Is AAR worth the high price tag?

[acsnmama]

I've been thinking about purchasing AAR but as terrible as it sounds, I think $100 is ridiculous just for learning to read!

[Meadowlark]

I guess I justified the cost thinking that 1) I really wanted to start off on the right foot, and reading is...important. I was also a newbie, just starting out. 2) I knew I'd get my money's worth using it for 5 kids.

 

Fast forward a year, and we have really loved it. I like everything about it. My first son was a natural reader, so we probably didn't NEED all of the bells and whistles, but I would rather have too much than too little.

 

Overall, it was worth it for me.

[charcat13]

For my son having trouble, yes. For my girls who almost learned it by osmosis, not as much. I am using it for my youngest daughter to get more bang for my buck but it's overkill for her. I do really like the program though.

[Mandylubug]

Yep.

[Syllieann]

Yes. It made everything so easy for me and I will use it with other children as well. Resale is pretty good too.

[SevenDaisies]

It depends on the child. For a struggling reader, it is worth the price. My oldest learned to read before AAR, so she used AAS with the readers that had been released at that time. This was more than sufficient for her. Once she learned the phonograms she could read - it was that simple. My son, however, struggles to read. We are almost through AAR1, but we have moved very slowly and he still is no where near fluent. I bought AAR2 & AAR3 as soon as they were released, and at the time I questioned whether or not there was a need for them - there is - my son will need them. My youngest dd is somewhere in between and while she is enjoying the program, I can't say yet whether I will use all the levels with her, but I will definitely use all the readers.

[alisoncooks]

For us:  no, not worth the money.

 

My oldest is a struggling reader.  When we started AAR1, she was barely able to read CVC words.  We finished AAR1, she was barely able to read CVC words.  :p  Not worth the money in that situation.  

 

My youngest has gotten beyond the level of AAR1 from using just a few weeks worth of OPGTR (way less of a $ investment and we can keep using it to progress, without buying more levels).

 

That said, we are about to start AAS with my oldest... but AAR was *not* what got her reading.

 

[ByGrace3]

For us, a resounding yes. I tried starting my ds with OPGTR because it was cheaper...it was an epic fail with him in the beginning. We switched to AAR and it has been wonderful for him. He is reading amazing well and is about 2/3 through AAR 3. It was definitely worth it for us.

[swellmomma]

AAR is what got my ds10 to finally start being able to read.  Nothing else I used worked.  When I head out of town tomorrow I am hoping to get to the homeschool store and pick up level 2 for him.  DD6 had she been the one that I was planning for I likely wouldn't have gone with AAR, but it was working so great with dfs10 that I bought prelevel 1 for her and she loves it.  SHe will move into level 1 so already that level it's getting it's money worth imo.  The same will happen with levels 2-4 as ds10 finishes and she moves up through them.  It is expensive (and here in Canada it is even more so, currently $130 for level 2) but very worth it imo if you have a struggling reader or one that needs a multisensory approach.

 

[newhsmom]

We have loved it at our house.  I have two kids in AAR (pre-level and level 1).  I am amazed at how well my son can read almost any cvc word he comes across and we are only about half way through AAR 1.  As a parent, it is so nice that everything is right there and you don't have to come up with anything on your own.  I created my own reading program for my oldest before AAR was out, but this is so much easier. 

[SeaConquest]

Not when Progressive Phonics is free.

[Farrar]

My theory is that for most things you want to start cheaper and move up.  You don't really know what will work until you've tried something and had it not work (or work) and seen what you need in action.  When there are so many inexpensive resources for teaching reading, I am dubious...  not about the value of AAR per se...  but about the value of starting with it right off the bat.  I would start with Progressive Phonics, BOB books or Nora Gaydos readers, and maybe a copy of Reading Reflex or OPGTR and see how it goes before jumping in with AAR or LoE or any program with a big price tag.

[MistyMountain]

I am mixed on it and for me the jury is still out halfway through level 1. I haven't seen great improvement yet in the area my ds struggles with smooth blending and fluency in sentences. I feel like it could move just a little faster in going into the multi-letter phonograms and blending words with those and long vowels. I also feel that the fluency sheets are a bit intense for a kid who is struggling. I am giving it more time though so maybe I will find that I just needed to stick with it a little longer and it will all come together but I am not so sure.

[petepie2]

My theory is that for most things you want to start cheaper and move up.  You don't really know what will work until you've tried something and had it not work (or work) and seen what you need in action.  When there are so many inexpensive resources for teaching reading, I am dubious...  not about the value of AAR per se...  but about the value of starting with it right off the bat.  I would start with Progressive Phonics, BOB books or Nora Gaydos readers, and maybe a copy of Reading Reflex or OPGTR and see how it goes before jumping in with AAR or LoE or any program with a big price tag.

 

:iagree: This.

 

As much as I would like to do something different with my youngest DD, I've taught three of my children to read with a used copy of OPGTR. I will only look into other options like AAR if that doesn't work for her.

[Χά�ων]

I've been thinking about purchasing AAR but as terrible as it sounds, I think $100 is ridiculous just for learning to read!

If I ONLY had to spend $100 for my child to learn to read...

[emily203]

It has been worth it for us. My oldest is using AAR 1 this year as a 6 year old struggling reader and it has helped immensely. But like others have said, if you think your child will learn to read easily, I would use it. My daughter needs the hands on, slow pace, and the multiple reinforcements of each step!

[MerryAtHope]

 I also feel that the fluency sheets are a bit intense for a kid who is struggling. I am giving it more time though so maybe I will find that I just needed to stick with it a little longer and it will all come together but I am not so sure.

