Twilight Woods Posted May 3, 2011 Share Posted May 3, 2011 Is this program worth the $$$. I have noticed that DD really doesn't know her letter sounds that well so teaching her to read will need to be put on hold until we can master that. I was looking at purchasing the AAR program to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 It is a ton of fun Karen. I am doing it with my newly 5-yr-old DD and she begs for it - we've been at it for around a month now! It gently introduces uppercase letters, then lowercase, then does some flashcard reinforcement to cement sounds. But the thing I love best (because DD already knew most of her letter sounds) is the phonological awareness activities. They help build blending skills, segmenting skills, rhyming skills etc. with ingenious games. I've never regretted spending the $$ and we are looking forward to level one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katnorman Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I just got AAR in the mail today and I think it will really help my almost 4 year old in learning his letters and sounds, plus he saw it and is so excited to start! I was very fortunate and found mine used (only 2 of the student pages were colored) for $80. So, you may be able to find a used one (which for me, makes me not feel so bad!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishmommy Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Totally worth it for me. We love it here. My 3yo and my 5.5 yo love it. They would do it every day if I had time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 Do you have to do the writing program too? Im a little confused how that all works together...I would be going it with HOD LHFHG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnointedHsMom Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Karen, We love it! I thought it was expensive too but honestly I don't regret spending the money. My son loves it and the skills it's teaching are sticking with my son. Level 1 is scheduled to be out this summer. We are really looking forward to using Level 1 after Pre-1. The way AAR will work with AAS: The early levels of AAR will teach the child to read and then move into a reading curriculum that can be used throughout middle school. When the child is ready to start spelling you can begin AAS alongside AAR. Marie Ripple is on The Chatterbee and will answer questions about AAR and AAS. It's a great place to talk to other users and ask questions. When you say writing program I'm not sure what you mean. AAR doesn't really have a writing portion. There are activities you can choose and learning to write the letters is one of them but there is not a specific handwriting portion. Feel free to ask more questions. I'll be happy to try to answer them. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 Karen, We love it! I thought it was expensive too but honestly I don't regret spending the money. My son loves it and the skills it's teaching are sticking with my son. Level 1 is scheduled to be out this summer. We are really looking forward to using Level 1 after Pre-1. The way AAR will work with AAS: The early levels of AAR will teach the child to read and then move into a reading curriculum that can be used throughout middle school. When the child is ready to start spelling you can begin AAS alongside AAR. Marie Ripple is on The Chatterbee and will answer questions about AAR and AAS. It's a great place to talk to other users and ask questions. When you say writing program I'm not sure what you mean. AAR doesn't really have a writing portion. There are activities you can choose and learning to write the letters is one of them but there is not a specific handwriting portion. Feel free to ask more questions. I'll be happy to try to answer them. Hope that helps! I'm confusing myself I think. LOL. I was trying to figure out if AAR is better than PAL:Reading.......I noticed that PAL:Reading is suppose to be used in conjunction with PAL:Writing.....which confuses me b/c PAL utilizes AAS.... So I am trying to figure out which program would suit us better. DD know's her letter's and most of the sounds but the sounds are not concrete.......... Im really confused I guess where to start b/c I want to stick with ONE thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Is this program worth the $$$. I have noticed that DD really doesn't know her letter sounds that well so teaching her to read will need to be put on hold until we can master that. I was looking at purchasing the AAR program to help. No clue about AAR, but just wanted to make sure you had tried "the frog" - Leapfrog Letter Factory. Many kids know letters and sounds like the back of their hand after watching that video several times. My middle son learned letters and sounds via OPGTR, and it took 3 weeks, yet he wasn't solid on them. I popped in the frog and had him watch that for a few days. By the end of 3 days, he had them all cemented! Next kid, I'm letting the frog teach letters and sounds. :D If you've already used it numerous times, just disregard this post. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 No clue about AAR, but just wanted to make sure you had tried "the frog" - Leapfrog Letter Factory. Many kids know letters and sounds like the back of their hand after watching that video several times. My middle son learned letters and sounds via OPGTR, and it took 3 weeks, yet he wasn't solid on them. I popped in the frog and had him watch that for a few days. By the end of 3 days, he had them all cemented! Next kid, I'm letting the frog teach letters and sounds. :D If you've already used it numerous times, just disregard this post. ;) I have not. Can I buy this at Target or walmart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratford Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I have not. Can I buy this at Target or walmart? Yes, I think I bought mine at Target. We love "the frog" here....two of mine have learned their letters/sounds using the video. Couple times a day for a week and they had it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnointedHsMom Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Karen, I understand the confusion. When you asked about the writing I wondered if you were talking about PAL:Writing :001_smile: I've looked very closely at PAL and own AAR Pre-1 and AAS. PAL looks great to me but when I look at the samples it looks like it takes a great deal of time each day to do all of PAL Reading and Writing. I'm also looking at PAL through a very impressed AAS lens. I LOVE AAS and believe in the method more than any other method I've used (I'm embarrassed to say how many phonics/spelling/LA curriculums I've used). So while PAL looks great it boils down to this for me. I trust Marie Ripple. AAR Pre-1 was expensive and it was hard to spend that money. I'm so glad I did. Yet again Marie has produced a very strong product and again I believe in what she's doing and why she's doing it the way she does. I do plan to spend some good time at the IEW booth at my convention looking at PAL in its entirety because I do like the looks of it. My tentative plans are to use AAR Level 1 when I finish AAR Pre-1 and use AAR for teaching my just turned 