Reviews for Phonics Pathways please

[A home for their hearts]

I've researching Phonics Pathways at various reviews sites and it seems to have pretty positive reviews. I'm considering using it for my dd5 who hasn't had any reading/phonics instruction, and my ds8 who is really struggling with reading. The only negative things I've seen mentioned is that it is dry, some people think using beginning blends i.e. ba, instead of ending blends could make reading harder for the student, and reading just a bunch of words on a page can be boring.

 

So if you agree with any of the negatives I've listed, did you continue with the program and how did it work for you? Also, if you really liked it please tell me why. Thanks!

[Susie in MS]

Yep, to me it was boring. But my dd loved it. She loved the cartoon character and the little words of wisdom he shared. We made the book marks and gave it a female version of the name. It is all I used for for phonics (after 2 short lived attempts with 2 other programs) with my dd, and by the time we were half way through the book she was reading like a pro. It was never a struggle using the blends as they teach it. Even though my dd is reading she still ask to use it from time to time, just because she thinks it is fun. It is great for young learners because it requires no writing.

 

ETA:

When I said that was all I used for phonics, I meant phonics. Not reading. We used many readers we found at a thrift store and McGuffey's Primer and book 1.

[sewingmama]

I've used it ...but both of mine could read a little when we started it. I don't know if it would be good for absolute beginners because it moves quickly which means you would have to repeat each lesson till the child gets it before you can move on.

 

My kids tolerated the dryness because they could move through it quickly. They would have protested loudly if I made them read each boring page again and again.

 

My kids are reading at a second grade level and we are nearing the end of the book. Basically we are just making sure they know all the rules. We skip the pages they do know well.

 

Most of my kids reading success has come from the levelled readers of readinga-z.com.

 

We used PP as a supplement rather then a stand alone ...but I did use about 85 per cent....we are just skipping as we get the end of it and my kids already know the rules.

[genny]

boring yep....confusing nope. I used it to teach my oldest. We got about halfway through and her reading really took off so I stopped. It was so boring for her and I had to bribe her and make Dewey do silly things.

 

I'm a phonics book junkie and have tried a lot of programs. This ranks 2 on my list.

 

Sorry ...I would write more but I have baby sleeping in my arms :hurray: :laugh:

[A home for their hearts]

boring yep....confusing nope. I used it to teach my oldest. We got about halfway through and her reading really took off so I stopped. It was so boring for her and I had to bribe her and make Dewey do silly things.

 

I'm a phonics book junkie and have tried a lot of programs. This ranks 2 on my list.

 

Sorry ...I would write more but I have baby sleeping in my arms :hurray: :laugh:

 

I'm curious...what ranks 1 on your list?

[Targhee]

I am using this currently for my Ker. She had not prior reading instructions/phonics (except watching "The Letter Factory" and playing on Starfall.com). She, like another poster said, likea Dewey (the little bug character in the book). She looks forward every day to doing "Dewey" (which is what she calls her phonics/reading lesson from Phonics Pathway). The pages are pretty dry, especially compared to a lot of whiz-bang, color-splashed, here-a-clip there-a-clip instruction books for kids. But I think that is actually good. You don't want their eyes wandering. A lot of learning to read is learning to be the boss of your eyes. In addition to the work we do in PP (which is anywhere from a page every 2-3 days to 2-3 pages a day, all based on how well she gets what we are doing), we read from Bob Books and Dr. Seuss Early Beginner Books, etc. We also follow the recommendations to spell the sounds/words you are learning. Her pencil skills are still really developing so we do this either with our magnetic letters or with an ipad app. The encoding (spelling) reinforces the decoding (reading). I didn't do that with the olders and I regret it. I don't get too hung up on if her spelling is as good as her reading, as we will start AAS 1 with her in a few months and she will get the reinforcement that way.

 

The fact it uses beginning sounds (ba, be, bi, etc) vs. ending sounds isn't a big deal, since the that is maybe 20 pages in the 200+ page book. But in reality, it makes more sense since you read left to right/beginning to end.

 

I think it is a solid book. Check your local library for a copy and see if your child does well with it. I've managed to renew, and hold/check out the library's second copy, cyclicly for the entire school year so far!