 

Misty, there probably are too many words on a page for him.  I would modify these to his needs (page 43 of the TM has some ideas).  Other suggestions:

 

Take a piece or two of blank paper and cover all of the words on the page except for one or two lines (whatever won’t overwhelm him to see). 

 

Use the viewfinder bookmark to read them.

 

Let him highlight each line he reads, or use a sticker to mark his progress. Some kids like to see their progress in a concrete way.

 

Take turns reading lines with him (or let a puppet, stuffed animal, or favorite toy take turns). Many kids enjoy having a “reading buddy.â€

 

Use the page for your reference only and write the words, phrases, or sentences one at a time on a white board.  When he can read one line well, try writing two lines at a time, and see how he does with that.

 

Make the words/phrases/sentences with tiles for him to read.

 

Use the word cards to make sentences (and you could use white index cards for any additional words you need to make). You can also set out a selection of cards for him to choose from to make up sentences for you (or his "reading buddy") to read! He might like that.

 

Mix up the exercises a bit more–do something from the next step and then just a bit of the fluency reading from the previous step. This will stretch the next step out a bit more, and give him a bit more fluency practice, without having the practice be all together in one chunk. Maybe he would like that variety more?

 

Use the words, phrases, and sentences to come up with a little book together that he can read.  Put one phrase or sentence on each page, and let him draw a picture, or cut and paste pictures from a magazine on each page.  My kids used to really enjoy making up little books like this.

 

For kids who like to color: take coloring pages with big spaces and write review words in blanks. When the child reads the word, they get to color that space until the picture is complete.

 

Hopefully this gives you some ideas of how you might use these.  Some children need to see a word as many as 30 times before they can read it fluently, so it’s helpful to include some kind of fluency practice.  I hope this helps! Merry :-)

[SevenDaisies]

 

Misty, there probably are too many words on a page for him. I would modify these to his needs (page 43 of the TM has some ideas). Other suggestions:

 

Take a piece or two of blank paper and cover all of the words on the page except for one or two lines (whatever won’t overwhelm him to see).

 

Use the viewfinder bookmark to read them.

 

Let him highlight each line he reads, or use a sticker to mark his progress. Some kids like to see their progress in a concrete way.

 

Take turns reading lines with him (or let a puppet, stuffed animal, or favorite toy take turns). Many kids enjoy having a “reading buddy.â€

 

Use the page for your reference only and write the words, phrases, or sentences one at a time on a white board. When he can read one line well, try writing two lines at a time, and see how he does with that.

 

Make the words/phrases/sentences with tiles for him to read.

 

Use the word cards to make sentences (and you could use white index cards for any additional words you need to make). You can also set out a selection of cards for him to choose from to make up sentences for you (or his "reading buddy") to read! He might like that.

 

Mix up the exercises a bit more–do something from the next step and then just a bit of the fluency reading from the previous step. This will stretch the next step out a bit more, and give him a bit more fluency practice, without having the practice be all together in one chunk. Maybe he would like that variety more?

 

Use the words, phrases, and sentences to come up with a little book together that he can read. Put one phrase or sentence on each page, and let him draw a picture, or cut and paste pictures from a magazine on each page. My kids used to really enjoy making up little books like this.

 

For kids who like to color: take coloring pages with big spaces and write review words in blanks. When the child reads the word, they get to color that space until the picture is complete.

 

Hopefully this gives you some ideas of how you might use these. Some children need to see a word as many as 30 times before they can read it fluently, so it’s helpful to include some kind of fluency practice. I hope this helps! Merry :-)

The fluency sheets were too much for my struggling reader until recently (3/4 of the way through level1). For a while we just skipped them, but now we work on those several lessons behind and things are going much better. We also took the tip of highlighting what he has done, and he absolutely loves this.

[ksr5377]

I bought it because everyone was raving about it.  We hardly did any of the extras because reading came very easily to both my children so far.  So for me, I think it was a waste of money.  I wish I had started with something more simple and then tried AAR if there were problems. 

[Arboreal TJ]

It's worth it's weight in gold at our house! We tried 3 other programs before biting the AAR bullet, I'd cancel my internet if necessary to afford AAR. AAR really clicked with my struggling readers and they enjoy reading now!

 

If my kids were natural readers I'd go with something more affordable...

[ForeverFamily]

So far we love AAR!  My Dd5 is a very hands on learner so the multisensory approach works really well for her.  I also love the readers.  They are just the right length with the right amount of words on a page.  She is doing very well with AAR, it is a lot less frustrating to her than OPGTR and HOP (which i used for my older daughter).  I agree that if your child is a natural reader, or doesn't need a multisensory approach than there are other great options that would be less expensive.  But this was a blessing for us.  We will continue to use this with teaching the rest of our kids how to read.

[estelleblue]

AAR has been worth it here, but I do agree with trying a less pricey option first. For my dd, we tried OPGTR, Phonics Pathways, and 100EZ, two of which we owned, and one we checked out from the library. None of these worked for her. She was bored to tears, and the words just would not stick. I had thought she may be dyslexic (she's not.). AAR has not only gotten her to read well, but also to LOVE reading. She loves the multi-sensory approach. She is my crafty kid, and this program really speaks her language but also appeals to my teaching style (I don't have to do the crafts.). I am now using level 2 for her, although she can read beyond that level, it is still great phonics instruction, and I am using Pre-level to teach ESL to my Ethiopia-born son. Hope this helps.