For those buying AAR 3...

[Meadowlark]

What level of books are your kids currently reading? Grade level, type...anything. I have no idea if my son would benefit or if it would be too easy for him. I'm just trying to get an idea of what level this is, and I can't find that info. anywhere. Thanks!

[DragonflyAcademy]

Easier Chapter Books like Nate the Great.. Mercy Watson...

 

Did you see the sample PDF for their reader for level 3? 

 

Our level 3 has not arrived yet.. but we are almost done with level 2 and he has no issues with any of the stories in those readers

 

 

 

[Syllieann]

I've been picking random books from the library. The ones that are a good fit tend to be in the 2.0-2.5 level when I look them up on the scholastic book wizard.

[Arboreal TJ]

I'm a college graduate, STEM major that never learned phonics, I'm learning a ton teaching my kids AAR2 :-)

 

If your child is reading well AAR is a pricey supplement but a darn good one!

[Just Another Jen]

Sonlight readers 2 and memoria press lit 1. I'd also say anything in the step into reading 2 and 3 level.

[Gracegiven4]

Thanks Amysue for asking this question.. I was wondering the same thing. 

[Meadowlark]

So..if your child is comfortably reading Nate the Great, Magic Tree House type stuff, what makes you want to continue with AAR, opposed to just keep on trucking with real books? I'm not being snarky (just in case someone receives that), but I really want to understand why because I'm a newbie and trying to find the right path for my guy. I don't know whether to continue, or just keep reading. GWIM?

[Syllieann]

So..if your child is comfortably reading Nate the Great, Magic Tree House type stuff, what makes you want to continue with AAR, opposed to just keep on trucking with real books? I'm not being snarky (just in case someone receives that), but I really want to understand why because I'm a newbie and trying to find the right path for my guy. I don't know whether to continue, or just keep reading. GWIM?

I'm actually not going to continue. We are wrapping up level 2 this month so I just thought I'd share reading level. We are continuing with library readers and starting spelling with a spalding spinoff. If he were still not ready for the writing I would be buying level 3. Even as it stands he asked for level 3 and its not completely off the table, depending how this goes. I like that with aar you don't have to find readers and it includes comprehension questions. I do feel that some sort of explicit phonics instruction needs to continue.

[ByGrace3]

So..if your child is comfortably reading Nate the Great, Magic Tree House type stuff, what makes you want to continue with AAR, opposed to just keep on trucking with real books? I'm not being snarky (just in case someone receives that), but I really want to understand why because I'm a newbie and trying to find the right path for my guy. I don't know whether to continue, or just keep reading. GWIM?

Those books are on about a 2nd grade level. There is still a long way to go of learning word attack skills. AAR 4 will cover through high school word attack skills. I am on the fence about whether or not to continue with AAR, but we definitely will continue phonics instruction, if not you run the great risk of struggling with the fourth grade hump that often happens without higher level phonics.

[DragonflyAcademy]

I agree.. while DS is reading Nate the Great (not Tree House books yet) he still needs practice and instruction in more advanced decoding..He also loves the activities and I like how there is practice every day..all in one place..without me having to find this book or that book...

 

 

[Jess4879]

So..if your child is comfortably reading Nate the Great, Magic Tree House type stuff, what makes you want to continue with AAR, opposed to just keep on trucking with real books? I'm not being snarky (just in case someone receives that), but I really want to understand why because I'm a newbie and trying to find the right path for my guy. I don't know whether to continue, or just keep reading. GWIM?

 

My 7 year old will start AAR 3 early next year.  She is currently tackling books at about a grade 4 level.  I really think it depends on the kid.  For her, AAR has given her this awesome base and she is so confident in her reading.  And she loves it.  We will continue with all 4 levels, moving as quickly or a slowly as necessary.  We are using AAR behind most people, I think.  I am more of a late-starter in that area, I guess.  It hasn't slowed her down any though.  I am sure it's not for everyone, but honestly, I can't say enough good things about it.  :) 

[Meadowlark]

I did it! I ordered last night. I am excited because AAR is a great fit for us and one of the only curriculums I'm 100% happy with. I agree it's nice to just have everything in one place and have my bases covered. Upon looking further at the samples, I realized that there is more reading in level 3, opposed to "rule" lessons. I am happy about that. Also, it teaches other things like similes, etc that I wouldn't be teaching if I were using it on my own. Hurray, one decision made!

[LynnG in Arizona]

My son just finished AAR Level 2 a few weeks ago, and our hot-off-the-presses AAR Level 3 just arrived a day or so ago.

 

To answer the OP's question, my son read a few Mr. Putter and Tabby books while we were waiting for AAR 3 to get here. He breezed through them - comfortably, but still a small stretch in a few areas. I imagine he could also start Frog & Toad, Nate the Great, etc.

 

I am continuing with AAR Level 3 because I just trust the program so darn much at this point. Our previous three levels have given my son a REALLY firm, solid foundation in phonics - more so than his older sister, whom I taught to read without AAR. I love the systematic approach and the quality readers that feature such a lovely variety of stories. He has enjoyed the activity pages. For me, it is pretty much the IDEAL reading program that I wish I had 16 years ago when I taught my first child to read. :)

 

I know that we *could* just start reading books, and that is in fact what I've done with all my other children at about this point. But I appreciate the systematic instruction so much that we are continuing with AAR 3, confident that we all have lots to learn from it. In fact, I'm rolling my second grade daughter into AAR 3 as well, even though she has not done AAR up until now. Even though I started teaching her to read about two years before her brother, he has pretty much caught up to her thanks to AAR . . . and I hope to instill a rock solid foundation in advanced phonics in *both* of them now.

[Wildwood]

Those books are on about a 2nd grade level. There is still a long way to go of learning word attack skills. AAR 4 will cover through high school word attack skills. I am on the fence about whether or not to continue with AAR, but we definitely will continue phonics instruction, if not you run the great risk of struggling with the fourth grade hump that often happens without higher level phonics.

 

 

I feel a bit a bit ignorant, but will ask anyway...

 

What are word attack skills?

 

Thank you. : )

[ByGrace3]

I feel a bit a bit ignorant, but will ask anyway...

 

What are word attack skills?

 

Thank you. : )

Not ignorant at all... Now lets see if I can accurately describe it! :lol: word attack skills are the skills necessary to read multisyllable words -- knowing where to split syllables, understanding prefixes suffixes etc to accurately read challenging words that a hold may not know what it means but they can decode. The tendency at this stage of the Anne is they have just enough skills to give educated guesses and be correct for most of what they come across. We then as their teachers have a false sense of security in their abilities. Eventually without further phonics most kids stall out at about a fourth grade level. Teaching the more difficult rules and word attack skills assures that that doesn't happen. By the end of AAR 4 they should be able to decode just about anything. :)

 

On another note I broke down and ordered level 3. :lol:

[Wildwood]

Not ignorant at all... Now lets see if I can accurately describe it! :lol: word attack skills are the skills necessary to read multisyllable words -- knowing where to split syllables, understanding prefixes suffixes etc to accurately read challenging words that a hold may not know what it means but they can decode. The tendency at this stage of the Anne is they have just enough skills to give educated guesses and be correct for most of what they come across. We then as their teachers have a false sense of security in their abilities. Eventually without further phonics most kids stall out at about a fourth grade level. Teaching the more difficult rules and word attack skills assures that that doesn't happen. By the end of AAR 4 they should be able to decode just about anything. :)

 

On another note I broke down and ordered level 3. :lol:

 

Got it, thank you : )

 

So, is AAR level 3 purposeful as far as word attack skills, or is that level 4?

 

Thanks : )

[ByGrace3]

Got it, thank you : )

 

So, is AAR level 3 purposeful as far as word attack skills, or is that level 4?

 

Thanks : )

The whole series works towards that end :)

[cjgrubbs]

I have a 7 year old son who really struggles with reading.  We used IEW's PAL program which I thought was very thorough but he struggles to remember and apply the rules when he's reading, even though we practice every day.  For example if he were to come across 'true' he would struggle to blend the t and r together and then he would forget that 'ue' has one sound.  We practice and practice and when I remind him of the rule he gets it.  I've decided to backtrack and we are working through some Explode the Code 1st grade books and practicing reading daily with some guided phonics readers.  Would AAR serve him well?  What level should he start on?  I'm really frustrated with our lack of progress and so is he as he really wants to read! 

[Wildwood]

The whole series works towards that end :)

 

Thank you : )

[MerryAtHope]

I have a 7 year old son who really struggles with reading.  We used IEW's PAL program which I thought was very thorough but he struggles to remember and apply the rules when he's reading, even though we practice every day.  For example if he were to come across 'true' he would struggle to blend the t and r together and then he would forget that 'ue' has one sound.  We practice and practice and when I remind him of the rule he gets it.  I've decided to backtrack and we are working through some Explode the Code 1st grade books and practicing reading daily with some guided phonics readers.  Would AAR serve him well?  What level should he start on?  I'm really frustrated with our lack of progress and so is he as he really wants to read! 

 

Consonant blends are a common place for kids to struggle, and beginning blends are harder than ending blends (as in words like "fast.")

 

One thing I like about AAR's approach is that they spend a lot of time working on blends before a student gets to vowel-teams like "ue." It has a very incremental approach. They incorporate activities and fluency readings for ending blends first, and then when students are solid on those, they work on beginning blends. You might try spending more time practicing easier words--get him solid on consonant blends and then come back to multi-letter phonograms like "ue."  If it's "tr" in particular that he struggles with (as opposed to other consonant blends), try short vowel words like trip, trim, trot, truck (if ck is easy for him), trap, and so on.

 

AAR uses a blending procedure that's helpful for working through consonant blends too. You can see an example of it in their article on word-guessing.

 

If he struggles with consonant blends in general, I'd start him with Level 1. But here's a link to their placement tests. HTH as you consider what to do!

 

Merry :-)

[k8c]

DD5 just started AAR1, but she is reading at about 2nd/3rd grade level (flys through Mr. Putter books).  However, she is a magnificent sight word memorizer, and really struggles with sounding things out.  She is definitely a guesser, and really pushes back when I try to get her to read books like Magic Tree House that have limited pictures because she knows she can't figure out tough words by looking at the picture.  Even though she could read most of the words on the Level 3 test (because she knows what they are as a sight word), we chose Level 1 to try to build her confidence and teach her how to sound things out and the rules to figure out the more difficult words.  It has been working wonderfully for us so far, and even knowing the words to speak (blending/segmenting - I didn't learn phonics ever as a kid!) when we are doing other reading has helped it "click" in her brain instead of guessing at the words or skipping them.  We are going very quickly through the beginning lessons because she already knows most of the phonograms, but it has been great do start it out with stuff she knows, so that when we get to stuff she doesn't, it is a much more familiar style of learning.