Tell me more about Phonics Road?

[HayleyKC]

Hmm. That's interesting Carmen. I'm new on this forum and was just reading this old thread over the last couple days. I was surprised to see a new post on it.

 

My dd sounds similar to yours in that she's incredibly advanced in LA. A natural reader, speller, writer, grammar understander, it's almost ridiculous actually. (She gets this from her father.) Anyway, I started homeschooling on my own this last school year when she was 2nd grade age although starting 3rd grade academically. (I had previously been schooling her at home through a public cyber charter school. Glad I got the confidence to do my own thing!) I went ahead and blazed through PR1 and 2 with her this year because to my understanding PR was the best and covered all my bases which I really liked. And also to my understanding it was best to start at Year 1. I have to say it was cake for me simply because she really already knew and understood 80+% of what we were doing. However there were definite building blocks she learned in year 1 and even more so in year 2 with all the grammar analysis. So I have the peace of mind knowing nothing has been left out. I haven't used a lot of curricula so I don't have that feeling of doubting or wondering if I should go back or do something else. So don't know what I'm missing with WWE, just know I've always heard great things about it. I'm a TOG user so we do the writing subject there and I think I'm more than covered with PR and TOG writing combined. I guess I feel like it puts my mind at ease to know it's all there.

 

This year will probably be eye opening for me though as I will be starting my ds (young 1st grader) with PR1. So I think it will really be my first time truly teaching it. Will see how that goes.

 

I'm excited to hear you heard Y3 is more independent as that's where my dd will be and that would definitely be nice for me!

 

Anyway, sorry if that's a long ramble. All of this thread reading just has me thinking over it all and I felt like sharing a bit. :-)

[Lovedtodeath]

Thanks so much for the update Hayley. I think it is a great addition to the thread, to help people who are deciding on PR.

 

Here is a thread of mine where several of us muse about switching from PR: Thinking alot about something more independent for every subject.

Edited July 14, 2011 by Lovedtodeath

[mom&nana]

That is very interesting Carmen. I am at the same place in a way. I wish I would have known back then that Level 3 reviews everything taught in PR 1 and 2. Going back to one took us back too far. I accelerated through PR 1 and 2 and I now wish I would have gone a different route with my dd. She is going into 7th grade and I'm fairly sure I won't be using PR 3 this fall as I had planned to do. It's just that high school is approaching soon and I feel like there are much faster ways to get up to speed than going through 4 years of PR.

 

My dd also has a very negative attitude toward the program because she has branded it as "babyish" and "behind". She told me that PR treats her like an idiot and talks down to her. I blame myself in some way because *I* underestimated her ability, and like you, I wanted desperately to make sure that I was doing an adequate job in coverage since she really struggles with spelling. I see now that PR was below her, perhaps if we could have started in 3 it wouldn't have been so bad. When I was researching, it was HIGHLY recommended to go all the way back to Level 1 no matter what age your child is. I have PR 3 and I really think it would have been better to start there.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love PR. It's a very solid program and I plan to use it with my younger girls. I plan to start PR 1 in the fall with my 6 year old. I do, however, feel like it was the wrong program for my 12 year old.

Edited July 14, 2011 by mom&nana

[melmichigan]

That is very interesting Carmen. I am at the same place in a way. I wish I would have known back then that Level 3 reviews everything taught in PR 1 and 2. Going back to one took us back too far. I accelerated through PR 1 and 2 and I now wish I would have gone a different route with my dd. She is going into 7th grade and I'm fairly sure I won't be using PR 3 this fall as I had planned to do. It's just that high school is approaching soon and I feel like there are much faster ways to get up to speed than going through 4 years of PR.

 

My dd also has a very negative attitude toward the program because she has branded it as "babyish" and "behind". She told me that PR treats her like an idiot and talks down to her. I blame myself in some way because *I* underestimated her ability, and like you, I wanted desperately to make sure that I was doing an adequate job in coverage since she really struggles with spelling. I see now that PR was below her, perhaps if we could have started in 3 it wouldn't have been so bad. When I was researching, it was HIGHLY recommended to go all the way back to Level 1 no matter what age your child is. I have PR 3 and I really think it would have been better to start there.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love PR. It's a very solid program and I plan to use it with my younger girls. I plan to start PR 1 in the fall with my 6 year old. I do, however, feel like it was the wrong program for my 12 year old.