[fourisenough]

We used it faithfully with the first two DDs. They didn't love it, but it certainly was easy and effective. I get overwhelmed when I have to get cards, tiles, or other manipulatives out and have everything ready to go. PP is simple to grab off the bookcase and use without any planning. I also prefer to teach reading while cuddled in an arm chair, rather than sitting in straight-backed chairs at a table. The simplicity of one light-weight paperback book, makes PP very couch-teachable. My third daughter didn't really need PP. She did a Montessori program at age 3 and picked up reading lightening fast (already knew all letter sounds and could write uppercase/lower case letters before beginning). DD4 has just begun to learn to read. I recently inherited AAR 1 and have been using it with her. It is certainly more glitzy and fun, but, frankly, PP works just as well and suits my preferred work-style better. I may switch back to PP or at least alternate, just to keep things fresh.

[genny]

1 is aar....I used it with my second oldest and he adored it! He didn't really need it since reading just sort of came naturally for him. I think it's really overpriced imho but the kids loved the glitz/games. I really like their readers. I would whole heartedly recommend it except for the price tag. Also, it's not a complete program.

 

PP is not glitzy but complete/thorough.

[genny]

I don't know if the games in aar would appeal to a 8 year old???

[genny]

I agree with previous posts that the open and go of pp is great...

[A home for their hearts]

I don't know if the games in aar would appeal to a 8 year old???

 

 

I am actually using AAR 1 with my ds8. A friend of my had it and let me borrow it. There doesn't seem to be enough practice in it for him. Words that he has sounded out 20 times he still has to sound out so we are stuck on lesson 6 trying to master the words taught so far before adding any new ones. He doesn't love AAR, he tolerates it. I'm not sure which games you are refering to? I haven't seen any games yet.

[genny]

The beginning lessons don't have games (I believe the activities are match word to picture...feed the monster). There are activities later on...maybe I should rephrase and say fun actvities. ex. one of the last lessons has astronauts/rocketshi activity.

[boscopup]

I just started using it with 2 children in January, so just a few months. Both children (ages 6 and 3.75) were already able to sound out CVC words to figure out what they were, but both were still in the sounding out everything phase. The 3 year old, I expected to be there. No big deal. The 6 year old had been in that phase for 2 long years. Neither had ever used a method where it blends the first two letters like PP does.

 

A few weeks ago, BOTH kids had a sudden jump in understanding the very same week. The 6 year old was finally able to look at a CVC word and READ it instead of sounding it out. The 3 year old was able to look at a 2-letter blend and read it, and he could very quickly read across the page: s-a sa sat

 

For the same thing to click with both kids at the same time, when they are 2.5 years apart in age... I am pretty sure it was the method used in PP. If it were just the right time in their development, it wouldn't have happened the exact same week for both kids, ya know?

 

We are only in the section with 2-letter consonant blends on the end of a 4-letter word (for the 6 year old - 3 year old is in an easier section where everything is "easy"), so I don't know how effective the long vowel, multi-syllable, or other phonics instruction is. But for getting kids to BLEND... wow. Amazing. I'm still in awe at the sudden "click" for both kids.

 

And talk about simple to use. Both kids like it ok. Is it flashy? No. It's PHONICS. Is it effective? Absolutely. It's training the kids to read left to right and blend those sounds together.

 

I also got Reading Pathways to go with it, as my 6 year old liked the pyramid that was in PP. We've only done one page so far, but 6 year old liked it, and it gave him confidence. By the end of that page, he was reading a pretty long sentence - easily! The 3 year old isn't ready for that yet. He gets overwhelmed with too much on a page, so we hang out in the sections of PP where you're building CVC words. He can read them lightening fast across now, so that is just building more fluency, even though he isn't doing the lists of words (sometimes he does those, but not very often).

 

One thing I really like about PP is that the font size is big enough for a young kid learning to read. It gets a little smaller as you go along, but the early stuff is nice and BIG, and then it gradually gets a bit smaller, but still reasonably big.

 

The other thing I like about it is that it's a snuggle on the couch type of book. We can sit together and do as much as we feel like - there are no daily lessons, no "things" to get out. Just me, the kid, and the one book. Easy peasy. We work on it 10 minutes a day (for the 6 year old), every school day.

[genny]

have you tried basic readers...maybe on topics he finds engaging?

[genny]

I just started using it with 2 children in January, so just a few months. Both children (ages 6 and 3.75) were already able to sound out CVC words to figure out what they were, but both were still in the sounding out everything phase. The 3 year old, I expected to be there. No big deal. The 6 year old had been in that phase for 2 long years. Neither had ever used a method where it blends the first two letters like PP does.

