definitely a little wacky starting out this year teaching two levels for the first time. But, as with anything, a little trial and error and feeling it out and we got into a groove. There are lots of ways to make it work. Also there are some parts of year 3 with a lot more student independence that wasn't there in the first two years so keep this in mind.

 

My mindset for the whole thing is that there is really nothing else out there that is so thorough and comprehensive. I really want the best for my kids, that's a big part of my conviction to homeschool in the first place. And yes this is teacher intensive but. . . we are teachers right? So I remind myself at times that it's not asking to much to have to do some teaching and some planning. Fortunately I don't have to do that much in most other subjects. The biggest thing I learned in the second half of PR3 was that we couldn't get away with skipping a day and doubling up here and there. Well, I take that back, we could, but that's when it got miserable. As long as we stayed on a 5 day pace, it was a reasonable amount of work for us. Any more and it was draining!

 

So for what it's worth, that's where we're at. I find the program priceless and plan to use it with both kids all the way through LR. But I'm kind of like that anyway- not a switcher. Once I've decided something is the best thing, I commit to it and get tunnel vision. The thought of switching around and going through a new learning curve each time and risking the possibility that some important component may be left out for my kids from making the switch, puts me on edge. I find security in knowing if I just go from start to finish, we'll have all our bases covered.

 

Hope that helps. Love reading all the insight and feedback from everyone!

[Hunter]

Anybody mind if I join in this conversation REALLY late? :-) I've been out of the loop on WTM for the last few months but hopping back in.

 

We are to the last 4 weeks of PR 3 with my dd and PR 1 with my ds. I understand the "lack of love" in the second half of PR3. I think I just wasn't warned that the pace really changes in the second half. I think if I was mentally prepared, I wouldn't have felt so blindsided. If I know what I'm in for it really helps me or at least I could make modifications in advance. Oh well, we're just pushing through it and looking forward to a break! I'm definitely considering breaking year 4 into 2 years before moving into LR. I will probably read up on that thought here in the forum and take a look at it once I order it in order to decide.

 

It was definitely a little wacky starting out this year teaching two levels for the first time. But, as with anything, a little trial and error and feeling it out and we got into a groove. There are lots of ways to make it work. Also there are some parts of year 3 with a lot more student independence that wasn't there in the first two years so keep this in mind.

 

My mindset for the whole thing is that there is really nothing else out there that is so thorough and comprehensive. I really want the best for my kids, that's a big part of my conviction to homeschool in the first place. And yes this is teacher intensive but. . . we are teachers right? So I remind myself at times that it's not asking to much to have to do some teaching and some planning. Fortunately I don't have to do that much in most other subjects. The biggest thing I learned in the second half of PR3 was that we couldn't get away with skipping a day and doubling up here and there. Well, I take that back, we could, but that's when it got miserable. As long as we stayed on a 5 day pace, it was a reasonable amount of work for us. Any more and it was draining!

 

So for what it's worth, that's where we're at. I find the program priceless and plan to use it with both kids all the way through LR. But I'm kind of like that anyway- not a switcher. Once I've decided something is the best thing, I commit to it and get tunnel vision. The thought of switching around and going through a new learning curve each time and risking the possibility that some important component may be left out for my kids from making the switch, puts me on edge. I find security in knowing if I just go from start to finish, we'll have all our bases covered.

 

Hope that helps. Love reading all the insight and feedback from everyone!

 

Thanks for the review. PR is on my wishlist. I don't know if I will USE it with the students or not, but I can see that it is excellent teacher education, at the very least. It's at the bottom of my wishlist though :-( I need to purchase the things I know I will USE with students first. Hopefully next winter it will be PR videos and hot cocoa for me :-)

[Sue G in PA]

Cost. I couldn't keep paying hundreds of $ for each level (even though I have multiple kids and could re-use). I had to sell higher end curriculum and go with a less expensive one. We now use The Writing Road to Reading. Same method...but cheaper. :)

[sassenach]

I'm jumping ship. We hate level 3. The deciding factor is that I really don't like the way she does lit studies. By the time you get to the 2nd half of level 3, grammar is completely integrated with the lit. I really did like levels 1 and 2, but I think you can probably find a spalding program that covers the same stuff for less money. We will carry over the skills we gained (rule tunes, knowledge of phonograms and grammar) into our future studies, so I don't feel like anything was wasted. I just know that if we continue, PR is going to kill any love of language arts (especially for my 9yo).

