Okay, so here is the back story. I started my daughter in Logic of English Foundations. She has done amazing well .. and finishing up D a full year sooner than I had planned. I had intentions of starting her with Logic of English Essentials after finishing D but her maturity at where she is, I don't think she is ready for Essentials. Plus I had some doubts because it doesn't look as reading heavy as Foundations was. So I was debating on what to switch to for a year (maybe longer if I like it enough) for the time being. I heard Phonics Road to Reading is really good, and introduces Latin later, but I didn't see any evaluation if I should start her in Book one or Book Two. Learning Language Arts through Literature looks really nice (so far she is between Red and Yellow. I imagine as she finishes I may go with Red unless she tests more solidly into Yellow) because it has a lot of reading to go with it, but when I googled the old forums in here, it seemed hit or miss, and it has been upgraded since then. Which would you go with? Or maybe you know something better? For what it is worth --- she is a young first grader, she'll be just shy of 6.5 when she finishes up D. I'd prefer an all-in-one because I'll be dealing with a newborn on top of two toddlers when she finishes Logic of English. But if you know a good assortment, I could be convinced ....

About 1/5 of the way through B they suggested (wasn't required, but I got them anyway) starting with BOB Readers 1. There's also a suggested order that they give you in the Teacher's Manual so that the rules they are taught in the program correspond with the reader for additional practice. Now that we've finished C, we have gone through Set 2 and Set 3 in different order to the rules. There was an additional suggested reading list on their website (https://www.logicofenglish.com/foundations/book-suggestions) and we got the "Now I'm Reading!" sets they suggested on Ebay for about $4 used. I personally printed off the suggested additional reading list (that list has B and C included) and taped it to the cover of each of my Teacher Manuals to stay on top of. You certainly don't have to have them, but I was okay with buying them for additional reading practice on top of the readers that come with the program because there are three more children behind my oldest that will need to eventually learn how to read. But it is suggested frequently through out the course and of course, even further as you can see on the suggestion list. Sorry it took so long to get back to you --- been crazy here!

I have used Logic of English from the beginning so I don't have much experience outside of it, so I'll try to be as fair as I can be in my answers to you. We are also about to start D. A is pure phonics of the alphabet and NOT in order, which I loved a lot. Like the phonogram 'd' was one of the first letters introduced, and 'b' was introduced towards the end, completely keeping the ever common 'b' 'd' swap up at bay, at least for her. The teaching of the writing strokes is amazing, but after it starts getting towards dictation (towards the end of B), my daughter hated it and I have changed up the writing a bit. B is the start of blends and digraphs with silent e. It starts focusing on sentence structure at the very basic core (capital letter at the beginning, punctuation, raise your voice for a sentence that ends in a question). Like A, there are a mess ton of games and you really don't need much beyond the flash cards. Sometimes it's hopscotch to the right sound, hide-and-search for the correct sound in the room, flyswatter the correct sounds, bingo, tic-tac-toe sort of games. They also have cards in a smaller size for card games like "Fox" and "Memory". We liked the cards for drill, but my daughter is much more active than a still child so the hide-and-search games were favorites. Also the readers they use with that program are the BOB books if that makes any influence on your decision. I elected not to do cursive first for her. I felt it was easier to build up hand strength with simple strokes you could stop in the middle with ease if needed. Cursive is a little more difficult to pick up in the middle of letter formation. Plus, I almost always write in cursive so while she doesn't write it, she reads my shopping lists to me at the store which are written in cursive. I plan on teaching cursive later when she can write a couple sentences with ease with the rules she does know about spacing, punctuation, indention, etc. But she's started asking so I may teach her sooner. So I don't really have a dog in this fight, but it's the reason I went with manuscript first. Hope this helps.

Thank you for that information about brain development Lori D. I hadn't thought it like that (I'm still trying to shed that public school mind set) and that makes more sense. Good to know this is more of a normal thing than it is something to be worried about! Also --- thanks for the resources to check out, some of those I never heard of. I'm glad you stumbled across my question!

Yeah Logic of English has been worth every penny, and has turned my daughter into an amazing reader, and a pretty decent speller. It has changed my viewpoints immensely on how to learn to read. Another curriculum that has been worth every penny is Elemental Science so far. My girls just love the projects, mini-crafts, experiments, and the books needed with it. (I ordered PDF of the coloring pages. I wouldn't say they are that well drawn, but they love coloring it and since coloring helps build up hand strength ...)

I have a first grader who has been doing Singapore Standards for the last 10 months. (We home-school year round). We are still in 1A, and only made it to the 11-20 facts. She knows her 1-10 solidly, positional language, but what I am concerned with is how long it is taking us to move through the course work. I was wondering if maybe I should switch to Math-U-See as I have heard that moves at a slower rate with a lot more repetition that seems to be her learning style for now at least. Or should I continue to stick it out with Singapore Standards? Because when she does get through it, she has it if you get what I mean. Like she explains and teaches to me level of mastery. Also to play to her need of repetition I do have the assorted books of Tests, Intensive Practice, and Extra Practice that I have her do to help master it. I know the great thing of homeschooling is the whole move-at-your-own pace but I'm wanting to see other opinions. We do not have this slow of progress in any other subject she studies. (Other than the usual slow-down here and there of something that is hard to grasp at first.)

I did it with a Kindergartner this past year and while she enjoyed the daily experiments and looking at pictures she was unimpressed with all the reading. A friend of my daughter's is a second grade little boy, and while he enjoyed the hands-on aspect, he did not like the rest of it, it didn't seem 'written' to him. Your son might be different, but I would say the program is more aimed to 3rd/4th grade and up. It is awesome for daily experiments pertaining to each day God made though. So I would use it as a spine and rework it if you really wanted to make it something for you.

First Grade year for us ... we already started back in June but as it is: Math: Singapore Standards 1A/1B + IP Language Arts: Logic of English C and maybe D. All the elective readers and readers from the library as we go along. Health: Horizons Health 1. She loved it in Kindergarten, and wants to be a Pediatrician when she grows up so this helps her feel like she is studying for it. We only do this Mondays and Thursdays. Geography: DK Geography 1 and then Beginner's Geography after DK is through. Science: Elemental Science Biology for the Grammar Stage. History: Story of the World Ancients with a blend of Mystery of History when chronologically needed for Biblical history. Art: Artistic Pursuits 1 My husband is going to do Bible Studies with the girls so that rounds off the education. So far first grade has been fun, but certainly a bit of step up from Kindergarten. I have to admit I'm impressed by how well she filled in demands, and one of her sisters have moved up to participate in projects with her.