OPGTR in one year?

[Mama_Rana]

Is this possible? I just really looked at how many lessons there are in this book, and even keeping in mind that we started at lesson 41, that still leaves about 190 lessons to go. Even at 3 lessons a week, that's 63 weeks! Did I misunderstand how long they expected us to spend on this, or am I doing too little at a time? *is confuzed*

We're doing 1st grade, if that makes a diff....

[runmiarun]

It's my understanding that it's a 2-year program, kindergarten and 1st grade. At least, that's the way I've seen it presented more often than as a 1-year program. We're doing it as a 2 year program and adding lots of "reading to mommy" time to reinforce each day's lesson. We just started our K about 3 weeks ago and are in the mid-130's after starting it last August for pre-k and doing a couple of lessons a week plus taking the summer off. I'm shooting for daily lessons but the pg tiredness rears it ugly head more often than not.

 

ETA: Some days when the lessons are shorter, we've done 1-3 lessons. If you're starting it as first grade, you might be able to do the same thing. Some lessons are only one or even a half page, especially the review lessons.

Edited September 4, 2010 by runmiarun
Attempting to get my brain to work so my response sounds somewhat coherent.

[Mama_Rana]

It's my understanding that it's a 2-year program, kindergarten and 1st grade. At least, that's the way I've seen it presented more often than as a 1-year program. We're doing it as a 2 year program and adding lots of "reading to mommy" time to reinforce each day's lesson. We just started our K about 3 weeks ago and are in the mid-130's after starting it last August for pre-k and doing a couple of lessons a week plus taking the summer off. I'm shooting for daily lessons but the pg tiredness rears it ugly head more often than not.

 

ETA: Some days when the lessons are shorter, we've done 1-3 lessons. If you're starting it as first grade, you might be able to do the same thing. Some lessons are only one or even a half page, especially the review lessons.

 

Cool, thanks for your response and ideas. I will probably try to ramp up the speed of the lessons, unless he seems overwhelmed. I'd really rather not spend more than a year on most of this...... But I want to go through systematically to make sure nothing gets missed!

[Pamela H in Texas]

The end of OPGTR is well beyond the 1st grade level. I'd rather take my time and make sure the kid got it RIGHT regardless of how long it took. So a 1st grader who was ready could probably do it in a year. One that wasn't may take two or three. Regardless, it's fine. Rushing would be a mistake no matter what. When kid is 25, it won't matter whether he made it through the book in a year or four!

Edited September 4, 2010 by 2J5M9K

[mom26]

I am using this with our 2 children adopted from Liberia and b/c of their dialect/accents, I am taking our time...they are just beginning 2nd and 3rd grade and we are on lesson 149 and 192...I really don't care how long it takes to get through it. We have been using this for over 2 years and I supplement with Wordly Wise, ETC and other readers. Just take it at a pace you are comfortable with :)

kathi

[alpidarkomama]

My second grader is nearly done (10 more lessons or so). It took us about 17 months. We did a lesson a day, on any day that we were learning. For a month we lost the book. For three weeks she was at our synagogue's camp. We took time off here and there and just read books. No real reason to rush through it. It ends on a 4th grade reading level. GREAT BOOK! :)

[Mama_Rana]

My second grader is nearly done (10 more lessons or so). It took us about 17 months. We did a lesson a day, on any day that we were learning. For a month we lost the book. For three weeks she was at our synagogue's camp. We took time off here and there and just read books. No real reason to rush through it. It ends on a 4th grade reading level. GREAT BOOK! :)

 

huh, I guess I just didn't realize this. I had some impression I was supposed to be done with it by sometime in first grade, and although we started late, I expected to be done with it sometime this year. I guess I need to look at the second half a little closer.

 

 

So at what point do I start FLL and spelling instruction then? I don't want to be spending all day on language arts/reading! I'm going to go look at WTM again [i just got my own copy!], but personal experience would be great.

[runmiarun]

It ends on a 4th grade reading level. GREAT BOOK! :)

 

I had no idea it ended at a 4th grade level. Thanks for filling me in! (I might have figured that out sooner or later, but given my current sleep-deprived state, I'm not counting on it.)

[Pamela H in Texas]

I'd go ahead and start FLL. It's pretty laid back. If you're doing WWE, you can add that also. When I was working with my friend's ds, I had him doing spelling out of our phonics. It was pretty laid back. LA didn't take all THAT long; but honestly, language arts and math *should* be a larger percentage of your school day in 1st grade.

Edited September 5, 2010 by 2J5M9K

[alpidarkomama]

Is this possible? I just really looked at how many lessons there are in this book, and even keeping in mind that we started at lesson 41, that still leaves about 190 lessons to go. Even at 3 lessons a week, that's 63 weeks! Did I misunderstand how long they expected us to spend on this, or am I doing too little at a time? *is confuzed*

We're doing 1st grade, if that makes a diff....

 

That's exactly where we were at the beginning of first grade, so if you were to go at the same pace we did you'll be finishing up about this time next year. I think 3 lessons/week + review and other reading is pretty perfect for 1st grade.

[alpidarkomama]

So at what point do I start FLL and spelling instruction then? I don't want to be spending all day on language arts/reading! I'm going to go look at WTM again [i just got my own copy!], but personal experience would be great.

 

FLL can be done in only 5-10 minutes per lesson. Some concepts were learned before the reinforcing was over, so we skipped it or combined two lessons into one. If you're doing Writing With Ease in addition to FLL you can skip all the writing and dictation exercises too, since that is well-covered in WWE. (My 5-10 minutes did not include the writing and dictation exercises.)

[alpidarkomama]

Our first grade LA routine was something like this:

 

Writing With Ease, 1 page per day/4 days, 10-15 minutes per day

 

First Language Lessons, 2-3 lessons per week, 5-10 minutes per lesson

 

Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading, started at 3 lessons/week and now (at beginning of 2nd grade) are crusing through 3 pages (2-3 lessons) per week, 10 minutes/day in the beginning; now at 20 minutes/day

 

Spelling Workout, 1 page per day/4 days, 10 minutes/day

 

LOTS of readalouds - probably 90 minutes/day

 

So, really the maximum we spent on our core LA was an hour per day, and it went by pretty quickly.