 

A few weeks ago, BOTH kids had a sudden jump in understanding the very same week. The 6 year old was finally able to look at a CVC word and READ it instead of sounding it out. The 3 year old was able to look at a 2-letter blend and read it, and he could very quickly read across the page: s-a sa sat

 

For the same thing to click with both kids at the same time, when they are 2.5 years apart in age... I am pretty sure it was the method used in PP. If it were just the right time in their development, it wouldn't have happened the exact same week for both kids, ya know?

 

We are only in the section with 2-letter consonant blends on the end of a 4-letter word (for the 6 year old - 3 year old is in an easier section where everything is "easy"), so I don't know how effective the long vowel, multi-syllable, or other phonics instruction is. But for getting kids to BLEND... wow. Amazing. I'm still in awe at the sudden "click" for both kids.

 

And talk about simple to use. Both kids like it ok. Is it flashy? No. It's PHONICS. Is it effective? Absolutely. It's training the kids to read left to right and blend those sounds together.

 

I also got Reading Pathways to go with it, as my 6 year old liked the pyramid that was in PP. We've only done one page so far, but 6 year old liked it, and it gave him confidence. By the end of that page, he was reading a pretty long sentence - easily! The 3 year old isn't ready for that yet. He gets overwhelmed with too much on a page, so we hang out in the sections of PP where you're building CVC words. He can read them lightening fast across now, so that is just building more fluency, even though he isn't doing the lists of words (sometimes he does those, but not very often).

 

One thing I really like about PP is that the font size is big enough for a young kid learning to read. It gets a little smaller as you go along, but the early stuff is nice and BIG, and then it gradually gets a bit smaller, but still reasonably big.

 

The other thing I like about it is that it's a snuggle on the couch type of book. We can sit together and do as much as we feel like - there are no daily lessons, no "things" to get out. Just me, the kid, and the one book. Easy peasy. We work on it 10 minutes a day (for the 6 year old), every school day.

 

well put!

[genny]

reading pathways helped dd with tracking...great to use after pp

[ScoutTN]

Works very well for us. Open and go and good for reading together on the sofa! Short lessons.

The books suggests some writing exercises, but we have never done those. We just read.

DD went from PP (after the pyramid, p. 49) to Bob books and easy readers quickly. We still finished PP so as to have a thorough phonics grounding. DS is moving a little slower, but still progressing fine.

I'd commend it to anyone.

I like the simple b&w format - no distractions.

[genny]

my oldest could not blend until we used pp. She knew her sounds but couldn't put them together...now she's an advanced reader. I don't know if it was the program or the fact I did a bit with her each day until it clicked...

[A home for their hearts]

I just started using it with 2 children in January, so just a few months. Both children (ages 6 and 3.75) were already able to sound out CVC words to figure out what they were, but both were still in the sounding out everything phase. The 3 year old, I expected to be there. No big deal. The 6 year old had been in that phase for 2 long years. Neither had ever used a method where it blends the first two letters like PP does.

 

A few weeks ago, BOTH kids had a sudden jump in understanding the very same week. The 6 year old was finally able to look at a CVC word and READ it instead of sounding it out. The 3 year old was able to look at a 2-letter blend and read it, and he could very quickly read across the page: s-a sa sat

 

For the same thing to click with both kids at the same time, when they are 2.5 years apart in age... I am pretty sure it was the method used in PP. If it were just the right time in their development, it wouldn't have happened the exact same week for both kids, ya know?

 

We are only in the section with 2-letter consonant blends on the end of a 4-letter word (for the 6 year old - 3 year old is in an easier section where everything is "easy"), so I don't know how effective the long vowel, multi-syllable, or other phonics instruction is. But for getting kids to BLEND... wow. Amazing. I'm still in awe at the sudden "click" for both kids.

 

And talk about simple to use. Both kids like it ok. Is it flashy? No. It's PHONICS. Is it effective? Absolutely. It's training the kids to read left to right and blend those sounds together.

 

I also got Reading Pathways to go with it, as my 6 year old liked the pyramid that was in PP. We've only done one page so far, but 6 year old liked it, and it gave him confidence. By the end of that page, he was reading a pretty long sentence - easily! The 3 year old isn't ready for that yet. He gets overwhelmed with too much on a page, so we hang out in the sections of PP where you're building CVC words. He can read them lightening fast across now, so that is just building more fluency, even though he isn't doing the lists of words (sometimes he does those, but not very often).

