AAS / PR ?????

[z2_mom]

So I have been going back and forth with what to do...Last night I finally pulled out my PR Level 2 materials. I really combed through them. It was nice because since I put it away at week 10 into the program. Which was about mid Oct. of 2009. So about 5 months ago. I looked at it and really do not think that dd is still ready for the material covered in the program. When I looked at the grammar concepts separately--they are really 3 grade. I am thinking that I will save PR2 for 3 grade.

 

So now what to do for the rest of this year 1 grade and next year for 2. When we stopped PR 2 --- I reviewed the phonogram cards with her and the begging word list from WRTR. That worked fine for awhile but I realized that I missed the hand holding from PR and help with the rules! We have about 8 weeks left of school this year and then will be taking off for the summer. I do however do light things during that time with the kids as needed.

 

As for reading dd can read Magic Tree House books independently, her comprehension is excellent. She can read harder books if she wants, she is just enjoying these books right now. She can read a whole book easily in an 1/2 hour to 1 hour sitting. She can completely re-tell me the whole book with detail.

 

She is 6 and will be 7 in Aug. We typically end our school year end of April/ Beg of May and start back to school the beginning to mid Aug.

 

Ok so here is my debate.

 

1. start AAS 1 now and then work lightly through the summer.

 

OR

 

2. Scrap the rest of this year and just blow it off. Finish the rest of our subjects and just read. Then take the summer to just work on math and reading as we feel like it. Start AAS next fall hope to get through levels 1-3, but at a pace dd dictates, working no more than 20-25 minutes a day. With the intention of going back to PR for 3 grade or just sticking with AAS if it is working good. For grammar for 2 grade we will use primary language lessons.

 

 

so what do all think? You have helped me think through all of this so much....so now help me with the final part---when to start??

 

Lynda;)

[johnandtinagilbert]

Thinking monetarily...do you own PR1? From what Carmen says PR1 = 1-3 of AAS. I'd hate for you to buy AAS if you don't need to b/c you have PR2 and spending the $$ on 3 levels of AAS is pricey, when you could enjoy the first year of PR1 and move along into 2 next year. That's the direction I'd take if I didnt' own any of AAS, but I love PR :)

 

Would you consider PR 2 at half pace and just enjoy it over a 2-year period. This would not at all be difficult to do and would allow for a great amount of time to continue her love of reading. You would not need to buy anything then :)

 

I will say Y2 does get deeper in grammar and we've had to observe carefully as we move forward. Like this week, we're doubling up on linking verbs to reinforce understanding.

 

Also, Y3 is quite an increase in writing, so you want to make sure she's ready for that when the time comes.

 

You know how much I love PR...and I'm using level 2 with a language strong 1st grader this year, but as I said, I move forward with great attention to his understanding.

 

If you're looking where to start, I'd begin in PR1 and allow the spelling reinforcement to work its way into grammar. All the reading practice she'll continue to get will only reinforce the literary study in PR2.

[TracyP]

I think AAS is probably not the way to go if you want to go to PR 2 in 3rd grade. My dd who sounds similar to yours is working through AAS 1 in about a month. I figure she will go through 2 & 3 next year (2nd grade). At that rate PR 1 would not be much more expensive. So I basically second what Tina said.:001_smile:

[z2_mom]

Thinking monetarily...do you own PR1? I sold level 1 of PR. I have to check to see what student pages I have left. To re-do that level I would most likely have to repurchase it. I figure that PR new is $200 and 3 levels of AAS is $140. So the AAS would be less. But to be honest money is not the issue at all.

 

 

Would you consider PR 2 at half pace and just enjoy it over a 2-year period. This would not at all be difficult to do and would allow for a great amount of time to continue her love of reading. You would not need to buy anything then I had thought of this but I do think that she needs to feel a bit more confident in those level 1 skills before attempting even at half pace. She reads compound words fine but freaks out when spelling them.

 

Also, Y3 is quite an increase in writing, so you want to make sure she's ready for that when the time comes. This is another concern. Hitting the level 3 materials before she is ready. She just really has not jumped into the next stage of development yet.

 

You know how much I love PR...I agree it is an excellent program. I loved level 1 and it did a ton for my dd. I don't regret that at all. I wish she were ready for level 2. With this child I can not just push through material and hope that it will click. She gets stressed out and shuts down. My older dd, yes I could have just told her to suck it up and pushed her through PR level 2 at this age. Different kids and learners.

 

If you're looking where to start, I'd begin in PR1 and allow the spelling reinforcement to work its way into grammar. All the reading practice she'll continue to get will only reinforce the literary study in PR2.

See I was afraid that she would not want to redo level 1. Plus we did do the Little House Study...that was the one thing that we did not quite from PR 2. So when we do hit Level 2, I will need to add in my own literature studies. DD loved reading the Little House books, in fact we are about to start Farmer Boy!!

 

Lynda

[johnandtinagilbert]

See I was afraid that she would not want to redo level 1. Plus we did do the Little House Study...that was the one thing that we did not quite from PR 2. So when we do hit Level 2, I will need to add in my own literature studies. DD loved reading the Little House books, in fact we are about to start Farmer Boy!!

 

Lynda

So, why not get PR1 again...or just base it from her notebook. She won't know you're following the same pattern, unless you tell her :) ...snickering my evil momma laugh...

 

What if you used PR 1 as the template to model a lit. study with Farm Boy? Instead of character sketching Laura, you do Farm Boy, etc....or you could find a lit study of Farm Boy online for free :) Homeschoolshare, etc. There are a lot of lit. studies online.

 

If you go with AAS, will you do grammar elsewhere? Or just skip it for the year?

