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Anyone using PAL Reading and Writing?


mo2
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A few quick questions: Do you like it? What grade level is a child reading at when finished with the program? Can the reading portion be used without the writing portion? Would the reading portion work well with WWE as a writing program?

 

Thanks to anyone who can help!

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I'm considering it for my young K and my 2nd grader who is still learning to read. I thought it would be a fun change for the 2nd grader and help my K learn to read. I'm not sure how much work is involved with it and I would like to use both reading and writing together (especially for my 7 yr old).

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LOL! Well -- I decided to just now order it. Once I get everything, I will let you know. We aren't going to wait until next school year ... I think we will start this right away (at least the reading!) and see how it goes. My 7 yr old DS wanted it because of the phonetic farm folder so that influenced my decision, as well.

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I emailed Jill at IEW and let me paraphrase the response she gave me. She says that PAL is a mastery course and so, depending on the age of the student when you start, it could take anywhere from 1 to 2 years, and the student will be able to read books like Little Bear and beyond when they are finished. She also says it is okay to use another writing program in place of PAL writing if you choose.

 

So now I'm wondering what program you would use after PAL reading, because I would think that Little Bear is only a 1st grade level or so, right?

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I emailed Jill again and asked if another program needed to be used after PAL reading. I'll copy and paste her response:

 

"No. PAL really gives you all you need. After that, just keep working on spelling and continuing to wrestle out harder words. :) Also, you work on reading novels aloud and discussing them, and that is addressed in Teaching the Classics."

 

And it occurred to me that IEW recommends AAS for spelling, and that would undoubtedly fill in any gaps for reading, as well. Hope this helps!

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We are only on lesson 6 or 7 so I am not going to be too much help but I really like it and so does my daughter. We both look forward to the program and she is looking for helpers in words when we read now and identifying things like "is, this, a" as we are reading. The letter stories are helping her know "how" to make her letters rather than just copying them.

 

There is a yahoo group you might be able to get many answers from. That is where I went before buying and I love the money back guarantee. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IEWfamilies/ I also watched the webinar before purchasing and that was helpful :)

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We're using PAL Writing so I can't speak to the Reading program. I really like PAL W. I'm not crazy about Level 1. It's mainly alphabet/handwriting and narration and I don't care for the way the letters are taught. I love it starting in Level 2. It's a keeper! My dd5 and dd8 started on it this fall. I've moved dd5 into HWT and narration and will start her on Level 2 as soon as she finishes all of her letters.

 

DD8 started Level 2 (which was a little young for her but it's designed for K/1) but we zoomed through and did only the parts that were applicable. There's a really cool on-going project in Level 2 that teaches "Who/Which" clauses. DD is still working on it. We've tied it to our history studies and she's creating an alphabet history book that is amazing. I can't wait for it to be finished. This is great for creative, artsy kids but can be a very simple project for those who don't enjoy that type of thing.

 

She's now in Level 3 and it seems to be an introduction to the IEW methodology of writing, which I'm very thankful for because I was wondering if it (the main program) would fit my dd. I am now testing it out without so much $$ investment and, I must say, I'm very pleased with the results. My dd went through 1.5 years of WWE before I finally threw my hands in the air and put it away. After 4 weeks, she's putting decent sentences together and her thought processes are becoming much more targeted and controlled. I wish I'd had PAL from the start.

 

So, I can't speak for PAL R. I looked at it at the convention and it just didn't speak to me. I wanted it to but I couldn't buy it. We're doing AAS / AAR / PAL W.

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