Thank you also MerryAtHope and BusyMom5 for your replies. He woke up with a bad sore throat yesterday so I wasn't able to try the sample stories but I will take note of those things to watch out for and also make him try the different levels. He had some introduction to compound words in AAS2 but those challenge words in AAR2 don't seem like words he'd be able to read automatically. I will make him try if he's feeling better today. Yes, I've read that dyslexia page before and looked at it again. He did have quite a few of those characteristics in the "reading" section (choppy reading, fatigue, skips letters in a word, skips small words, substitutes a different word, loses where he is in a page, can read a word on one page and then seem like he saw the word for the first time in the next), but after AAS2, he improved a lot. He doesn't have the handwriting symptoms though maybe except for switching letters (e.g. "hte" for "the" or not knowing if it's "hs" or "sh"). He writes well though (both manuscript and cursive...taught him using Cursive First) and can do copywork well (we're working on WWE2). I haven't caught much of the spelling problems because he's very cautious about spelling and wants to learn the rules before he tries. He does have difficulty memorising the months even if we've used Saxon Math through Saxon 3 now (and he did the calendar in K). Hoping to finalise what to order this week so we can begin. It looks like both AAR2 and AAR3 has over 50 lessons so I guess each level will last a school year?

Thanks for the replies. I'm just not very familiar with All About Reading and how it relates to All About Spelling (although I read some articles on the site why they use a separate reading and spelling program and it makes sense) so I wasn't sure. I didn't want to start him on a level that would frustrate. But also didn't want to make a costly mistake. He did breeze through AAS1 and then when we got to AAS2, it seemed more the right fit. Yes, we are Sonlighters. I just don't own lower levels before Core 2. All my older kids just jumped into that core after finishing Phonics Pathways and a year or two of easy readers/beginning chapter books from the library. After PP, the 3 older girls used Spelling Workout all the way while the other boy used SWR. Failed to mention that youngest also completed Spelling Workout A and B while doing AAS2 last year. Tried the first few lessons of Spelling Workout C now and he's finding the proofreading portion a bit challenging. But maybe it's just because we just began school and he's adjusting back. We also use TOG. Two oldest (girls) who are now in university did at least 2 years of rhetoric level history and lit and had AP English credited. Currently doing TOGY2 with 2 more (rhetoric and dialectic) but the LG books for the youngest aren't exactly readers even if they're nice picture books. Youngest tried "Marguerite Makes a Book" yesterday and that didn't go well either. I've read this book to him before and he actually knows what it's about. Will take that advice and find readers a grade behind. Although the Memoria Press program sounds interesting, I'd have to just try and gather readers that are appropriate. I was hoping AAR would take care of that. It seems I don't own too many books for the level he needs. I should make use of the library more. I think he may be slightly dyslexic (had difficulty with rhyme and syllabicating until we used AAS last year) or maybe just a struggling reader. He is very good in math and quite the artist. I just never had the same experience with any of the older kids so am at a loss and a bit worried. And also concerned I have also have a lot on my plate considering third child (his brother) is also beginning high school. Thank you so much for that link of sample stories. That will really be helpful. I will make him go through those today. Any other advice from those who have a similar experience will be appreciated. Thanks again.

Rising 3rd grader (8 in October) needs to become a more fluent reader. Since K, been trying to teach him to read using the same program as his 4 older siblings (Phonics Pathways and SWR) but it was only after we tried AAS1 and AAS2 last year that it finally clicked. He finally"graduated" from easy readers to beginning chapter books and was reading with more ease. He's even read a few of the older Sonlight Core 2 readers we already own (Question of Yams, Secret Valley, Viking Adventure, The Littles, Last Little Cat...). Didn't really check his comprehension as I never did with the older ones. It seems reading is not natural to him though as it was with his siblings. I was hoping we could go back to using SWR this school year...and perhaps work on fluency by making him read aloud to me (something we have not been able to do regularly in the past...but I read TO him quite regularly and he narrates well and can even take simple dictation). However as we're trying to begin school slowly this past week, he's been having frustration going on with the Sonlight reader he picked randomly (Ralph S. Mouse). He asks me what something means every few phrases or when I make him read something aloud, he's not reading some words correctly (e.g. "dozen" for "dozed"). I think we need to do a reading program because he won't just learn naturally by reading more (for one, I have to remind him constantly to read...never did with the older 4 and we have tons of books at home). It seems the explicit way in which AAS teaches worked for him. He likes to know what rule to use in reading or spelling a word. Perhaps the tiles worked better also than just simple spelling lists (of unassociated words) in SWR....also the built-in review. So, I'm thinking AAR. But what level to begin with after having completed AAS2? Looking over the placement test, it looks like he would go into AAR3?

I found it at the Pearson website. Thanks!

Hi! Anybody have a copy of this handy? My daughter finished this last year while we were overseas and had to move back unexpectedly this year. We didn't bring the book with us and just need to show what topics we've studied. The only link I have is this Barnes and Noble link (hope this works) : http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/intermediate-algebra-margaret-l-lial/1116741901?ean=9780321279200 Could someone please confirm this is correct? Why do I have marks up to Chapter 12 when this only goes up to Chapter 10? Unfortunately, I also didn't bring work she did (just have an excel file of her grades). Thanks so much in advance. Blessings, Winnie

Here are the ages of my kids: 14.5, almost 13, 8.5, 6.5, and almost 3. I used and own SL cores 2,3, and 4 with my older girls. Then, we switched to TOG Yr 1 (two older ones in dialectic and middle child, then 6, in LG) and now starting TOG Yr 3 (in Week 2). We have had to move overseas where we do not have access to public library and I have only been able to acquire the rhetoric and some of the dialectic books for the first 2 units. I really would like to be able to use my SL cores for my middle child (who so far have been up to speed with his older sisters) and include my 4th child who is only going to start doing history. We use TOG for history, literature and Bible and (used to do the hands on but it has been too much although my now rhetoric child will do the fine arts assignments). Both older children have really benefited much from using TOG and have learned to do a lot of it independently (except for discussions, of course). But, I miss reading aloud using SL books to the younger kids and really want to use them since we shipped them here. Both are reading independently and have been taking out those books randomly from the shelves. I am just out of ideas on how to make this work. This is only the "icing to the cake" for us. Younger ones use: MUS and Singapore, SL Science (have had to do a separate core bec 3rd child has done SL 1, 2, and is now in 3 whereas younger one is just beginning SL 1 (we just read First Book of Nature before that), Spell to Write and Read for both, Rod and Staff for older and FLL for younger, CW Aesop for older and WWE Level 1 for younger, Latin for Children only for older. Older ones use a variety of other curricula but most they do on their own with very little supervision. Both girls are doing extremely well. They are very ideal homeschool students. Middle boy requires a lot of supervision but does well otherwise and 4th who is a girl looks like she will follow her sisters' steps. Sorry so long. Any ideas at all? Thanks in advance! P.S. Youngest boy also needs lots of care and attention.