Thoughts on PAL?

[amyc78]

I am still researching reading programs for my K-er next year, this week I'm looking at PAL. I read Cathy Duffy's review but I'm looking for some real life opinions… What did you like/not like about it? Did your child like it? What did a typical kindergarten lesson look like? Did you do the Reading and the Writing programs? Any other thoughts or opinions is appreciated!

 

[~Victoria~]

We VERY GENTLY started the reading portion when N was in prek and completed it this year in kinder, but never did the writing (we started using AAS 1 at about lesson 50ish).  I loved it at first, then saw a friend's All About Reading program and was distracted by the pretty-ness of it :)  I was going to switch to AAR.  Then I tested N and he already knew many parts from AAR 1-3, it seemed that all the topics covered in PAL Reading were spread over 4 years of AAR.  So I stuck with PAL, it wasn't a struggle to complete, and N is reading beginner books very well (he will be 6 in August).  I am happy with it and am keeping it to use with my other son.  Whenever we began using AAS, it was almost a review for the first 15 or so lessons because the rules had been covered well already. 

So I recommend it.  No fluff, no color (but you can add that), good content.

[Guest]

We have only used the PAL Writing Teacher's Manual but I love it. I better preface this by saying that our first time through, we just did the IEW writing portions. When my ds did it, he was in 2nd grade, and he was a little advanced for the first half, which is a lot of forming letters. But, I'll be using it next year with my dd in 2nd, and it will be perfect for her - she'll do the whole writing book except for the AAS. I absolutely LOVED it as an intro to IEW. I am not sure how the PAL program is structured as a whole, (we got the writing book from my sister-in-law who wasn't using it, so I hadn't researched it prior) but I wouldn't use the writing book with a K'er. The first part of it (which would be fine) is forming letters, and I will use that as a review. But, the book introduces a lot of terms and parts of speech, and there was a decent amount of writing in it. I don't use AAS, so I'm not sure how those lesson plans coordinate with the rest of the program, but I think the writing portion is ideal for an average 2nd grader, or to begin with an above average first grader who you want to begin a structured writing program, with plans to complete in 2nd. I thought I read somewhere that the entire PAL program was supposed to be stretched out over 2-3 years? Am I off on that? If that's the case, I think it's right on. If you plan to continue on with IEW, it's such a good introduction to the program. I really believe that my son has had such a great year this year with IEW in 3rd because we both went through the PAL writing book first.