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AAR....is it REALLY good, really worth it??


Blessed with seven
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Hi,

 

I have been using WRTR for my older kids, spelling. I really struggle with the lack of "daily" instructions but LOVE, LOVE the way things are presented. I did PR for awhile but watching the videos...well, that wasn't working real well.

 

I am thinking about using AAR for my young one just starting out, he will be 5 in Feb. and for my beginning reader who is 7. Maybe do AAR Pre 1 for my 5 year old and AAR 1 with my 7 year old, but he is ready to move pretty fast, will it go to slow?

 

Starting to wish I hadn't sold my PR...geesh!

 

Thanks,

 

Kim

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AAR 1 might be a little slow for a 7yr old depending on the amount that he is already reading. However, if you plan to use it with your 5yr old, I would purchase the pack and let your 7yr old read the books that are included. If he seems to stumble on a story, look through the teacher manual and find the lesson that was right before it. Work through that and keep going. When he has read each story just move on to AAR 2 :laugh: . I think you can also look up the phonograms taught in each level on the All About Learning Press website and that can give you can idea of where you would start. We have Pre-1 and Level 1 here and love both of them. My 3.5yr old will finish Pre-1 sometime this spring and then move on to level 1. My 5yr old should finish up level 1 sometime in January.

 

IMO, this program is worth its weight in gold because my son needed all the extras and step-by-step direction. I also have a younger one to pass it along to. I do think that you can get a child reading for much less, though.

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My boys (5) finished the 100 EZ Lesson book but lacked fluency. I started them in AAS hoping it might help. They loved it so much I splurged and got AAR1. They are plowing through at a lesson a day. I wish I had started them in AAR. Reading has gone from screams of protest to "Spelling is my favorite subject." They lump reading and spelling together.

 

AAR is our 4th reading curriculum, it is worth it's weight in gold!

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IMO, it's worth every penny. I like that you can speed up/slow down as needed and I think it is a very well laid out program and incredibly easy to teach. My 6 year old loves it. We started with Pre-1 when she was 5 and are working through Level 1 now. There are placement tests on the website and I would use those before purchasing for sure. http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/categories/All-About-Reading/All-About-Reading-Level-1/ If your child is inbetween levels it could be costly, but I really do think it's worth it! I also find the customer service to be phenomenol, which holds a lot of weight with me.

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I really debated whether to spend the money. I fact decided against it at first and went with what I had on the shelf. When that and another program failed I broke down and bought AAR. I went with pre level for my Ker and we did about 3 lessons a day. We went through it quickly but it was worth it. We are now working through AAR level one, and again it is worth every penny for me and my ds. We love love love it!

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I used AAR Pre 1 with my 4 year old and AAR 1 with my 6 year old. I also used OPGTR with my 6 year old (we did the first half of OPGTR first and it moved a little too fast so I stopped and used AAR 1 with him and now am back using OPGTR again - trying to finish out the book. I have loved both levels I have used so far. I thought about getting AAR 2 for my 6 yyear old but he is reading so well now I decided to just start him on AAS level 1 and continue with OPGTR. I might pick up AAR 2 once my 4 year old gets to that level as he seems to need a slower incremental approach to reading than my olders did.

 

Anyway, we love it all so far !!

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I am doing AAR 1 with my first grader and it's going really well! I love the layout; it's so incredibly easy to teach. And I love the incremental approach because I know everything will be covered. The quality of the materials is top notch and the readers are adorable and well written. And I love that most of the program is non-consumable and can be reused for my next two kids. In short, I think this program is absolutely worth the money!

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It's expensive, but I do think it's worth the price. You don't have to fuss trying to find readers that fit since it comes with them, and they actually represent a pretty good chunk of the price. It's easy to teach and easy to present in whatever size chunk you wish. It's the sort of thing that I would expect to work well for most kids. I considered less pricey options when we finished lv1 but my ds likes it and it's easier on me than the other options I was considering. I justify the price with aar because I'm pretty confident I'll be able to use it when my youngers are ready instead of trying to find something else that will "fit" them.

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Yes. It has been so worth it for me. It's so easy to use, it's fun, and the incremental approach is working so well for my son. I love it and my son enjoys it. I'm so glad I purchased it. It makes teaching reading so painless. I'm sure there are things you could use that are less expensive-or even free but the organization of the program was worth the price for me. I blogged about it here...........

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Oh thank you all again! This is one of those things.....I love WRTR, I do but I only have two more to teach reading... I really NEED something more "do this, do that" AND, I want it to be enjoyable. I have FINALLY come to the conclusion..(ha)...that no matter how good the program is, if it isn't getting done...well...nuff said :bored:

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I bought AAR 1 for my six year old and AAR 2 for my seven year old this year. I feel it has been worth my money. It is very easy to use, has great readers, and wonderful activities my kids love. My kids really enjoy the program, and I know it is solid instruction. Win-win.

 

Because it is so expensive, I did laminate most of the games so I can re-use everything with my other kids (or you could sell it whe you are finished). I set it up in binders with the activities and fluency sheets for each lesson together in a plastic sheet protector. This has made it faster for me to find all the components.

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Because it is so expensive, I did laminate most of the games so I can re-use everything with my other kids (or you could sell it whe you are finished). I set it up in binders with the activities and fluency sheets for each lesson together in a plastic sheet protector. This has made it faster for me to find all the components.

 

Doh! Why didn't I think of that? I have been tucking the fluency sheets into a folder, but am going to pull them out and laminate them! Thanks!!!

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We don't use any other readers yet because my DD is still at the "sound out every single word even if you just read it" stage and it's tiring for her. If I were more organized about library use (as in, if I could actually manage to get books back on time consistantly) then I would get her some extra readers if I thought she needed them. But a big part of the program's appeal to me is that everything is included. I don't think having them is limiting, though. I do have her try to do some reading sometimes in her HWT workbook and many of those are words we haven't covered yet in AAR. But I just tell her what they are and consider it good exposure.

 

If she was breezing through the program and eager, though, I think having the readers would be helpful to know what to look for in deciding what other readers with which to supplement.

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We don't use any other readers but when I read aloud, I will sometimes do team reading where I read the words that are not decodable for him yet and he reads the rest. I don't find the readers limiting and they seem to give him confidence. The tm also includes little tips for using the readers to practice comprehension, make predictions, and relate to the story. It's helpful for me since I'm just starting my homeschool journey and I can apply those things to other stories we read, making the dialogue sort of a habit for us. Of course, many parents work on those things without a tm, I just appreciate the handholding for now.

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