Trivium Academy Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 I have SSR&W slated for K next year for ds4 because he's an active boy who loves music and I think he would LOVE SSR&W but I went over to the ABeCeDarian website and looked around b/c I saw it mentioned in another thread and it looks very good too. I appreciate the fact it seems direct, to the point without a bunch of bells and whistles. In fact I'm going to test my dd8 with the placement test and see if she needs the B Short book instead of doing ETC 8. I didn't even consider ABeCeDarian when I was looking for a phonics program! SSR&W is a lot of money but I figured we'd use it over 2 years, K & 1st. I know sometimes it's just a crap shoot, you try what you think will work best and if it doesn't then you know. Does anyone have any input about ABeCeDarian, esp. vs. SSR&W? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I can't respond to anything about SSRW because we never used it, but I love ABeCeDarian because it is very direct and to the point. It's very easy to follow, each lesson is laid out and you do the corresponding pages (usually 1 or 2) in the workbook after you complete the lesson in the TM. My daughter has thrived on it, and I can tell her skills are improving dramatically. It also covers handwriting in level A, and the style is very similar to HWT. By my guess, SSRW would be better with an auditory learner, just because of the songs. ABCD isn't a "bells and whistles" curriculum, but it's efficient and doesn't require a lot of busywork, which both my DD and I appreciate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I've never used SSWR but I am using ABeCeDarian with my ds7 who has Down Syndrome. I love it and my son has learned/is learning to read with it. We don't use the handwriting portion because my son's writing skills lag far behind his reading ability. My son is also very active, learns easily to music and this program is still a great fit for him because it is simple, uncluttered and has no distractions. The author is involved in teacher trainings in many of the schools in my area and these schools are having great success with it also. My son already knew the basic phonograms for almost two years and still couldn't quite make the leap to reading...with ABeCeDarian it finally happened. We're in Book 2 now. I thought about SSWR because I'd heard such good things about it but I held back because of the price (I'd only be using with one child). I decided to try with the less expensive program first and I'm glad I did. I couldn't be happier with it. Carolyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 We don't use the handwriting portion because my son's writing skills lag far behind his reading ability. I was concerned with this, wondering if it would be detrimental to the program, I'm glad hear it's not. :) My son already knew the basic phonograms for almost two years and still couldn't quite make the leap to reading...with ABeCeDarian it finally happened. We're in Book 2 now. I thought about SSWR because I'd heard such good things about it but I held back because of the price (I'd only be using with one child). I decided to try with the less expensive program first and I'm glad I did. I couldn't be happier with it. Carolyn We'd only use SSR&W for one child too, the one thing that I've noticed in the reviews of SSR&W is the amount of time devoted. I wonder if we'll tire of the games. Hmm. Thank you so much for responding! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jg_puppy Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I am using SSRW K book 1 with my son who is in kindergarten this year. My son likes the colorful workbook. There is only one main song used with this book. There are cutting and gluing sheets for each letter, but not any games used with this book. My son likes the book, but I find it a little repetitive and boring. I think that in book 2 it changes quite a bit. If your son knows all of his letters and basic sounds then I would skip the first book. The other thing that I couldn't have predicted is that my music loving ds doesn't like the songs at all. I have tried to play some of the songs from the next book just to get him used to the songs. He doesn't like them at all. He asks to turn the CD off every time. So the main reason that I went with this program is not working. I think in January we are going to move to using McRuffy for our main phonics and reading program and then use the parts of SSRW that we like as a supplement. My son loves McRuffy math so I am hoping the McRuffy reading and phonics will also be a hit. Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 What do you need to purchase for ABeCeDarian? All of Level A? We already have plenty of phonics readers, like Bob Books, Dick and Jane, stepped readers. For level A : Big Reading Book A1 and A2= $37.50 Teacher Manual A1 and A2= $63.00 Student Workbook A1 and A2= $31.00 Student Reading Book A1 and A2= $21.50 everything for Level A = $157.00 Then for Level B: TM's B1 and B2, Student Workbooks B1 and B2=$68.00 Then Level C: Student Wkbk, TM and Spelling Workbook=$47 I'm not even sure we'd use the Spelling Workbook but the total price of ABeCeDarian, getting all the products is $272. That's still cheaper than SSR&W and it's for K-3? I want to make sure I understand this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 If you are using it for one child at a time: Level A: Teacher Manual A1 and A2 Student Workbook A1 and A2 Level B: Teacher Manual B1 and B2 Student Workbook B1 and B2 Level C: Teacher Manual Student Workbook The reading books aren't necessary because everything is contained in the TM. We bought the student reading books but never even opened A2 because we didn't need to, I just have DD read the text from the TM. The big reading books are for teachers with large group classrooms and have the same material that's in the student books, just in a larger format. It does cover reading levels for K-3. We are schooling year round and are picking up the next level as soon as the previous one is finished, so we will begin level B in December although first grade won't "officially" begin until July. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 Thank you! I figured there had to be something I could leave out for Level A since it IS used in classrooms! Giving you a HUGE :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Jessica, Just wanted to add...I did just the opposite from the other poster. I bought the TM and student book for A1 and skipped the TM for A2. I spoke to the author and he said if I understood the procedures from A1 that I probably didn't need A2 because it followed the same format. A1 TM does contain all the flashcards in the back so you'd probably want that one to get started. The author said the teaching format didn't change until later levels. You could definitely make it work either way, though. I live close to where the printing is done so I don't pay for shipping. I always have the option to go back and order whatever extras I feel I need without incurring more shipping costs. You definitely do not need the big books. Carolyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieF Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 Please can someone post me a link as I haven't a clue what you are all talking about!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 Sure! Sorry about that.. http://www.abcdrp.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jg_puppy Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 I keep coming back and looking at this thread. Has anyone used ABeCeDarian with a third grader? Would this program help a struggling speller? My 3rd grader is a great reader, but very weak speller. Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxMama Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 How many lessons are in ABeCeDarian Level A? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieF Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 So are you using it instead of a phonics programme like OPGTR and ETC. We are using both of these and I'm not sure either are doing much for ds5 at the moment. I do like ETC because he can do it completely on his own though so I can get other stuff done. Would he beable to do this on his own? Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted November 17, 2008 Share Posted November 17, 2008 How many lessons are in ABeCeDarian Level A? I don't have my book with me, but IIRC, there are approximately 125. It's designed to do 1 lesson a day for 5 days. Most of the lessons, which are very short in level A - I assume B and C would be similar, do require teacher interaction but we are usually done with the teaching part of the lesson in 5-15 minutes. Your child should be able to do the workbook part on his own. We also used ETC but weren't getting much out of it, which is why we switched. They do have a spelling program that goes with level C, but I haven't used it personally, so I can't say how much it would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted November 18, 2008 Share Posted November 18, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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