Wait until OPG lesson 140 to start FLL, WWE & AAS; or not?

[Annabel Lee]

My littlest guy just started 1st grade but we're only on lesson 82 of OPG. He does very well in OPG, grasping things quickly and retaining old concepts. His reading fluency isn't quite there yet (he coudn't read for content quite yet), and I have to have him re-read words to apply a silent e rule that he forgot to the 1st time now & then. Do I really need to wait until we're in lesson 140 to begin grammar (FLL), writing (WWE), and spelling (AAS 1)? We're doing OPG daily, incl. weekends. At this rate it will be at least 2 months before he can start those subjects. I'm just sort of panicking inside - not wanting to get 'behind' from the get-go.

 

Your thoughts are appreciated! :bigear:

[TheCoffeeChick]

Well...we started FLL and WWE last week and we were on lesson 113 of OPG. It is going fine for us so far. I figured if we get to anything in FLL or WWE that is too much we'll slow down, but so far so good. Granted we've only been using it for a week and half so there's not much experience. ;)

 

Hopefully someone with more experience in this will chime in. :lurk5:

[siloam]

My littlest guy just started 1st grade but we're only on lesson 82 of OPG. He does very well in OPG, grasping things quickly and retaining old concepts. His reading fluency isn't quite there yet (he coudn't read for content quite yet), and I have to have him re-read words to apply a silent e rule that he forgot to the 1st time now & then. Do I really need to wait until we're in lesson 140 to begin grammar (FLL), writing (WWE), and spelling (AAS 1)? We're doing OPG daily, incl. weekends. At this rate it will be at least 2 months before he can start those subjects. I'm just sort of panicking inside - not wanting to get 'behind' from the get-go.

 

Your thoughts are appreciated! :bigear:

 

Well I do behind on purpose. :D I start FLL in 2nd, and WWE 1 too.

 

To be honest is sounds like he is doing a lot of work doing it daily, he probably deserves the break from the other stuff. With FLL you can just do it daily instead of 2-3 times a week and still easily finish by the end of 1st grade. With WWE that isn't true, but could probably stop it mid way, then finish it double time at the beginning of next year.

 

Heather

 

[kim.4dogs]

We're only at about lesson 80 in OPG and we've just started FLL and WWE. It's going well for us so far. We've hit a wall with OPG and I'm having to use other materials (and to be honest, I forgot that you were "supposed" to wait until later in OPG to start FLL and WWE)!

[Satori]

I didn't read until later that you're supposed to start FLL after OPG lesson 140, so we started at lesson 40! I try to do OPG almost everyday though, and FLL only 1-2x a week. Now I'm going to slow it down to just 1x/week, as we do enjoy FLL, but want to catch up on the reading faster. :)

[Aurelia]

We started both FLL and WWE earlier than recommended and it hasn't been harmful. We only do FLL once or twice a week and don't do WWE and OPG back to back.

[Gretchen in NJ]

FLL is mostly oral exercises for the first year. I think you would be okay to start it right away. I did OPG and FLL at the same time with a 1st grader. They didn't have WWE back then.

[Annabel Lee]

Well I do behind on purpose. :D I start FLL in 2nd, and WWE 1 too.

 

To be honest is sounds like he is doing a lot of work doing it daily, he probably deserves the break from the other stuff. With FLL you can just do it daily instead of 2-3 times a week and still easily finish by the end of 1st grade. With WWE that isn't true, but could probably stop it mid way, then finish it double time at the beginning of next year.

 

Heather

 

 

 

Hi Heather,

I'm not understanding what you're trying to get across to me here - it's probably me, as it's very early here. Do you mean that if I were to add FLL, WWE, & AAS it would be alot of work daily; or do you mean it sounds like he's already doing alot of work daily so don't add too much more? I should put a note in my sig. so ppl will know not all of that is daily, some of it not even weekly. :) I'm having him do OPG daily b/c he seems so ready for it; it's like he's just been waiting for me to give it to him. I suppose also because I feel "behind" since we didn't get to lesson 140 by the end of kindergarten. It doesn't take much time, and I don't see a struggle on his part to do it, so I'm OK w/ it for now. If he begins struggling I'll slow it down for him.

