5LittleMonkeys Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I am waffling back and forth on whether or not to purchase PAL reading and writing for next year for my 1st grader. We have had a VERY light K year. I don't expect fluent reading until the end of 2nd so I haven't pushed this year at all. He has been using Phonics Pathways (which I love, but he hates), ETC (he likes), and Reading Eggs. His handwriting is typical for a K boy - he knows how to form the letters but they are wiggly and a bit mis-shaped. He is reading cvc words and knows probably 10 or so sight words. He has meet my (low) expectations, but....there is no joy during instruction time. Learning to read is becoming a chore in his opinion so I need to change that quickly. I could make PP more engaging, but I honestly just do not have the time anymore. I will be teaching my 5 next year in addition to possibly 3 part time students (K, 1st and 4th). I've also become quite a fan of IEW writing, so the idea of building him up to using IEW at the end of 2nd\beginning of 3rd is appealing as well. So, tell me how wonderful, fun and engaging PAL is. Tell me that your dc beg to do it everyday. Tell me that I will be able to use it, quite easily, in two 30 minute sessions. Tell me how it has caught your child's attention and holds it for the whole lesson. Tell me you didn't have to tweak it, add to it, or adjust it. Just tell me that it is worth the $150, even though I have programs sitting on my shelf that I could pull together, plan, adapt and use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I'm using it with a very young K'er this year. It would be really perfect to use for 1st in my opinion. We've really slowed down and are only doing 1 - 2 lessons per week. My son loves the Sticker folder and games. We practice reading (sentences on sheets from the program on a clipboard or little mini books from the program). There are cute little worksheets and the folder games are a fun way to learn. Also, if you buy from IEW and don't like it you can send it back for a 100% refund with no questions asked. Just be sure to buy directly from them for this guarantee to work. I had always planned to do it over 2 years and here is my summary of the program. I typed this up before I used it but after I had the books in hand. Hope it helps you a little. The Writing Part has 3 sections. I. Printing and Story Summaries: 31 lessons practicing learning to correctly write letters and numbers, lower and capital and learning how to summarize a story. II. Copy Work and Style with All About Spelling: 40 lessons; there is beginning grammar here like capitalization, end marks, etc. and you work through AAS Book 1 III. Composition with Style: 16 lessons here learning how to choose key words and retell a story...this is basically units 1-3 plus 7 of the IEW method of writing. The Reading Portion has 80 lessons and should be used concurrently with the Writing portion unless your child is too young to write or you could skip section I of writing or go through it really quickly if that portion is already understood. The 80 lessons are comprised of 4 stages. Stage 1: Foundations - this stage will last a few weeks as you learn phonograms, sight words and assemble the games (comes with the kit). At around lesson 19 you will move towards the next stage. Stage 2: Activity Time. 30 minutes of activity time for each day should be planned using games to reinforce what has already been learned and continue learning new phonograms, words, etc. Expect 2-4 months in this stage. Stage 3: Discovery. Once student has mastered phonetic rules by playing the games he can move to this stage. Instead of 30 minutes of games he works through Discovery words (cards provided) where student uses knowledge of phonics to decode the word on each card with no help. You can help him by reminding him of rules, finding the markers but shouldn't tell him the word. When he decodes them all correctly he will get a new stack. This stage will take 2-4 weeks. Stage 4: The Library. After Discovery cards are mastered student moves to the Library (set up by parent with real books -list provided for help in choosing) You start at easy books, students reads several times, etc. When 15 easy have been completed, move on to Medium, etc. The set comes with a DVD rom which has lots of worksheet printables and a game workbook to make all the games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I am in the same boat as you- but I have decided it is worth the cost (I Hope!). If not, it resells pretty quickly! I have a 1st grader that I will use it with too and it looks like a lot of fun to me! There is actually a webinar on IEW's website about PAL, and that is what sold me on it! If you have specific questions they have a yahoo group that is wonderful! I'll be watching to see what others say:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssexton Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Oh, Aime, I'm in the same boat with my K'er. We are using PP and ETC, and it's getting the job done but definitely not exciting. I was already thinking of going to AAS for first grade--so this might work well for us. Arg...I am just itching to buy some new curriculum (this and Lost Tools of Writing) and I just really shouldn't spend the money right now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy5 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I'm using it on my very very young K and my just ending 1st/just starting 2nd grader (boy who needed extra help in handwriting and reading) ... we LOVE it. I can't say enough good things about this program. Probably the best investment we've made. It has made these subject fun to a boy who used to detest his old phonics programs. (We've tried 3 different programs -- ETC, Phonics Pathways, and 100EZ Lessons ... all were met with fighting and lots of