5 year old to read. I will begin AAS with him when he's ready (anticipating later in the "school" year or for 1st grade. I'm looking into PAL: Writing for him also. Since PAL Writing uses AAS too I might just start PAL Writing when he's ready and move right into AAS as scheduled or recommended within PAL: Writing. So we would start PAL Writing late in the next year or for 1st grade. I won't know until I get to that place with him. All of this is tentative until I can see AAR Level 1 when it comes out and PAL at convention. Is everything clear as mud now? :lol: I should also mention that our core curriculum exposes my children to many of the things included in PAL Reading such as the poetry. So I know that my child will still get the exposure to the things we won't get if we don't do PAL Reading. I'm confusing myself I think. LOL. I was trying to figure out if AAR is better than PAL:Reading.......I noticed that PAL:Reading is suppose to be used in conjunction with PAL:Writing.....which confuses me b/c PAL utilizes AAS.... So I am trying to figure out which program would suit us better. DD know's her letter's and most of the sounds but the sounds are not concrete.......... Im really confused I guess where to start b/c I want to stick with ONE thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 Yes, I think I bought mine at Target. We love "the frog" here....two of mine have learned their letters/sounds using the video. Couple times a day for a week and they had it down. bought the frog...this should not take very long for her to master. :) Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Just FYI, we used LeapFrog to do letter sounds here too. Even though my 5-yr-old who is doing AAR Pre-1 knew her letter sounds through LeapFrog she still ADORES AAR, it is the fun phonological awareness games that are really the winners around here! (The rest is fun too of course, but these are really the meat for us). It has still been well worth the money in my opinion - I think the emphasis is about 50/50 - learning letter names and sounds/phonological skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 I will be using HOD. I know that there will be copying/dictation once she get's to that point. For Kindergarten tho I want to only focus on Reading and Math. Yes we will work on writing to form letters correctly and start learning the "copying' process to help with handwriting. I think I am leaning towards AAR-PR-1....but I am also wondering what AAR-1 looks like.......maybe I could just go straight to that instead. I also saw AAH....when is that suppose to be used? Karen, I understand the confusion. When you asked about the writing I wondered if you were talking about PAL:Writing :001_smile: I've looked very closely at PAL and own AAR Pre-1 and AAS. PAL looks great to me but when I look at the samples it looks like it takes a great deal of time each day to do all of PAL Reading and Writing. I'm also looking at PAL through a very impressed AAS lens. I LOVE AAS and believe in the method more than any other method I've used (I'm embarrassed to say how many phonics/spelling/LA curriculums I've used). So while PAL looks great it boils down to this for me. I trust Marie Ripple. AAR Pre-1 was expensive and it was hard to spend that money. I'm so glad I did. Yet again Marie has produced a very strong product and again I believe in what she's doing and why she's doing it the way she does. I do plan to spend some good time at the IEW booth at my convention looking at PAL in its entirety because I do like the looks of it. My tentative plans are to use AAR Level 1 when I finish AAR Pre-1 and use AAR for teaching my just turned 5 year old to read. I will begin AAS with him when he's ready (anticipating later in the "school" year or for 1st grade. I'm looking into PAL: Writing for him also. Since PAL Writing uses AAS too I might just start PAL Writing when he's ready and move right into AAS as scheduled or recommended within PAL: Writing. So we would start PAL Writing late in the next year or for 1st grade. I won't know until I get to that place with him. All of this is tentative until I can see AAR Level 1 when it comes out and PAL at convention. Is everything clear as mud now? :lol: I should also mention that our core curriculum exposes my children to many of the things included in PAL Reading such as the poetry. So I know that my child will still get the exposure to the things we won't get if we don't do PAL Reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 AAH is an all grades resource for the most popular homophones. There are 3 for grade 1, 6 for grade 2, and quite a few more for each of the grades from 3 - 8. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratford Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I looked at the AAR samples on the website this afternoon and it looks like a lot of fun....DS (he's 4) sat next to me and was very interested. He done "the frog" and is ready for the next step....this may be a good fit for him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 So those of you using PR-1.....did you purchase the Basic or deluxe? why? The zebra looks cool.....not sure how DD will respond to that..LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I got deluxe! DD #2 LOVES her Ziggy. DD #1 wishes she had done a fun program like this when she was small. She actually watches/plays along because it is so fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnointedHsMom Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I got the deluxe kit. My son LOVES LOVES LOVES Ziggy the Zebra. He begs to play with him when we aren't doing lessons but I've kept him for lessons only so that he keeps wanting more. So far he is really loving it and doing well with it. I wish I would have done this with my older son. The Big 5 Skills that AAR Pre-1 teaches are very foundational. I know they will help my son all through his schooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twilight Woods Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12Stars Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 I know this is a old thread but wanted to know what PAL is? I am looking into AAR with my son he has HFA and thought this was gentle and did a search :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penelope Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 I know this is a old thread but wanted to know what PAL is? I am looking into AAR with my son he has HFA and thought this was gentle and did a search :) It's a brand new program from Institute for Excellence in Writing, for early elementary language arts. http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/pal-rc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12Stars Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Thank you for the link. It looks interesting. Now I'll do a search on that too :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 I have not. Can I buy this at Target or walmart? They are at our local Costco right now for just under $7 apiece. My favorites are: Letter Factory, Talking Words Factory, and Talking Words Factory #2, Code Word Capers. I DON'T like the video with the rollercoaster on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.