As far as adding in FLL now & doing it daily - I think that if I were to add it in a few days per week, we'd still be done before 2nd grade. I wouldn't want to suddenly add it in on a daily basis anyhow - too much shock. As for WWE, that's written for 4 days/wk. so it would be OK. I'd let WWE copywork double as penmanship so not to overwhelm him with a massive workload.

 

Now you all have me considering just going for it. I'd add the 3 subjects in gradually, one new subject at a time (maybe 1 new one per week for 3 weeks). I suppose I need to do what I should've done in the first place - get the books off my shelves and see if this idea I've got is OK for him or not. :tongue_smilie: How did I not think of that in the first place? I get all caught up in the "shoulds", like waiting until lesson 140, etc.

 

Thanks for chiming in w/ the help ladies. It's so nice to have this place to get good input and bounce ideas around.

[siloam]

Hi Heather,

I'm not understanding what you're trying to get across to me here - it's probably me, as it's very early here. Do you mean that if I were to add FLL, WWE, & AAS it would be alot of work daily; or do you mean it sounds like he's already doing alot of work daily so don't add too much more? I should put a note in my sig. so ppl will know not all of that is daily, some of it not even weekly. :) I'm having him do OPG daily b/c he seems so ready for it; it's like he's just been waiting for me to give it to him. I suppose also because I feel "behind" since we didn't get to lesson 140 by the end of kindergarten. It doesn't take much time, and I don't see a struggle on his part to do it, so I'm OK w/ it for now. If he begins struggling I'll slow it down for him.

 

As long as you are sensitive to his work load I don't see it as a big deal either way.

 

Earlier my bias was just coming out. If it were me, I just would focus on the one issue. Like I said earlier I don't start FLL till 2nd then I do it daily. Then in 4th I go to JAG (Junior Analytical Grammar). FLL 3 wasn't available for my oldest, so I developed an alternative plan. :D

 

In addition, all my kids have a weakness in motor skills :confused: so all the writing in WWE would have been very hard for them to do, not to mention hated. It is honestly hard for me to imagine a child who takes to writing in K and can do the workbooks, but I do know that logically they exist. That is the bias coloring my recommendation.

 

If it doesn't fit your boy, ignore the advice. :cool:

 

Heather

[kmacnchs]

I am waiting until lesson 140 (couple of weeks) because I am type A and *must* follow the rules :D

 

But really, what's the rush? There are only 100 lessons so I don't think you'll get behind and besides, it's grammar. imo, it's kinda hard to get "behind" in grammar - by the time he is writing, even if he is half a year behind (in your opinion), he will still know PLENTY in order to write a well-formed paper. Writing is really the only reason to study grammar as long as you speak properly in your home and teach him to do the same...

[Emmy]

I don't start on grammar or spelling until 2nd. I would not worry about being behind. You can always do FLL 1/2 in a single year by passing over portions. And spelling tends to go at a child's own pace anyway.

 

Seriously, it will be fine to wait - why divide his attention away from reading for subjects that he will cover over and over during elementary?

[ariasmommy]

My dd wasn't up to lesson 140 in OPGTR last year when starting first grade, and it actually worked well for us to concentrate on phonics and delay starting WWE and FLL until she got to lesson 140. After that, our schedule was FLL on M,W,F and OPGTR on Tues and Thurs with WWE usually Mon-Thurs. Jessie Wise actually advises not to have a long break between FLL Level 1 and Level 2, so you can start late and continue it over the summer (with time for shorter breaks when needed:)) and be ready for FLL 2 the next fall.