[LoveBaby]

I'm jumping ship. We hate level 3. The deciding factor is that I really don't like the way she does lit studies. By the time you get to the 2nd half of level 3, grammar is completely integrated with the lit. I really did like levels 1 and 2, but I think you can probably find a spalding program that covers the same stuff for less money. We will carry over the skills we gained (rule tunes, knowledge of phonograms and grammar) into our future studies, so I don't feel like anything was wasted. I just know that if we continue, PR is going to kill any love of language arts (especially for my 9yo).

 

Shannon - are you on the yahoo group?

 

Someone else was just asking about doing PR 3 with a 9 yo boy and many of the mama's who have used PR for a long time have said that they slowed the pace way down so there wasn't as much writing each day. They were nearly in unison of the jump in skills from level 2 and 3 and didn't expect to finish it in one year.

[lexi]

Can someone tell me more about how PR3 is different, especially in the second half? It will take us 2 years to get through PR1 and I suspect we will slow down PR2. I want to know what to expect as we work through the program. Thanks!

[PRTGSw2K]

What is the yahoo group?

[myfatherslily]

I seem to have a case of Phonics Road Fever.

 

Today I read through a massively long old thread about PR (31 pages, I think?). There were quite a few people in that thread that were just starting PR Level 1. So I was wondering:

 

--Are you still doing PR? How is it going? What do you like/dislike?

 

--If you switched, why? What are you using now? What did you like/dislike about PR?

 

Looking forward to reading your comments. :bigear:

 

We quit about halfway through PR 2. It simply wasn't getting done and it was a drag every single day. So we took a break and never did go back. I won't be buying level 3.

 

However, I DID feel that level 1 was very beneficial for my DD. Though we've have stopped using it, we still use the markings and rule tunes with our spelling words.

 

I think it's worth using at least level 1 and plan to have DS use it (slowly) this coming year.

[Heidi]

I find PR to be a drag too...

 

I'm on the verge of dumping PR... again. We are in PR2 and I struggle to bring myself to do it with dd. We dumped the lit. study already. It was killing the joy of our first exposure to Little House and taking too much time teaching/learning things that i don't find important to teach/learn just yet.

 

However, it's the grammar that I'm really dragging my feet on. I have issues with grammar. It never made sense to me in school. I struggled remembering all of the definitions and applying them, and I'm struggling now trying to teach it through PR.

 

Then I found KISS grammar the other day and I LOVE it. I am working through the first level of KISS and it totally makes sense.:D The author of KISS says something about how all other grammar programs teach the definitions of grammar terms and then have you practice applying the terms on unrealistic/too simplistic sentences. Of course, that's exactly how PR teaches grammar, so now that I realize this I can't stay with PR grammar. KISS ruined it for me. I especially love the real sentences from real literature in KISS, something else that bugs me about PR.

 

I love the Spalding spelling method, but I can get that cheaper elsewhere. I would like to practice spelling in context rather than going through a list everyday (another reason PR is hard to get around to). Now I need a latin roots program and I can completely replace PR... OR stick with it anyway because I bought it. :glare:

 

 

What to do...

[Tarreymere]

Loved the program, but it made me completely crazy to have to watch and listen to the dvds to figure out what to do instead of having the instructions and philosophy written down in a logical, coherent fashion. I'm NOT an audio learner. She is NOT an interesting or engaging speaker.

 

I'd surely buy the program again if they ditched the dvd approach.

[Karen in CO]

I quit in PR1. It was a drag. It wasn't getting done. Oh, and I really don't like jingles.