tears) ... my kids actually look forward to this part of the day. We usually do 3-4 lessons a week. My 7 yr old is suddenly confident in reading -- something has really clicked with this program. His handwriting is beautiful (honestly!) ... My K is doing fine with it and retaining a lot of the phonics and sight words (but at a slower pace than my 7 yr old). They both love the games, the farm, and the worksheets. I'm so glad I decided to go with PAL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Hey Shannon! Hey, so I don't derail my own thread I'm going to pm you about Visual Latin.:D Thanks to everyone else. Yeah, I've been over the website with a fine tooth comb and looked and watched everything they have there. I really like the looks of it...I'm just struggling with the cost I guess. Is an hour for the reading and writing portion realistic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy5 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Is an hour for the reading and writing portion realistic? Yes :) We average an hour for the both (sometimes less ... depending on the day and if we are reviewing or broke up a lesson into 2 parts)... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4maybabies Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Completely agree with everything already said above. It is our favorite program right now! I love it so much, it's the ONLY curriculum that I know I will be using with my littles when the time comes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssexton Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Is an hour for the reading and writing portion realistic? PM'ed you about the VL! :D You know, my guy's going to be 7 in May, and I'm really wanting to make Lang. Arts a bigger focus this next year. He desperately wants to be able to write and spell more fluently. So, for us, I think the hour is doable. For a younger, wiggly child maybe not. Maybe the lessons could be broken up when/if needed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 [ Maybe the lessons could be broken up when/if needed? My k'er is still 5 and won't be 6 until June. Sometimes we only do one lesson per week. We read and practice every day, but I only may add in the new words and games one thing a day. So we work on reading about 20-30 minutes per day. His writing is struggling. I think his fine motor skills just aren't there yet so we just don't stress over it. I have him practice a little writing 2-3 days per week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 Good to see it will most likely fit into my blocks of time for one on one with this dc. Also good to know that we can stretch the lessons out if we need to. Yes, I think if I can cut some $ corners with other curricula for the other dc I will be getting this to start in August. Thanks all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy5 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 The way the program is set up (although this is flexible) ... they break it up into smaller chunks of time ... so you do one thing and then another subject and come back to it a few times in the day (for review). We don't do it like that ... but if you have a wiggly child, that might work better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razorbackmama Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 So glad to have found this thread! I'm currently using PAL writing with a 2nd grader and a 3rd grader with language issues. So I want to use it with my next child coming up, who will be in K next year. But I was wondering if it might be too much for a Ker, and I'm thinking it will be. So... I have HWT already planned for handwriting. But what should I use for phonics prior to PAL reading??? At this point she doesn't know her letters at all really. I've used Phonics Pathways but didn't really care for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 So glad to have found this thread! I'm currently using PAL writing with a 2nd grader and a 3rd grader with language issues. So I want to use it with my next child coming up, who will be in K next year. But I was wondering if it might be too much for a Ker, and I'm thinking it will be. So... I have HWT already planned for handwriting. But what should I use for phonics prior to PAL reading??? At this point she doesn't know her letters at all really. I've used Phonics Pathways but didn't really care for it. Kristin, why not start PAL with your K'er but take it slow? You can use it as the handwriting and not even need HWT. You could do 1-2 lessons per week, breaking them up so you are doing something every day. That is what I'm doing with my K'er and it's going really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy5 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Kristin, why not start PAL with your K'er but take it slow? You can use it as the handwriting and not even need HWT. You could do 1-2 lessons per week, breaking them up so you are doing something every day. That is what I'm doing with my K'er and it's going really well. I agree ... my Kindergartener is using it (almost 5 yrs old) ... she does know her letters but didn't know how to write most of them and didn't have really any prior phonics but loves this program. We don't do a lesson per day ... usually 3 a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razorbackmama Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Thanks! I *think* what I've ended up deciding to do is to get SL K LA (we use SL Cores already), since it appears that it explicitly teaches the letters. Then next year in 1st I can start PAL reading and writing with her. I've been skipping HWT entirely with my 2nd grader this year and just using the PAL handwriting stuff, so I can just do that again. I think. (LOL!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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