AAR Level 1 - Give me the good, the bad and the ugly

Marie131 · April 16, 2012

I am really undecided on using this program to teach my rising K'er to read. I have read some reviews that indicate it moves slowly. I am also concerned about the levels not all being out when we are ready for them. My ds grasps language skills easily, so this is a concern.

I'm also considering using AAS to teach reading, since I'll be buying the prograqm for my 2nd grader.

I thought I had decided, but now I am really over thinking! Gah :lol:

So give it to me....AAR level 1, love it or hate it?

Tarreymere · April 16, 2012

I'm using AAR 1 with my 5 year old and we love it. It does move slowly, but that doesn't mean you have to use it that way if you don't want to. I've found though, that my son can use the reinforcement.

I gave some thought to your concern about the next levels not being ready in time, but I pulled out AAS (I have levels 1 through 3) and realized they would work just fine and kill two birds with one stone, as they say. So right now my plan is to finish AAR 1 and move into AAS 1. It seems like it is almost made for that, actually, but I know it wasn't. :001_smile:

KristenR · April 16, 2012

My 5 year old started on AAS1 last year. She is currently on AAS3 and LOVES it. It doesn't move slowly at all because you can cater it to you kids' schedule. We normally do 3 lessons a week. On Mon,Wed,and Fri. Each lesson normally takes 15 minutes. But sometimes we might break a lesson into 2 or even three days if something isn't sticking right away.

I highly recommend it. My dd5 is amazing at spelling and reading and I thank AAS and OPGTR for it. Awhile back she easily tackled the word "gravity" all on her own. And more recently she spelled "astronomy" all by herself by sounding it out the way she had learned in AAS. I would like to give myself credit for it but really I think its just the way AAS is so thorough and tactile. I find my own spelling getting better as I go along with her.

So I give the folks over at All About Learning Press two very big thumbs up!

KristenR · April 16, 2012

OOPS!! I just reread and realized you were talking about AAR and not AAS.

I apologize for reading that wrong! I started AAS for my oldest because AAR wasn't released yet.

That being said I did start AAR with my 3.5 year old recently. She was begging for work like her sister does and she LOVES it. We are moving pretty slowly with it. I am not as dedicated to doing it 3x a week like I was with her older sister and AAS. But that is because my 3.5 is still young and can pretty much dictate when she wants to do a lesson. I don't force it on her now because she still has a small attention span and I don't want to burn her out before "school" technically even starts.

I am not overly worried about all the levels being out because I had such a great experience starting right with AAS that I think I should be able to naturally transition to it if AAR runs out of available lessons.

alisoncooks · April 16, 2012

I was thinking of purchasing AAR for my K'er but realized that I could put together a comparable program pretty easily. I'm sure AAR is a quality program...but having just purchased AAS for my rising 1st grader, I couldn't justify the 2nd purchase from them.

If you look at the lesson index in the Teacher's Guide sample, they basically teach some letters, read a phonics story, teach some letters, read a phonics story (...repeat). After looking in their Student materials sample, it seems that much of their practice is phonics games and cut-and-paste word practice. I figure I could do that with OPGTR + Bob books/readers + ETC (and add in lots of tactile activities to make it more multi-sensory). All you need are letter tiles or ABC magnets (easy to make), phonics games, a white board...

For me, while it's a little more work initially, I won't have to question whether levels will be out, etc. We'll just go straight into AAS when we're ready, sometime this fall.

ETA: I have *nothing* against AAR, LOL...and some people may need it all ready-to-go and are willing to pay for it. I had the time to pull things together & I liked knowing OPGTR goes up to 4th grade level. I can go as quickly or slowly as needed (no worry about future levels not being ready when needed) and I can turn it into a similar multi-sensory program. And my way was cheaper. :)

Edited April 16, 2012 by alisoncooks

Marie131 · April 17, 2012

hmm..so should I rethink? Instead of AAR, should I do AAS to teach reading? He also really enjoys reading eggs. AAS plus reading eggs? Would that work?

What are the readers like in AAR? I had a look at the examples on AAR and I was't particularily impressed given their cost.

sleeplessnights · April 17, 2012

We are big lovers of AAS, and are using AAR Level 1 for my five-year old. I taught my two older boys to read without a program, but found myself forgetting my daughter's reading lesson more often than not and I wanted to be more diligent with her.

She loves the program. She loves having something to call her own. I had her color the progress chart and write her name on it. Then I laminated it and hung it up on the wall. She is very motivated to place the star on the chart after each lesson, so if I forget her lesson, she's always following me around to remind me.

The lessons themselves are very well laid out and organized. The phonics progression is great and follows the same progression as AAS. (I don't start spelling until the child is reading fluently). The tiles are nice because it is easy to switch ending letters and play around with words. These are the same tiles as AAS, so you don't have to repurchase. Maybe it's my daughter's personality, but she loves the games. We always end up coloring the game pieces and she always wants to know if there's a new game today. If not, she wants to play one of the previous games.

I don't think the lessons move too slowly. In fact, I think it's pretty quick. Of course, you only move to the next lesson when you have mastered the previous one. There are no daily lessons; you just work within a lesson until they get it. Then you move on. My daughter could blend sounds decently when we started, so we've been moving fairly quickly. However, now that we have added in th, ch, and sh, and are using beginning and ending blends, we are spending more time on each lesson.

The readers are gorgeous. They are real hardback books, small enough for little hands to hold. The illustrations are well done with amazing detail. Yes, they are expensive, but they are much higher quality than ones used by other curricula.

However, there are a couple downsides to the program. First of all, the reading fluency sheets for each lesson are jam-packed with words. My daughter almost has a heart attack when she sees an entire sheet. I have to quickly cover most of the page with another piece of paper. I only have her do a little each day, but the sight of all those words is intimidating to a five-year old. Now, the information on the fluency sheets is great, it's just the presentation that we don't like.

Also, there is about one reader story for every other lesson. The stories are high-interest and fun, but I don't think there are enough to really build fluency. Luckily I have a ton of phonics readers already, because the one story wouldn't be enough.

The program is expensive. However, the readers and the teacher's text are non-consumable, so you could re-coop the costs by re-selling. I plan on keeping the readers for my grand kids, I like them so much!

Overall, the program works well for us. Because it is a mastery-based reading program, you don't have to worry about changing it to make it work for your child. And you don't have to worry about matching it to a writing level.

I hope they get Level 2 out soon or my daughter is going to be disappointed!

sleeplessnights · April 17, 2012