[HayleyKC]

I'm jumping ship. We hate level 3. The deciding factor is that I really don't like the way she does lit studies. By the time you get to the 2nd half of level 3, grammar is completely integrated with the lit. I really did like levels 1 and 2, but I think you can probably find a spalding program that covers the same stuff for less money. We will carry over the skills we gained (rule tunes, knowledge of phonograms and grammar) into our future studies, so I don't feel like anything was wasted. I just know that if we continue, PR is going to kill any love of language arts (especially for my 9yo).

 

Hi Shannon-

Yeah, I feel ya. It is an important part of our job as teachers/parents to do our best to provide the best for our kids- a big part of that is doing what we can to keep their love for learning alive! :001_smile: So I see your concern there in wanting to insure you don't kill any possible love for language arts. I also would agree that, finding a way to keep incorporating the spalding method is sufficient and cheaper. I have heard that all other spalding programs are even dryer and more boring. (Not sure, I've never looked at one.) But perhaps like you said, taking the rule tunes and phonograms you have acquired so fire and using them might keep it a little more interesting.

 

I think once we finish these last 4 weeks of year 3, I'm just going to take a good close look at year 4 to be as prepared as I can before fall and do some things to lighten the load and mix it up a bit. Based on feedback from other PR users, I'm considering spending 2 school years on it and if so, I'll perhaps rotate with something else writing oriented that will be productive but in some ways a little bit of a break. We'll see.

[HayleyKC]

Can someone tell me more about how PR3 is different, especially in the second half? It will take us 2 years to get through PR1 and I suspect we will slow down PR2. I want to know what to expect as we work through the program. Thanks!

 

 

I was just explaining this to a friend who will be starting PR 3 in the fall. There are a couple of things. First of all, for the first half of PR 3 you have spelling words, framing codes, and literature. (Pretty similar to PR 2). However this time you read a whole book in the first half. The framing codes got a little tiring but then part way through for the framing codes portion of lessons, the student begins going through her spelling words and marking what parts of speech that word can be (N, V, Adj, etc.) using the dictionary. The nice thing here is, that can be independent, so it gives the teacher a little break! Framing codes end with the first half of the year.

 

Here's where it threw me off. I thought perhaps the second half would lighten since we were done with Framing codes. NOT SO! We pick up a new component called Designing codes. That's fine, I thought, perhaps the load would stay the same. NOT SO. For the second half, you half spelling, designing codes and literature (a second book used for the second half. However, literature worksheets now incorporate grammar (replaces framing codes). So where you're used to having 1 or two literature worksheets a week, you now have one every day. That was one thing that threw us for a loop. If we missed 1 day of literature for whatever reason, we found ourselves with a workload that multiplied quickly and would have 2-3 worksheets to try to do in one day which is way too much. Especially because the worksheets are pretty labor intensive most of the time.

 

The second thing that threw me off is, the daily schedule for the spelling/designing codes portion made no sense. (I wonder if she explained this in the early videos and perhaps I was spacing out or something!) It charts it out to do 5 words a day mon-thursday, then on friday she assigns 3-4 designing codes. Those are full pages of work. To give you an idea, Designing codes will have a latin prefix, suffix, or base, that you teach the meaning of. You have the student list out about 6 words that use that latin part. Write out the literal meanings on each, the student then figures out the part of speech for each word, and is expected to use their dictionary to look up and write out the dictionary meaning as well. Can you imagine doing 4 pages of that in 1 day? So it's just really off balance. The remedy here is to simply be aware of that and schedule out your student's work in a more balanced way. For instance 5 spelling words, 1 designing code page, and then literature reading and literature worksheet. For us, we do 10 words monday, 10 tues, and then a designing code each day wed-fri. That usually works well for us. And of course, as we learned the hard way, literature reading and work sheet EVERY DAY m-f.

 

Now that we're adjusted and have figured out how to balance out our work and stay on course, we're feeling much better. My daughter keeps going, "that's it? we're done?" That's what I like to hear. Much better. But we flopped around for a couple of months having trouble keeping up until we got into that good rhythm. Because of that rough transition though, we're pretty burned out and excited for a break!