 

One thing I really like about PP is that the font size is big enough for a young kid learning to read. It gets a little smaller as you go along, but the early stuff is nice and BIG, and then it gradually gets a bit smaller, but still reasonably big.

 

The other thing I like about it is that it's a snuggle on the couch type of book. We can sit together and do as much as we feel like - there are no daily lessons, no "things" to get out. Just me, the kid, and the one book. Easy peasy. We work on it 10 minutes a day (for the 6 year old), every school day.

 

What a great review. It's amazing that it clicked with both of them the same week. I had taken PP out of my cart at RR, after reading your review, I think I will put it back in!

[EMS83]

I love it! I love the no-frills, non-overstimulating appearance of the pages. I love the self-pacing. We just used the book; no readers or extra activities (I can't get behind readers). I did sometimes make up sentences on the whiteboard with words she'd learned if I felt there needed to be more practice. That way we weren't necessarily going over the same exact page, just the same concept. I also took the liberty of teaching her the articles and pronouns as sight words to help facilitate y creating sentences for her. My DD completed the book last week and is reading extremely well. I think the beginning blends make so much more sense. I understand phonics better after taking her through it. I highly, highly recommend it. My middle child is taking it a bit more slowly because his personality is one that has to see the point in something and he doesn't yet. Once we get through the CVC part, I think he'll take it more seriously.

[JudoMom]

I used this with all 5 of my boys. It's not high on the fun scale, but lessons are quick so I never had complaints. At about halfway through, my boys could decode just about anything. I never finished the book with any of them. I recently stopped with my youngest when he decoded "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" in WWE. He's now reading Redwall and The Hobbit.

[Stellalarella]

I have used/am using this book with 4 children.

 

I used PP to remediate a child a brought home from PS when she struggled greatly with sight-word type teaching. It was an effective tool to help her learn how to track from left to right and learn to read phonetically.

 

It has been a very effective tool for my other 3 children as they are learning to read.

 

I like it very much as teacher because it is open and go. All we have to do is ...find the book...then use it. :) We also like Reading Pathways. The PP version that we've been using is the 9th edition. I thought I remember a poster here in the boards sharing that the 10th edition lacked some of the games, but I don't know about this. If anyone has the 10th edition, let us know what it is like...

 

When I am using PP with the youngest children (age 4-5), we use it for about 5 minutes at a time. With the older children, we can stretch that to 10 or 15. I've never felt like PP is boring, but I do know that my 4 children have found it to be hard work to learn to read. Sometimes when I hear a kiddo say, "this is boring," or "I don't want to do this," I interpret their contentiousness as, "This is work. I don't want to work." :) To me the straightforward, no frills or gizmos nature of PP is what makes it so great. Just work hard for a few minutes and you can move onto other things.

 

We supplement with Bob Books, readers from the library, and spelling skills with AAS.

 

We found the "Train Game," and other games in PP to be helpful. They really aren't fussy games, just easy things to keep in an envelope and pull out for the kids. I printed the games once for the first kiddo and they've been passed down.

 

For $20, how can you go wrong? :)

[A home for their hearts]

I have used/am using this book with 4 children.

 

I used PP to remediate a child a brought home from PS when she struggled greatly with sight-word type teaching. It was an effective tool to help her learn how to track from left to right and learn to read phonetically.

 

It has been a very effective tool for my other 3 children as they are learning to read.

 

I like it very much as teacher because it is open and go. All we have to do is ...find the book...then use it. :) We also like Reading Pathways. The PP version that we've been using is the 9th edition. I thought I remember a poster here in the boards sharing that the 10th edition lacked some of the games, but I don't know about this. If anyone has the 10th edition, let us know what it is like...

 

When I am using PP with the youngest children (age 4-5), we use it for about 5 minutes at a time. With the older children, we can stretch that to 10 or 15. I've never felt like PP is boring, but I do know that my 4 children have found it to be hard work to learn to read. Sometimes when I hear a kiddo say, "this is boring," or "I don't want to do this," I interpret their contentiousness as, "This is work. I don't want to work." :) To me the straightforward, no frills or gizmos nature of PP is what makes it so great. Just work hard for a few minutes and you can move onto other things.

 

We supplement with Bob Books, readers from the library, and spelling skills with AAS.

