Phonics Road vs SWR

[Krisi in GA]

I've looked and looked (and looked some more) at both of these programs; yet I am still undecided. Can someone please try and answer a couple of questions:

1. What is the main difference other than DVD's?

2. Which would be better for a 4th grader and a 6th grader?

3. If you chose one over the other, can you please tell me why?

4. Do you believe one is easier to implement than the other? (I have a one year old who is very demanding of my time :)

 

Why oh why do decisions have to be so hard sometimes? :tongue_smilie:

Thanks for whatever advice you can offer.

Kristi

[farmwife]

I have only used SWR and so I can't compare it to Phonics Road (which looks like a solid program). My fourth grader is doing fabulous. She loves it!

[Krisi in GA]

Thanks for answering. Did you find it hard to learn how to use SWR? How long would you say it takes to get through everyday?

[Cindyz]

My guy is only 5 so we are at the very beginning of our homeschool journey. I have both PR and SWR, but have only implemented Phonics Road. I really like both programs. Many say that swr is hard to understand and implement but with some studied reading, I didn't find it difficult to understand. Although that may be because when I read through the swr materials, I was already using Phonics Road which teaches similar methods via dvd.

 

I think it depends on what you are looking to get from the programs. SWR is mostly about spelling with some grammar if you do the extra exercises. PR is going to be very expensive for you since your children are older and the recomendation is that you start the program with level 1 and accelerate until you get to your child's current level.

 

If you're mostly looking for spelling, I would get swr due to your children's ages. However, be prepared to study and really read the materials and possibly buy one of the training dvds or attend a swr training to feel comfortable teaching it. It's definitely not open and go.

[Dinsfamily]

I'm another SWR user. I did look at PR but didn't want an all-in-one program. I wouldn't have used a lot of it and didn't want to pay for things I wouldn't use. I also don't like the idea of the DVDs because I don't learn well that way. However, I could have overcome that if I had really wanted to use the program. SWR's flexibility and price won out in the end. With that said, PR is certainly a better fit for some families.

 

Like Zenz said, I didn't have any trouble figuring out SWR nor did it take much time. That was before Wanda's new training DVD which will make it easier for most people. One advantage for you would be that it is easy to place older students into SWR. Wanda lays the process out well in the book. SWR also has a very active yahoo group in which Wanda and other SWR trainers will answer questions about using the program. There are also a lot of helpful files that you can access through the group.

[Krisi in GA]

Thank you all so much for your help.

 

I guess I'm leaning towards SWR right now because of price, placing them in the spelling list they need to be in and not in one where they can already spell the words, and I'm not sure I want an all-in-one approach. If I go with SWR, how many words do you cover in a day and is teaching a child how to make a learning log hard?

[thowell]

We are using SWR and it is not that hard. I looked at PR but the price was too much for me. Yes, you do need to read through the manual and study for a week or two and even make your own log to make sure you understand. My girls had no trouble making the log. We usually do 20 words for a new list. Here is how our week goes.

 

Day 1 - review phonograms, add whatever reference page listed in preliminaries, review rules cards, begin new list (so far at 20 words each)

 

day 2 - review phonograms, review rules, test yesterday's words. Review any words missed. ( we do this with games and original sentences for older ones)

 

Day 3 - review phonograms, review rules, test all missed words from yesterday. Only review any they have missed again.

 

Normally at this point they have all the words correct. I am not using the grammar portion right now as we are working our way through the Sentence Family but I may add this in further down the road. That is it! We do it 3 days a week and then move to the next list the next week.

[Momma H]

For me, I tried SWR and it did not fly. I could not do it justice. I love PR in that it tells you every day what to do next. I don't miss anything and my kids are excelling with it. It is not scripted but it is more like a scaffolding that tells you exactly what to teach next. I LOVED the idea of SWR but it was too much dependent on me reading ahead and teaching myself the materials to then teach to my kids and I am not good at that at all. PR is pretty much idiot proof rathar than dependent on how well mom can learn and reteach the material. IMHO!

LOVE PR! It is worth every darn penny and more!

[Dinsfamily]

Thank you all so much for your help.

 

I guess I'm leaning towards SWR right now because of price, placing them in the spelling list they need to be in and not in one where they can already spell the words, and I'm not sure I want an all-in-one approach. If I go with SWR, how many words do you cover in a day and is teaching a child how to make a learning log hard?

 

We do 20 words/week but that's with a 1st grader and I'm planning on doing the same for 2nd grade. Wanda does recommend 40 words/week for older dc but the beauty of SWR is that you do go at your own pace. You could start with 20 and move up to 30 or 40 if you want.

