Phonics Road Question

[shlee111]

I'm just learning about Phonics Road. We'd be doing Year 1. Do I understand right that the parent/teacher watches a video before teaching the material? How often do you watch the videos and how long are they?

 

Thanks!

[Joyoflearning]

Yes, the parent watches the dvds that come with the program. I've watched two dvds, previewing part of the first one a couple times while first trying to get used to the program. I would guess each dvd was under an hour. I've only watched them in chunks and you do have to watch them to know how to teach the words for the week. However, once you watch it, the program is open and go. I am only on week 7 and probably don't need to watch one again for a couple weeks (but I would need to check my notes). HTH

[shlee111]

So less than an hour a week? I don't love watching videos and have a heard time finding the time without the kids around, so this is a major factor for us. Thanks so much!

[Veritaserum]

You can do a marathon session and take notes or watch in chunks and take notes. I do encourage you to pencil in notes in the teacher notebook. I liked to mark which number rule tune she used for each word. I also marked anything else not written in the notebook that I thought I needed to remember. You will want to watch a week's worth of material at a time. Once you are past the first five weeks of level one, you can watch it with your child and do the lessons at that time.

 

I'm using three levels right now. I watched all of levels 1 and 2 last year. I've watched about a third of level 3 so far. I haven't needed to rewatch earlier levels as I work with my younger kids.

[myfatherslily]

For Level 1, you'll have about 20 minutes/week to watch. You can watch more at one time if you like.

 

We're in Level 2 now. This week I had about 35 minutes, but was able to skip through some since I'm more familiar with it all now.

[Hedgehogs4]

I call the videos "torture time." I don't exactly enjoy watching them, but they are helpful and i find that i can watch her write the letters in fast forward and get the idea. (good grief...i've never seen someone so type a in my life--and i'm type a). i do ff through much of it, but she really does do what she does very well, and i am glad for the program. DD enjoys it and it is effective.

[mandymom]

I watch the videos at the beginning of each week because my 5 year old insists on watching them with me. He sits with the Foreman's Guide (teacher's guide) open to the list of the week's words and follows along. I tried to go one week without him watching, and he just wouldn't have it :)

[melmichigan]

I do marathons here as well, although I play it at 2x speed (just remember to slow down the songs when you sing them). This year I have watched 1, 2, and I'll finish 3 this weekend, so I'll be down to just 4 next year. :lol: I take notes in the margins for future reference, mark all the rule tunes for each word, and if I think I will need it, then I note the time mark for the video. I only want to have to do this once. ;)

[sbgrace]

I do marathons here as well, although I play it at 2x speed (just remember to slow down the songs when you sing them). This year I have watched 1, 2, and I'll finish 3 this weekend, so I'll be down to just 4 next year. :lol: I take notes in the margins for future reference, mark all the rule tunes for each word, and if I think I will need it, then I note the time mark for the video. I only want to have to do this once. ;)

 

This is how I do it. She talks so slowly that double speed (or more) sounds about normal to me. I dislike watching the videos so chunks of multiple weeks and taking notes works better for me.

[happy-hs]

I bought PR1, tried to get into it, and didn't use it because of the videos. I prefer to read through the material, and I want more flexibility in the pace of the program. (Not that it's a bad program, it just didn't work for us.)

 

We now use Spell to Write and Read instead. It is similar to PR in its approach, but it's much cheaper and it was easier for me to use.

 

Melissa :)