 

We found the "Train Game," and other games in PP to be helpful. They really aren't fussy games, just easy things to keep in an envelope and pull out for the kids. I printed the games once for the first kiddo and they've been passed down.

 

For $20, how can you go wrong? :)

 

 

Off topic, I just wanted to tell you I checked out your blog and love it! Although I'm a little hungry. Care to come over and whip something up? LOL

[Manamana]

We've been using PP the past month as a remedial phonics program to help with blending and phonemic awarness for DD8 who struggles with reading and spelling. We have been playing the card games regularly - the star game and the bug game as well as a game I made up with the PP vowel cards + Dewey card to just practice the vowel sounds (using all the vowel sounds from AAS). She really likes the games! These plus the PP pages have been the most effective way for dd to get the review and practice she needs to remember the sounds.

 

Interestingly, she was reluctantly reading picture books a month ago but has since voluntarily picked up a more difficult chapter book (that had been previously read to her) and has been working her way through the book on her own. This is encouraging to me. Maybe it's starting to click more for her and the work we're doing in PP is giving her the confidence to read more on her own.

 

 

[Marie131]

I am using this program w/ 2 of my children, my 5 y/o for reading and my 7 y/o for spelling. We've only been using it since September but I am really pleased with it. I was previously using AAR and AAS w/ my children but was frustrated w/ all the parts to the program. My oldest ds was blowing through the program too fast (and I didn't want to spend that much $$ just on spelling) and my younger ds was stuck on blending and just couldn't progress. This $20 book got my younger ds over the blending hump and I have a reference for all the spelling rules which is all I needed for my older ds for this year.

 

It can be a bit dry, but my 5 y/o enjoys the games. If there are no games scheduled, I make up my own or we just cuddle on the couch and go through it. No complaints from my kids. I love that I can just grab it and go. I've kept the AAR readers so my 5 y/o is going through those. He's probably aboutt 1/3 of the way through PP and his reading is taking off. Just yesterday I was reading him a story and I changed the word "teacher" to "Mommy", he caught my error and informed me that "THAT word says teacher not Mommy!" (remember this kid couldn't blend to save his life a few short months ago). Yup, I'm impressed!

[K&Rs Mom]

Another vote for dry but quick. The dc didn't love it, but it's only 5 minutes a day so they put up with it, and it really solidified their reading skills. With both, when we got about 3/4 through they were able to read books on the Little House level, so I let them quit. We move on to spelling & grammar after that, but no more phonics - PP is that thorough, even when you don't finish it. I recommend this to everyone who asks, because a lot of libraries have it, so they can take a look without committing, and if they want it it's a one-time $20 purchase, not ongoing workbooks and more.

[boscopup]

I like it very much as teacher because it is open and go. All we have to do is ...find the book...then use it. :) We also like Reading Pathways. The PP version that we've been using is the 9th edition. I thought I remember a poster here in the boards sharing that the 10th edition lacked some of the games, but I don't know about this. If anyone has the 10th edition, let us know what it is like...

 

 

I checked the 8th edition out at the library and then bought the 10th edition. The 10th edition has games. The 8th edition expected you to buy something else for the games, I think. There was a little bit in there, but more games are in the 10th edition. Not sure about the 9th edition, as I haven't seen that one. The train game and some others are in the 10th edition. I keep meaning to go make photocopies so we can play some games! Just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

I recommend this to everyone who asks, because a lot of libraries have it, so they can take a look without committing, and if they want it it's a one-time $20 purchase, not ongoing workbooks and more.

 

 

Yep! I checked it out at the library, thinking I could give it a try, then buy it if I liked it. We tried it for about 4 weeks, then I hit the buy button. :D Confused my 3 year old a bit that we had two copies, different versions. :lol:

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I used Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons and gave up on it around lesson 50... swtiched to PP and loved it. DS got about two-thirds of the way through PP, and then we moved on to McGuffrey's and other fun read alouds- he reads really well now. He just turned 6 (technically a K'r) and reads at probably a 3rd grade level. I think PP was really easy to use, and my son loved Dewey. Reading his little blurb was the reward for finishing the page. He rolled around laughing at any sentences with Gus the Pig in them. We also used Reading Pathways for a bit, which built up his confidence and speed.

 

I am now starting off directly with PP for my 4yo. She does about a half page a day. She doesn't seem to mind that it's just long lists of words so far- she's just happy to have mommy to herself for a few minutes!

