CactusPair Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Hi! My kindy student is 6. I'm looking for an interactive, solid phonics program that doesn't involve a lot of pencil work or too much *conspicuous* drill. I like "drill" and basic, orderly presentation. This kid, however, does NOT. Eyes glaze over, attention goes out the window.... What could be simple and easy becomes arduous for both of us. I'm hoping to find a program that seems relevant to the child's world and interests, and provides pertinent games, activities, and interaction (without too much fluff). I've concluded that this is how my student learns best, so it's time for a revamp. : ) Is there a program that teaches reading through phonics without the kids realizing they're actually "being taught"? lol. I took a brief look at Veritas Press Phonics Museum. It sounded good at first, but the early reader books seem frustrating and stilted so I nixed it. Does anyone have feedback about AAR? Much appreciation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 (edited) AAR has no writing and allows you to customize the review, so you only do as much "drill" as he really needs. (And when he does need it, there are ways to make it more game-like too). AAR has some built-in review by teaching through tile activities, then reviews through activity pages, fluency pages, readers, and word cards. This post on the difference between AAR and AAS does a nice job of showing how a lesson works and the components included--maybe that would help you decide whether AAR would work for your son? And here's the placement info to see where he would start. Edited February 5, 2016 by MerryAtHope 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCF612 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 I think AAR fits the bill for you. Like MerryAtHope said, you can make the "drill" part fun with games. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReadingMama1214 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Also, if you go with all about reading you can get the Ziggy the Zebra interactive kit and it has more games your kid might like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusyMom5 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 You can also get the LOE phonogram cards and games book- lots of ideas for learning phonograms without them even knowing it. Play Go Fish or Old Maid w/ phonogram cards ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CactusPair Posted February 5, 2016 Author Share Posted February 5, 2016 Oh, this does sound just right!!! Thank you for all the helpful replies and suggestions! Definitely think my student will like the extra game ideas. Great tip! I didn't know about Ziggy the Zebra until after I made this post and looked at the AAR/AAS website. This puppet may be the just the ticket for us!! Good fit for my kindy's personality. I'm looking forward to moving ahead with this now. Happiness and appreciation!!! : ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReadingMama1214 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 Oh, this does sound just right!!! Thank you for all the helpful replies and suggestions! Definitely think my student will like the extra game ideas. Great tip! I didn't know about Ziggy the Zebra until after I made this post and looked at the AAR/AAS website. This puppet may be the just the ticket for us!! Good fit for my kindy's personality. I'm looking forward to moving ahead with this now. Happiness and appreciation!!! : ) We did AAR PreReading which is designed to be used with Ziggy. My daughter loved him so much she even took him to bed with her! We now do Ordinary Parents Guide, but do still use Ziggy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
908874 Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 (edited) I've been using AAR1 with my K son and I really like the program. I like it enough that I got the pre-reading one to use with my DD. The improvement I've seen on my K child in only a month is amazing. Are you looking for something that is open and go and doesn't need a lot of prep to integrate a playful atmosphere? The curriculum integrates games. The little flipper books are like a manipulative and my son likes the novelty. There are lessons where you just read to your child or the child reads a story or two. My son even likes the letter tiles, that I know aren't always popular. But AAR1 has a lot of fluency pages. In my opinion those are drill and they feel like drill. They are one of the reasons the program has been so successful for us so far. This probably varies from child to child as well (the need for fluency pages I mean). These pages are lists of words. You would have to come up with ways to make them more appealing. I'm saying this because during our sit-down school time I like my curriculum to be open and go with little prep. I would have to prep to make reading all those words into a game. The AAR website has a blog that is very useful. I've seen posts with ideas and so on. But that's the thing - you have to research or come up with your own system on how to do that. I was not sure from your post if you wanted something that is play based most of the time. If you are ok with having to come up with a few activities then yes - this would be close to what you are looking for. I am not sure which level you need. So I'll add another note. I haven't done the pre-reading AAR yet. But I've looked through it. That program is a lot more playful than AAR1 or AAR2. Edited February 5, 2016 by 908874 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CactusPair Posted February 6, 2016 Author Share Posted February 6, 2016 Thanks again for ALL the feedback, ideas, and links. This thread helped me make an informed decision about a product with which I wasn't previously familiar. I ordered today (deluxe package)! I'm breathing easy and feeling better about our endeavors now. Whew! Appreciation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcitedMama Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Cactus just saw your post so it's a little late but what level are you starting with? AAR1? I ask because I love love AAR but even though we did the pre-reading level it was a rocky couple of weeks when we transitioned to AAR1. 908874 gave you great advice above so I would just caution you to be gentle with the fluency sheets in the beginning. They were very upsetting on sight for my DS. Something about all those words and no white space was very upsetting to him. You might not have an issue but I just wanted to warn you in case it was a problem. We did the first couple of weeks with AAR1 very slowly with the lessons broken up over days. He hated those sheets but I made sure he read every word once before moving on to the next lesson. I just folded up the sheet so it was less overwhelming to him and broke it up over days. Some days we were just doing the cards and part of the sheet and it was going so sllloooowlllyyy. The sticker was a great motivator to get him wanting to do more to finish the step. For some reason DS had no problem with the sheets when there were sentences but was very bothered by the crowded look of just words. Again I can't say enough about how much I love AAR and I always recommend it but in case you do have a rocky start with it don't freak out! Come back and post here and also the AAR forum and you will get great tips on how to move forward. I still can't believe that in about a year my DS who couldn't sound anything out will be moving in to AAR4 soon and is reading everything in sight. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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