Best reading/LA program for 1st-2nd grade?

[Guest hdm]

Searching for a rigorous reading/language arts program for 1st-2nd grade level for my twin 5 yr. old boys (who are slightly advanced & are finishing the 1st grade level of their current phonics/reading curriculum).

 

Need something that does not require a lot of teacher prep and with meaningful reading selections. Recommendations? Pros/cons? Has anyone used or does anyone have experience with Reasoning & Reading by Classical Academic Press or (fairly new) Reading Wonders program by McGraw-Hill? I have looked at the Elson readers & liked them, but they seem more like supplementary readers, as opposed to a more comprehensive program...any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Five More Minutes]

For Gr. 1, I believe that reading should be that: reading. We read good books aloud together (beyond their level) and talk about them. I try to have my students read good books below their level (to build fluency) and at or slightly beyond their level (to increase their reading abilities). I believe it's important to let them soak up oodles of stories and wonderful language in the K - Gr. 4 years, because they will need to draw on that content in later years when it comes to literary analysis. To build comprehension, I check their understanding orally or occasionally ask them to narrate the story to me while I scribe.

 

For other aspects of LA, I use a lot of the recommendations from The Well Trained Mind, and am not familiar with the ones you're suggesting. At 5 y/o, I would think that handwriting and gentle phonics-based spelling might be worthwhile looking into, along with reading great books.

 

ETA: As I re-read your initial post, I think I may have misunderstood you ... are you looking for a phonics / reading instruction program? If so, I apologize for missing the point! I'm just quite passionate about simply reading good books in younger years, and can get carried away. :blushing: FWIW, I used the All About Reading readers when my dd was at about a Gr. 1 reading level, and they were enjoyable for her.

[Ellie]

I can't think of a better way to help children build their reading skills than to read good trade books instead of vocabulary-controlled basal readers.

 

The Classical Christian Education's 1000 Good Books List is a great place to start.

[Farrar]

Another vote to just read good books if they're accelerated past the phonics stage already. Real books are rigorous.

 

If they still need more phonics, I would stick with that and use whatever it is that's working already.

[Tanikit]

I agree with the read good books suggestions - for my 5 year old I use many of the books in the Sonlight and HOD book lists - that way I knew I was getting good books that she would enjoy and I was also able to skip up levels at the pace she was most comfortable with. I liked that the readers were then just normal books with meaningful text that was appropriate for my child's age (even at the grade 3/4 level). We also discuss the books. For LA I would also work on handwriting and use copywork from the books my child is reading. Depending on their handwriting you could also do WWE1. What other aspects of LA do you want to cover - you could start grammar (FLL1 is usually suggested here though there are other programmes you can use), writing suggestions vary and it will depend very much on what you want. If your children are reading well then I would start a phonics based spelling programme.

[pitterpatter]

We're using AAS and a variety of Evan-Moor language arts books this fall. DD will be grade one by age, but grade two in most other subjects.