[fraidycat]

I used PP (partially) with my DS. He had received a little bit of sight word training in K, but we pulled him out halfway through K, so he was not reading yet.

 

I was not using readers, just doing PP about 10 minutes per day. Halfway through the book, he picked up a Bad Kitty book and read it to himself. Then, he picked up DD's Diary of a Wimpy Kid book and started reading that. We kept on with PP, but after a couple weeks of just letting him enjoy reading, I had him read a page out loud to me here and there so I could evaluate that he was actually reading the books. He had it down - at that point PP became a shelved book.

 

I recommend it. :)

[SABE]

Yes, it's kind of dry, but it works! I've taught 3 of my boys to read by using Phonics Pathways 8th edition, and each boy has taken about 2 school years to finish the book. My boys were usually happier if I wrote the words on a white board instead of them having to read long lists directly out of the book.

[tld]

1 is aar....I used it with my second oldest and he adored it! He didn't really need it since reading just sort of came naturally for him. I think it's really overpriced imho but the kids loved the glitz/games. I really like their readers. I would whole heartedly recommend it except for the price tag. Also, it's not a complete program.

 

PP is not glitzy but complete/thorough.

 

Could you please expound on how AAR is not a complete program? Do you just mean that it's multi-level as opposed to everything packed neatly into one book like PP? Or by "not a complete program" do you mean that there is stuff it's not teaching?

 

We used PP for about 6 weeks when DS was just not getting the whole blending thing with Sing, Spell, Read, and Write. As previous posters have reported, it did the job in getting him reading! However, once he got the blending under his belt, we switched back to SSRW because the boredom induced by PP was leading him to tears and a bad school attitude almost every day. After finishing the K level of SSRW, we switched to AAR, which he is enjoying much more than either of the other two programs. If he could have enjoyed PP more, I would have stuck with that because it's simple and thorough.

[boscopup]

Could you please expound on how AAR is not a complete program? Do you just mean that it's multi-level as opposed to everything packed neatly into one book like PP? Or by "not a complete program" do you mean that there is stuff it's not teaching?

 

 

AAR doesn't have all of its levels released yet. Once you get through level 2, you can't go any further. So that would be why it's not complete.

[myfatherslily]

I've researching Phonics Pathways at various reviews sites and it seems to have pretty positive reviews. I'm considering using it for my dd5 who hasn't had any reading/phonics instruction, and my ds8 who is really struggling with reading. The only negative things I've seen mentioned is that it is dry, some people think using beginning blends i.e. ba, instead of ending blends could make reading harder for the student, and reading just a bunch of words on a page can be boring.

 

So if you agree with any of the negatives I've listed, did you continue with the program and how did it work for you? Also, if you really liked it please tell me why. Thanks!

 

I do agree with the negatives. I've tried using it several times, with all three kids. I want to like it, but I just really hate it. I don't know why I don't just sell the book already, except that I keep going back wanting to like it. Some do very well with it, and you'll only know if you try. You should be able to find a copy second-hand for a reasonable price.

 

A Beka also starts with beginning blends (ba, be, bi, bo, bu), btw.

[genny]

AAR doesn't have all of its levels released yet. Once you get through level 2, you can't go any further. So that would be why it's not complete.

 

 

This :001_smile:

[genny]

ds has finished both levels of aar. Thanks to this thread, our copy of pp is coming out of storage and I'll be going over it with him ( parts aar hasn't covered).

 

Thanks OP for this motivating thread! :thumbup:

[alisoncooks]

I found those beginning blends really helped my DD get blending when other phonics programs didn't....but we did those with R&S Phonics 1.

 

We have been using PP since Christmas but the pages are just so busy/filled. I think the font is too crowded (not enough white spaces between words or phrases). I agree, using a whiteboard helps with this -- but there's still a lot to get through for each lesson (especially if you're someone who has a hard time skipping stuff or picking & choosing what to do.)

 

There isn't explicit instruction/scripting like OPGTR... and no outside activities/games, other than the few listed/discussed at the front of the book. We have PP, the Booster pack (which is handy but not really necessary), and Reading Pathways...which I'm considering returning. My DD is just overwhelmed by the pyramids and doesn't consider them fun at all (even though we've only tried adding a line a day...)

 

Anyway, I plan on holding on to PP for DD2, or possibly for some future tutoring... I think it'd be great for remediating an older child. (I'm just adding it to the long list of things that are/were a struggle for my oldest DD.)