[z2_mom]

So, why not get PR1 again...or just base it from her notebook. She won't know you're following the same pattern, unless you tell her ...snickering my evil momma laugh... This is a thought. I have to go and dig to see what I have left of her level 1 notebook. Off to go do that now. That could really be the deal breaker. I went through a huge cleaning/ purging, so I am hoping that did not make it to the shredder! LOL

 

What if you used PR 1 as the template to model a lit. study with Farm Boy? Instead of character sketching Laura, you do Farm Boy, etc....or you could find a lit study of Farm Boy online for free Homeschoolshare, etc. There are a lot of lit. studies online.That is exactly what we are doing. I found tons of cool lapbook things to go with Farmer Boy as well. We are starting it on Monday and then going to work on it through the summer. My plan is to move through the series as she is interested. Or I can design another book study similar to this and just let her read the other Little House books.

 

If you go with AAS, will you do grammar elsewhere? Or just skip it for the year?

I was going to use Primary Language Lessons by Serl. I already own the book and it is easy, includes dictation, copy work and grammar. I am not set on using this, I could easily replace it with something else. I do think that she does need to start some basic grammar.

 

Lynda

[johnandtinagilbert]

okay...now that i have a bigger pic, here are my thoughts:

 

1. Re-do level 1 spelling lists (hopefully you have them), which will also fill your grammar...

 

2. if she needs more grammar, use what you own for copywork, dictation, and include basic identification of parts of speech by using the narration and copywork from sci, hist, and you lit study.

 

 

3. Love that you're continuing in LH studies! Great!

I think you're set more than you think. You may be able to slowly bring in PR2 by Jan. of next year and spend 1.5 years on it. :)

[z2_mom]

I think you're set more than you think. You may be able to slowly bring in PR2 by Jan. of next year and spend 1.5 years on it.

 

Thanks for this.....sometimes this kid drives me nuts! She is such a different child! LOL A beautiful child but a challenging one at that. I think that you are right. I just think that I needed to talk it out with someone. Dh just does not get it ---but thankfully he will listen patiently and just say buy what you think is best and not question. He really is sweet and does give me a very overly generous budget for school; so thankfully I don't have to worry about that.

 

Now to go hunt more and figure out what I have left of PR 1......the quest begins!

 

Lynda

[Lovedtodeath]

Does Mrs. Beers sing the rule tunes from level one on the level 2 DVD? (I would think she does.) I would want to make sure not to miss out on those.

 

The only other thing about "skipping" level one at this point that would worry me is missing out on the building codes. It would be great if you still had parts of the program.

 

I am doing the poetry and some of the copywork from FLL, but skipping the grammar. We are continuing WWE until we get to PR level 2. I think PLL might be similar to what we are doing in that respect.

[Lovedtodeath]

It sounds like you need to explicitly teach segmenting and syllabication, and your DD seems to need to break spelling down into more steps because she is scared of it. AAS level 2 will do this. That said if you are trying PR first this quote would probably help you to break PR down into simpler steps with segmenting:

We don't use the clipboard either. It would take to long for us.

 

I forgot to mention that we do everything by sound too. We are not spelling with using the letter names but the sounds.

 

We do it a little differently than Tina. I have them write the word first after we went over the word then they 'make' my sharpie write by saying the sound as I write it on the board (paper for us), so they are not copying anything.

 

• I say the word.
  
• We pronounce each sound and syllable while I "finger spell" You don't have to fingerspell. Fingerspelling I got from SWR . It great for visualizing. Before fingerspelling we would say each sound.
  
• If two phonograms have the same sound (oa, oe) then we will discuss which one to use.
  
• Children write the word in their notebook
  
• Children pronounce each sound of the word as I write it
  
• Start next word
  

[z2_mom]

It sounds like you need to explicitly teach segmenting and syllabication, and your DD seems to need to break spelling down into more steps because she is scared of it. AAS level 2 will do this. That said if you are trying PR first this quote would probably help you to break PR down into simpler steps with segmenting:

 

 

This is exactly what she needs more of. I sat down last night with DH and laid it out to him and what the problems were. And why I kept going back and forth. I told him that I really needed an objective opinion. I don't have that much of my PR1 materials. We both agreed that she needed a good review. He looked at the PR 2 and agreed with me that she is not ready for that level of work. At this point it is a spelling issue not a reading one. She knows all 70 of her phonograms! She does not like to write. (I do suspect some laziness on her part here.) He told me to get AAS so that I can really look at it and make a solid decision, that I was not truly going to know until I got my hands on the materials.

 

His thought was to combine AAS with PR1. To present the rules to her from AAS but to also use the songs from PR. To also use any of the tricks that I did learn from PR. He also wanted me to make up a notebook of sorts to keep her going in that format. To do a quick run through of level 1 AAS and possibly through level 3, depends on how she works with the program. But at each point judging where we are at and moving back into PR2 with her.

 

Dh's last thing he said to me was not to worry. Not to worry about the money or if we were just using parts of a program. That he felt even if we had to continue combining AAS and PR, even though expensive. It would be cheaper than sending her to a tutor or speech therapist etc. He also said that it would be cheaper than sending her to public school, where they have the tutors etc to help her with her learning disabilities and issues for free. He felt this because of the things that she would be exposed to in public school. I guess that I had not really though of it in this manner, and did not know that he did as well.

 

So on Monday, I am calling to place my order for AAS level 1 and am going to work on combining the two programs. At least in the beginning to get her over her fears and this little hump. The eventual goal of putting her back into PR 2--hopefully by January (mid 2 grade) but it may very well be the start of 3 grade. And if AAS is really clicking for her better than PR we may just stay there. Time will tell. :D

 

Thanks all of you for all your help. It truly did help a ton!!!

 

Lynda