[Mrs.W]

Looks like plenty of people have done fine starting early, but I thought I'd just let you know that we didn't start FLL with my son until mid-year 1st grade (because that's when we pulled him out of school) and he caught up easily by the end of 2nd grade. So you don't need to worry about getting behind. Now with my youngest we are doing OPG, FLL, and WWE at the same time, but that is because we only have about a month left in OPG and we just want to be done with it (but I mean that in a good way). :001_smile:

[Mrs_JWM]

Wasn't there an article somewhere about where to be in OPG to start FLL? I thought it was more detailed than wait until lesson 140 in OPG. I could swear I saw it somewhere and now it's gone! Any suggestions? Thanks!

[Pamela H in Texas]

But really, what's the rush? There are only 100 lessons so I don't think you'll get behind

 

Right. For Level 1 and 2, there are only 200 lessons total. That is just barely more than a school year. You could easily put it off til lesson 140. And there isn't really any reason to rush.

 

Similar thoughts about WWE. There are only 4 days per week and really short lessons. I don't know that it's necessary to wait, but there certainly is no reason not to. Two levels could easily be done in a school year (still doing it only 4 days per week) and you're not talking about waiting til next year anyway.

 

Can't help with the spelling....sorry...

 

I say start it if you wanna, but I wouldn't hesitate waiting either.

[Lovedtodeath]

Random thoughts:

 

Starting other things too soon could crowd out phonics, just don't let that happen and you are fine.

 

I like to finish OPG before starting a spelling program. When you do both, you are doing phonics twice a day. I would rather get done with OPG sooner.

 

I wish I had stuck to FLL sooner. DD is old enough now that she doesn't like it.

 

WWE is very easy to catch up on. You can do both the copywork and the narration in one day, you can do it 5 days a week, you can skip lessons... I definitely wouldn't stress about getting behind on that one.

[MyLittleWonders]

In terms of when to start AAS, I wouldn't worry about where you are in OPG, but just to make sure your child recognizes all letters and knows at least the most common sound for each (short vowels and most common consonant sound). They will learn all the sounds/phonograms through AAS, but if letter recognition isn't there, it'd be kind of hard. In terms of FLL, we started it with our middle son before he was reading c-v-c words (we didn't use OPG). My youngest even sits in on our lessons and is just learning "a" and "b". ;) With WWE, it seems that when your dc is able to write/do copywork, then it'd probably be fine to start (my middle son is doing daily copywork even though his reading is now just short vowels/blends/digraphs).

[Crimson Wife]

I wouldn't start FLL or WWE until the child is reading "I Can Read" type books fluently. Until my child is reading, the only subjects I do are reading, math, and religion. Then once he/she has "cracked the code", I add in all the rest.

[snickelfritz]

My dd is about halfway throug OPGTR (don't have it in front of me, but 113 or so....) She's reading "Boxcar Children" to me, with help on occasional words and with me reading a paragraphraph when she gets tired. She would probably be level 2 for independent reading.

 

We started FLL 1 and WWE in August. It's going great. She writes fine and can write the longer sentences in WWE. The FLL is EXTREMELY gentle. Both dd's are memorizing the poems. We don't do these every day. Usually about 3 times a week, which isn't really how it's supposed to be used..... But it's fine. When we pick it up, we just do the next lesson. She remember what the story has been, even if it's been a few days since we did the last activity.

 

We just started a spelling program last week. It is not AAS (which I believe is pretty time intensive?) I'm just using BJU spelling. dd writes all of the time(poems, letters, songs) and makes the same spelling mistakes over and over. So, I just picked a simple, phonetically based spelling program. It groups similar words together (first week is short vowel words and adding an "s" ending.) It has a quick part of a worksheet to do each day and then I imagine we will come up with some ways to study spelling words.

 

So, we are doing: math, phonics, BJU spelling 2, WWE 1, FLL 1 as our core work and it is not taking very long at all.

Edited September 15, 2009 by snickelfritz