 

Thank you for a different perspective. I accelerated my soon to be 7th grader through PR1 and PR2 this year so far, and am now working on PR3. For me it has made sense to go back and do the previous levels in spelling (not grammar) and then use the first half of PR3 as a quick review, just enough to put her log together. For me it would have been harder to just jump in with PR3, but maybe that is just the teacher talking, I needed the first few levels to learn it all myself. ;) I am just starting the DVD's for the second half of PR3 which is our current plan for this fall, continuing to accelerate through PR4.

 

My disclaimer would be that with accelerating through we are also doing other things besides just PR. :)

[mom&nana]

Melissa,

I was hesitant to even write that it was better to jump in at level 3. Maybe I should clarify that statement. I'm not entirely sure that I could have jumped into PR 3 without the teacher training that I received in PR 1 and 2. It does lay a nice foundation. PR 3 was better suited to her needs, so I think jumping into PR 3 would have been more appropriate for her. I'm not sure how smoothly it would have went if I hadn't watched all those DVDs for PR 1 and 2.

 

I wanted to add more than PR because I felt like PR alone was not enough. I never found the time to balance all of that well so we let the others go in favor of PR. I just don't know if at the end of PR 4, I will have covered enough grammar and writing for an 8th grader. It just seems like I should take a different route. It wasn't an easy decision. Part of it was made up for me, simply be the attitude my dd displays for PR. It's almost as if she refused to actually learn from it, because of her dislike of the program.

[Joyoflearning]

Thanks for the update Carmen!! I have read this thread several times and I am so glad that you're sharing your thoughts.

 

Hiya! I thought I would update my original thread. Fun huh?

 

I think that I chose PR because of wanting to cover everything very thoroughly.... I am planning on starting PR1 this fall for the same reason with my DD (5 in August).

I am switching away from PR because my daughter excels in LA. Uh-OH :001_huh:, should I think about NOT doing PR for this reason?? Would you have been happy with PR if you had started it from the beginning? OR Do you feel that it was more beneficial to do FLL and WWE?

She started reading early and was able to do other LA books (like Queen's) years ahead. This sounds just like my daughter. It's a blessing, but a challenge

I am a perfectionist and wanted to be sure to really get phonics covered very thoroughly and I thought the AIO aspect was a good idea. Me too.

It wasn't because she really could have been doing higher level work in some (if not all) areas, and been doing most of it independently. Should I be rethinking doing PR so I can advance her in the areas where she is ready?

I really regret going away from Writing With Ease. I really trust that Susan knows what she is doing with writing and won't be switching away from it again. I also love WTM and have FLL which I have thought about doing several times but held off because I knew I was going to start PR.

 

I won't say I regret going with PR to begin with... I plan to use PR 1 and 2 with DS. I have also planned on using PR with my younger kids so I have not been as worried about cost. I just think it isn't always necessary to start with level one and I also think that the AIO aspect isn't a huge factor in level 2. Now Tina says that I should have tried level 3 as it is more independent than 2 and the AIO aspect is even more beneficial... I love everything that Tina has to say about PR which is why I've been set on doing it. but I am so happy with WWE... and feel that we can get word roots in by other means... If you could go back and do LA from the beginning with your daughter, which curriculum would you use? I'm also using HOD and am wondering how PR is going to affect HOD if we stick with it long term. Any comments on HOD and PR would also be appreciated.

 

So that's where we are for now. :)

Lots to think about....I'm glad you brought this thread back to life. :001_smile:

[Lovedtodeath]

If I could go back in time I would do PR with DD from K onward. I think we had troubles because we started over on the foundation when she really already had one.

 

Using PR with HOD is no problem at all. You just use the reading portion of PR instead of DITHOR. The Grammar portion of PR covers grammar and writing, and the spelling portion of PR has much more to it than the spelling with HOD.

[Joyoflearning]

Thanks! I think I just really wanted to hear that it was okay to use PR and HOD together and to stick with my curriculum choices! :tongue_smilie: