Elsiegirls9 Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Looking to try this and would love some feedback! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Have you tried the search function? I know I read dozens (at least!) threads on AAR when I was thinking of using it. We did use level 1 with my oldest -- it was not enough for her reading challenges. We are about to try AAS, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 This is our 1st year of homeschooling, so please take my review with a grain of salt because I obviously have no other experience to compare it to! :) I am using AAR1 with my kindergartener. We just started it at the beginning of August and she is already almost done with level 1 and ready to go to level 2. I like that the program holds my hand, so to speak, and tells me exactly what to say and when to say it. I don't usually follow the script, but just having it there makes me feel much more secure since I'm teaching someone to read for the 1st time ever. My daughter likes the activities in the student book and we both really enjoy the stories in the readers. She's not a big fan of the fluency sheets, but I can tell that they are making a big difference in her abilities and confidence. We usually do those over 2-3 sessions throughout the day and I don't have her do all of them. She still sometimes guesses at a word instead of sounding it out, but when I remind her she is able to recall the phonograms and sound them out with no problem whatsoever. I think it's a very solid program and I plan to continue with the rest of the levels and also start AAS with her next year. My older daughter (4th grade) was having trouble in spelling because she had not been taught very much phonics in public school. I started on AAS with her and I can already tell improvement after just a few months. Between my experience with her in AAS and my experience with my kindergartener in AAR, I'm pretty much 100% sold on the program! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsiegirls9 Posted January 19, 2014 Author Share Posted January 19, 2014 Thanks sooooooo much!! I didn't even think to go through and search for posts regarding this question~lol. I really appreciate jlhongger's post and I'm sooo looking fwd to trying this! Will u be looking to sell it soon? Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 Sorry ... we'll be using it for my almost 2 year old in a few years so we won't be selling it anytime soon. Good luck! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItoLina Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I used the pre-level 1 with my 4 year old and dd she just finished it and started level 1 (she is on step 3) I loved the pre level so much that about half way through that I got level 2 for my 6 year old ds. He is about 5 steps away from finishing level 2 and I already bought level 3 and have it all ready to go for him. I pretty much have all great things to say about this program. I have seen such an improvement in my son's reading since we started it, especially in his fluency and in his attitude toward reading in general. It's fun. Both of my kids love the games and LOVE Ziggy (the little puppet that comes with the pre level)... My 4 year old even slept with Ziggy for a while, lol...she will basically do anything for me if Ziggy is involved. The readers are also just so great. My kids find the stories entertaining and ask to read them again. I like that they are really correlated to the lessons, so when my son gets to a story he can really read it, which gives him confidence and a reading experience that is free from frustration at coming across a bunch of words he doesn't know. I also love how it really lays out all the rules and has built in review of them. My son especially really thrives on order and he loves it when the "rule breaker" words suddenly make since because we learned the rule for it. I also like that when he comes across a word he hasn't seen he has a bunch of strategies to figure it out, so he has pretty much stopped the "I don't know" when he gets to words like that because he know I am going to tell him "how do you divide it into syllables? Now is that syllable open or closed? Etc etc. It has also given me better ways to help him rather than just telling him the unknown word. Now I can refer to the rules, which he more helpful for him and gives him the confidence that he CAN figure it out on his own. The fluency sheets had been a challenge as they got longer, but I have been able to find ways to make it funner. For example, my son loves Ninjago, so he gets out 4 markers (one for each colored Ninja)...then the Ninjas "fight the bad guys" aka he reads the words and gets to cross off the word in whatever color he wants. Since starting this he has declared fluency sheets his favorite part of the lesson, lol. My 4 year old just completed her first fluency sheet and for her I just broke it up a lot. I think it took her 3 days to get through it, but I am ok with that. That's another thing that is a big plus, it's easy to adjust your pace. With the pre reading level, dd was flying through it, doing a whole step every day. There were only a couple letter sounds she didn't know, but we were going through it to make sure they were solid, and the other pre reading skills (rhyming, isolating sounds, etc) have given her a solid foundation. Now, in level 1 we are going WAY slower, but we just do a little each day. It takes her several days to get through a step now. DS started level 2 at a pretty quick pace and we have slowed down a bit now. It takes him a couple days to get through a step, and every couple of weeks we do a day or two of just review. Anyway, we love it. Let me know if you have any other specific questions :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heritagelearningacademy Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 We are almost done with AAR2 and have LOOOOOOOVED it! :) She has taken off with reading (6) and will be starting spelling in February. I wouldn't use anything else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pollo_la Posted January 19, 2014 Share Posted January 19, 2014 I used level 1 for a bit with my 5 and 6 year olds. It is definitely a solid program. Anyway, we ended up stopping for a break (my oldest really needed time for her brain to grow some), and when we started back to reading lessons we picked up with something else... Dancing Bears. Both programs work great. There is more hands on fun stuff with AAR, which is nice for the kids. However, for some reason that made it harder for "me" to get it done. It really is well laid out though, and doesn't really take any prep time at all. All that to say. My 3 favorite "teach reading" programs are AAR, Dancing Bears, and Explode the Code. Dancing Bears is "my" favorite, but AAR will absolutely get the job done, and if you have a hands on kiddo, might be your best bet (especially if they do not have the best handwriting skills yet). Oh, and I am looking to sell mine! I have "everything" although I am missing the first few pages from the project books/work books. If interested you can email me at hoble dot laurie at g mail dot com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsiegirls9 Posted January 20, 2014 Author Share Posted January 20, 2014 Thanks soo much~I em you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistyMountain Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I am using it with my 5 year old. I am mixed on it. I love how it is open and go and easy to use. My 5 year old learned how to blend sounds into words when he was young but it hasn't translated into reading. He has only got more choppy in his blending over time not better so I wanted something the was multi sensory and took it slow. He likes the games and doesn't mind doing word cards and phonograms but the fluency sheets are hard for him and I am not really noticing a change in fluency from doing them yet yet. For some reason he is good at reading words in isolation but when he reads them in a sentence they are more choppy. We are only in lesson 14 though and taking it really slowly. I am sticking it through for at least level 1 for now because in the past I switched around too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I love Pre. Although I've done the lessons out of order. Rhyming is very early, which DD just doesn't get yet. DD doesn't admit that she is reading some things, but she is. For example, I was looking up the location of a pool, and DD pointed to the computer and said "Why does that say Google?" I am pretty sure she has never heard the word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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