All About Reading, Pre-reading...yes/no?

[juliecram]

Is the program worth the money?  I have used All About Spelling, levels 1-7 with my older son and we love it.  I have a almost 4 year old that I want to work with this fall.  Is the program worth the money?  

 

Thanks!

Julie

[Eagle]

I too am debating if AAR is worth the money for us. With ds1, I used the Reading Lesson ($20) and he learned to read in just a few months. We then went right into AAS, which has been very much worth the money.

 

Ds2 is now 3 and we have been doing AAR pre reading over the last few months. He already knew his letters and their sounds thanks to the Leapfrog videos. He has learned rhyming from AAR and he does enjoy the craft letter pages. But could we have done that much less expensively? Yes. Ds' favourite part of AAS pre is the zebra puppet, and we bought that separately. I am leaning towards getting The Reading Lesson for him and knowing that we can get AAR if it turns out we need a much more incremental program.

[ReadingMama1214]

It being worth it depends on how much the child knows. We did it when my dd was 3 and we didn't finish it. She picked up letter sounds and rhyming really quickly. We did do the crafts and she LOVED Ziggy. I plan to use it for my DS when he's 3.

 

We switched to ordinary parents guide to teaching reading. It was $20 and I usually use Pinterest or Teacherspayteachers.com to find games and crafts to supplement

[desertflower]

It's worth it for me. My youngest knows her letters and their sounds, but I don't know enough games to do with her. I just have the teacher's manual and ziggy. She has a ton of fun. This is what I need because I'm busy with my other 2.

 

The train and bug game from pathway phonics were sufficient for my older 2, but I started them when they were older and my youngest dd wants to do lessons now. :)

[SemiSweet]

We just started it, but we are taking it extra slow because I don't want to do much in the way of formal stuff yet, but he likes it and we are having fun with it.

[xixstar]

I didn't feel it was worth the cost. So much of what it covers were things we already did day to day with my kids.

 

I love AAR but the cost is high for us so we only buy the levels that we need and the pre-level was a want more than a need.

 

If cost wasn't a large factor then I would have bought it because it looks fun.

[Guest]

I would honestly suggest trying a couple weeks playing the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD before investing in AAR prereading. You may be blown away at how fast they pick up the letters and sounds and maybe save your $$ for the next level up. Just my two cents. My two pre-kers learned all of their letters and sounds in less than two weeks with Letter Factory at the recommendation of someone here. We now own a LOT of Leap Frog DVDs. It's crazy how fast they pick it all up. Everything from letters and sounds to early math. If you have screen time it doesn't seem to upset them to just replace your normal show with the LF DVD.

[countrymum]

I love the game ideas and picture cards. My girl really likes the craft book but for the next one is will probably substitute a cheaper letter book but follow all the lessons and games. I did not buy the books. We have the Dr suss ABC book and other poem books. I do love the teachers manual and cards. You can often find it used. Check eBay abe books amazon half price books and homeschool classifieds.