 

Here's our week:

Mon: review phonograms and spelling rules, learn 10 new words

Tues: review or learn reference page, learn 10 new words, quiz yesterday's words

Wed: quiz yesterday's words, write words on 3x2.5 cards

Thurs: enrichment from the WISE guide/word bank

Fri: test all 20 words

 

We can easily condense either Mon&Tues or Wed&Thurs if we need a day off which happens around here often.

 

Teaching the learning log is easy, the tough part is understanding what it's teaching. The trainers recommend you fill one out yourself first before you start teaching (just keeping ahead of where you're teaching) so that you understand the reference pages and markings. I found this to be the most helpful preparation for using SWR. Once you get going with the program, it becomes easy as both you and your dc will know what to expect. My ds even reminds me when we need to add new spelling words to reference pages before I have a chance to see the reminder in the WISE guide. He is quite proud of his reference pages.

 

One thing I do that really helps is to create my own schedule at the beginning of each school year. They are based off of the sample schedules in the back of SWR. It takes me a couple of hours but makes SWR open-and-go the rest of the year. You probably wouldn't want to schedule your whole first year starting with older dc until you get a good idea of how fast you want to move, but even 2 weeks at a time would save you a lot of time during the week when you're actually teaching.

[Guest]

Taira - how long are you spending per day on SWR? (Sorry if I missed that in your answer...)

[Dinsfamily]

We spend between 20 and 30 mins each day. Most of our time is spent on the physical act of writing the words which is important for my ds. He needs to write the words at least 3 out of 4 days before the test on Friday to really cement the phonograms and rules used. We actually spent a lot less time at the beginning of the year (about 15-20 mins) when we were just reviewing last year's lists and reference pages but now that we've gotten to new lists, we've had to buckle down. I also use FLL and WWE (neither are necessary for k-2...I just like them) and SL readers which adds another 10-15 minutes/day depending on how long his reading assignment is.

 

Times will be slightly longer next year since I'll have two students. We already include my 4yo in the phonogram reviews and reading assignments as he's already reading well and doesn't want to be left out, but he'll start his own spelling lists once I teach him to write with CF. He'll only do 10 words per week, though...maybe 15 since he's more advanced in LA and his writing is already pretty good. I'll just have to see when we get there.

[Beth in SW WA]

A couple thoughts...

 

We use SWR and love it. We make it fun with the whiteboard but dictation day is purposeful and quick. I dictate/fingerspell 20 words in 20 minutes. We buzz through it without extra conversation. That's the only way I can dictate 2 separate lists.

 

The phonogram method works. Dd6 is now decoding/reading chapter books after 6 focused months of SWR, ETC & Bob Books.

 

Dd6 uses ETC daily for more phonics review & application. ETC goes well together with SWR. We like workbooks. :)

[Dinsfamily]

A couple thoughts...

 

We use SWR and love it. We make it fun with the whiteboard but dictation day is purposeful and quick. I dictate/fingerspell 20 words in 20 minutes. We buzz through it without extra conversation. That's the only way I can dictate 2 separate lists.

 

This is a good reminder that times are very dependent on the environment. We could definitely get through much faster if I put limits on our conversation and I might have to in the future as I add more students. My ds is chatty and has antecdotes to share for each and every word we dictate (which is why we switched to dictation over two days; it can drive me batty). I don't have any reasons to limit our times...yet.

[Guest]

Thanks, Taira!

 

I think we need to do more whiteboard work, like Beth said. I think that would help us go much quicker and it would be more fun.

[Dinsfamily]

Thanks, Taira!

 

I think we need to do more whiteboard work, like Beth said. I think that would help us go much quicker and it would be more fun.

 

We do like doing a lot of whiteboard work too. It does make it a lot faster. My ds also likes that he can use any color of marker. It's the little things, right? I got my ds a personal whiteboard to use with SWR but it has come in handy for our other subjects too.

[akquickgirl]

Hi, just thought I'd add my 2 cents. We use SWR with our 3rd and 1st grader, but I rarely do the phonics or the reference pages. I'm basically using it for a spelling program and delving into the phonics as needed with my 1st grader who is still learning to read.

 

I wouldn't recommend doing the program this way, but, even though we are using it incompletely, I still love it. I still find it really helpful and well structured. I also love that we're set from now thru highschool and don't have to buy anything else!

 

I guess IMO, the prgoram is so good, that even families like us, who skip a bunch are still reaping huge benefits from it.

[Krisi in GA]

Thanks ladies for all the help:) I decided on SWR and put in my order, so it should be here in about a week or so, YAY!!! (just to fore warn ya, I may be back with questions)