 

Wow. Sorry for the book. hth!

[Heidi]

I was just explaining this to a friend who will be starting PR 3 in the fall. There are a couple of things. First of all, for the first half of PR 3 you have spelling words, framing codes, and literature. (Pretty similar to PR 2). However this time you read a whole book in the first half. The framing codes got a little tiring but then part way through for the framing codes portion of lessons, the student begins going through her spelling words and marking what parts of speech that word can be (N, V, Adj, etc.) using the dictionary. The nice thing here is, that can be independent, so it gives the teacher a little break! Framing codes end with the first half of the year.

 

Here's where it threw me off. I thought perhaps the second half would lighten since we were done with Framing codes. NOT SO! We pick up a new component called Designing codes. That's fine, I thought, perhaps the load would stay the same. NOT SO. For the second half, you half spelling, designing codes and literature (a second book used for the second half. However, literature worksheets now incorporate grammar (replaces framing codes). So where you're used to having 1 or two literature worksheets a week, you now have one every day. That was one thing that threw us for a loop. If we missed 1 day of literature for whatever reason, we found ourselves with a workload that multiplied quickly and would have 2-3 worksheets to try to do in one day which is way too much. Especially because the worksheets are pretty labor intensive most of the time.

 

The second thing that threw me off is, the daily schedule for the spelling/designing codes portion made no sense. (I wonder if she explained this in the early videos and perhaps I was spacing out or something!) It charts it out to do 5 words a day mon-thursday, then on friday she assigns 3-4 designing codes. Those are full pages of work. To give you an idea, Designing codes will have a latin prefix, suffix, or base, that you teach the meaning of. You have the student list out about 6 words that use that latin part. Write out the literal meanings on each, the student then figures out the part of speech for each word, and is expected to use their dictionary to look up and write out the dictionary meaning as well. Can you imagine doing 4 pages of that in 1 day? So it's just really off balance. The remedy here is to simply be aware of that and schedule out your student's work in a more balanced way. For instance 5 spelling words, 1 designing code page, and then literature reading and literature worksheet. For us, we do 10 words monday, 10 tues, and then a designing code each day wed-fri. That usually works well for us. And of course, as we learned the hard way, literature reading and work sheet EVERY DAY m-f.

 

Now that we're adjusted and have figured out how to balance out our work and stay on course, we're feeling much better. My daughter keeps going, "that's it? we're done?" That's what I like to hear. Much better. But we flopped around for a couple of months having trouble keeping up until we got into that good rhythm. Because of that rough transition though, we're pretty burned out and excited for a break!

 

Wow. Sorry for the book. hth!

 

Thank you so much for this review. It is so helpful to see what PR3 is going to be like.

[HappyGrace]

Coming VERY late to the party here! I wanted to say that we stopped after PR1. Ds LOVED it and it was so effective. I HATED watching the dvds every day. I didn't think there was enough review of the words to cement them.

 

They really really need to do a written manual for this. Have a dvd for a *few* lessons to get the hang of how to teach it (that includes the tunes), and then have written instructions! Who has time for all that dvd watching?

 

The kicker was that going into level 2 it would include lit, grammar, etc. I didn't want it all together (and have MORE dvd watching to do.) And being forced to buy it all together when you just want spelling makes it just too $$$. Even used it is pricey.

 

She should offer an optional second package that is JUST spelling and that has a written teacher's manual (again, with a short introductory instructional dvd that also has the tunes.) She should also add some type of spiral review of words previously covered, through dictation or retesting or something.

 

I was so so sad to leave this program. We really floundered with spelling with ds this yr w/out PR. :(

[mcmama]

Gah, my reply got eaten! We used PR slowly, my 7-y/o wasn't loving the repetition of stuff he already knew (he never has). It definitely helped him get a better understanding of the rules, and really improved his handwriting. He's in PS now for special services but I loved the idea of transitioning to Latin later on, too.