I’m looking forward to using the WTM academy but for younger grades, MPOA looks like a decent option. We’ve used some of their materials with success in the past but we are secular so I usually get them from their charter site. for those that have done MPOA, how religious are the online courses?

We worked our way through SWO A and found retention was a bit lackluster without supplemental practice. I gave Soaring with Spelling and Vocabulary Level 1 a shot because I liked that it had a day's lesson on one page and offered a bit more practice per day than SWO. It also bakes in review. However, I have reservations about the word lists. They seem a big impractical. Has anyone used both and can speak to the comparison of the word lists. Honestly, the word list alone is making me reconsider. Is there anywhere that I can see the SWO B word list to compare for myself?

I have a recently turned 6 year old Kindergartner that is reading at a 3rd grade level. She's always had phonics instruction but at some point just took off with reading far outpacing the level of instruction and I've been trying to play catch up all this year to make sure there are no gaps. She has a really great memory and I fear she is leaning on it more than she is on her phonetic skills. We did OPGTR up till about section 8 and stopped because it got to be too dry for us. We moved on to TGTB Level 1 and that was better received but the integrated spelling was not a great fit so after completing Unit 2 we hopped on over to LOE Foundations. We started at B as suggested, breezed through it in a week and a half, and are not almost half way through C. I have reservations about the order the phonograms are introduced. It makes little difference for us since we're mostly reviewing but it does make me think that perhaps I wouldn't use this with beginning readers. Namely, I feel it introduces silent e, -ing, and, -ed notably later than the other curriculums. That aside, the spelling is better integrated here than in TGTB, and she loves spelling analysis but I'm not convinced it's enough in the way of spelling instruction. Worth noting, we do not use the writing, comprehension, or grammar aspects of LOE because she has good penmanship and we have FLL and WWE on the schedule for first grade. So, we're essentially just using the phonics, readers, and spelling. The readers being far below her reading level. I have read a lot of good things about AAS and I think I want to pursue it for first grade but then it bears the question, if I'm not using LOE for all these other components what is left? Are the many moving pieces and cost worth it if it's just straight phonics? Cost isn't really a concern so much as time. Would AAR be more efficient at this point?

This is helpful, thanks! This was my approach too but our library is shut down now and only doing online reservations for hold pick ups, which complicates things. 😞

I have a 5 year old that is reading at a second grade level. We picked up OPGTR this summer to review and make sure there weren't any gaps. We're now at a point where the lessons are new information but with the "review two, one new" rhythm I'm finding it is taking us multiple days to complete a lesson (as I try to cap it at 20 minutes daily). Is this normal or am I possibly having her review too much material? And a question on blends. She blends really well but when she sounds out a word, either aloud or "in her head", she tends to not blend. So, for example, trumpet will be sounded out as t-r-u-m-p-e-t as opposed to tr-u-mp-et but she can read the word as trumpet. Should we work more on 2 and 3 letter consonant blends or is it fine if she's able to blend the whole word? Lastly, does anyone have a resource as to what lessons/sections of OPTGR correspond with what grade level or Lexile range in order to find appropriate corresponding reading material? Thanks in advance.

Is there somewhere I can find what lessons in OPGTR roughly correspond with grade levels, Lexile score, or something similar?

Thanks all - we're perfectly fine taking our time. The issue was more so finding materials that were a good fit and I think we've done that with OPGTR but I'm still interested in Classical Phonics and their supplements and was interested in some feedback regarding those.

... guess who’s back, back again ... apparently, I refuse to let this thread die. We sat with BOB books and Progressive Phonics for a bit. Revisited OPGTR and actually really into it this time around, though we’d be picking up more or less half way through the book. my plan now is to do some review using OPGTR to get her used to the flow. And use OPGTR with readers and maybe also Progressive Phonics. Possibly throw in some ETC. Currently a little over a quarter way through ETC 2 but starting to tire of the wacky illustrations. Was eyeing the FSR books from Memoria Press - book D would be a good review and E would be new material for her. Do these pair well with OPGTR or would they be overkill. Or if I like FSR should I just consider picking up Classical Phonics instead of OPGTR?

Perhaps those of you that use Memoria Press can clarify something for me. What exactly is the difference between the Core Phonics books and the First Start Reading Books? From a glance, Core Phonics seems similar to Explode the Code. The First Start Reading are described as "The worktexts are about half letter presentation, blending, and reading practice and half writing practice". Are the First Start Reading books then just more of what's in Core Phonics + writing practice? Does this seem redundant?

@Sarah0000 This is really helpful! She understands subtraction and can do double digit subtraction with the manipulatives. In the time since this post was written, she's breezed through Singapore Essentials B and we both enjoyed it. I'm considering putting her in Singapore level 1 but I've heard there's a learning curve to teaching it which is intimidating me a bit. Do you find it pretty open and go? Part of what drew me to MM was that it was a work text and seems pretty streamlined. My plan right now is to work through MM this summer and see if we like it but I was also considering just moving on to Singapore and using the MM skills pages for added review.

@mathmarm This is really helpful, thank you!

and... I'm back. We skipped ahead but PP is still not working out for us. We seem to have much more success with ETC and beginning readers, but I worry it's not comprehensive enough? Can anyone speak to this? If not, what other reading programs are similar to ETC but more comprehensive? I'm eyeing LOE but I worry it may be too involved. I'd like something scripted but streamlined. I tried 100 EZ Lessons and TOPGTR and they didn't work out for us either. Maybe I need to revisit them though, but she seems to do much better with purposeful or contextual reading.

Hey, neighbor! I submitted applications with Visions, VV, Vista Oaks, CWEB, and Compass. VV and Vista Oaks waitlisted us and I still haven't heard from Visions or CWEB. Compass apparently can't cap enrollment as part of its charter agreement, it just hires out more educational specialists to fill the need, so my understanding is we're guaranteed a spot with them should I not hear back from the others. Do you use a charter? We moved from out of state in September so still getting acquainted with CCC and completely new to the charter system.

@square_25 I've considered it, but I think the graphic novel format would not be a good fit for her right now. Maybe next year though.

It's not that I do not want to use them, I just don't know if they'll be a good fit. I've read that RS is more spiral and thus harder to accelerate if needed. If you've used it, has that been your experience? I perhaps should've mentioned that another factor is my intention to move on to Beast Academy in a year or so. Would RS be a good fit if only to be used for a year or two or is it one of those curriculums that you need to use for a few years to really get the value out of (and by value, I mean educational, not financial)?