Ahayes Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 Can I combine AAR and the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading for a 6-year-old ELL kindergartner? I am also thinking about using the IEW PAL: Writing program. I know it is designed to accompany the PAL: Reading program (which can stand by itself). Does the PAL: writing program stand by itself? I don't want to overwhelm her in kindergartner. What else do I need if I use OPGTR and AAR besides a handwriting program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I think OPGTR and AAR together is overkill. Pick one or the other, I'd say. My kids balked at OPGTR. They love AAR. In K, we did AAR and a smidgen of handwriting (HWOT), and that's about it for language arts. I have PAL reading and writing. It was a flop at our house. An expensive flop. Mine were too young for it, which I found out after I spent HOURS assembling those (insert bad word) file folder activities. AAR was a kinder, gentler intro to reading. They are starting 1st now and are almost finished with AAR 2. In hindsight, ETC would have been a good addition to AAR for my kids. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ahayes Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 How old were your kids when you started them on PAL? Also...what is ETC? Sorry for my ignorance here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 ETC is Explode the Code. My kids were just turning 5 and starting kindergarten when we tried PAL Reading and Writing. We gave it a while but it just didn't go well. They did love the poetry memorization, though. We still know several of the poems; we learned them all even after moving to AAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I would wait until after AAR 1 before starting PAL (which uses AAS). Here's an article on the right time to start AAS. I'd just use AAR and work on handwriting. I agree that both AAR and OPGTR would be overkill--choose one or the other. HTH! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnaE Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Definitely one or the other....We really did not like AAR and switched to OPGTR. AAR was too multisensory ... I felt like the program was all grill and drill, without a focus on contextualize reading. AAR would introduce a sound, then practice words; the next day, they read in the reader. OPGTR has every single lesson sounding out words AND reading a story for reinforcement. That story everyday gave meaning for the kids. Kept them interested. Honestly I think AAR has too much fluff. Of course I had to spend a hundred bucks to come to this conclusion :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 I would do AAR or OPGTR ...not both. For kindergarten we are planning AAR and Handwriting without tears K for language studies. We will add All About Spelling and a composition writing in first grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted August 29, 2015 Share Posted August 29, 2015 Of course I had to spend a hundred bucks to come to this conclusion :/ If you ordered from their website within the last year, it's returnable. Some kids need lots different ways of practicing and reviewing; others don't :-). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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