Easy to use reading program

[sunshineslp]

I need something that will get done. I've used logic of English but it's not doing the job anymore. It was great with one kid but now three... I find we aren't getting to it. I like it though but trees not enough reading or spelling practice.

 

I'm looking at all about reading, learn to read (CLE), spell to write to read... I'm taking suggestions! What would you use for a busy family?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[Um_2_4]

The Reading Lesson, seriously.

I used HOP for the older 2 and switched to TRL for the younger 2.

The Reading Lesson is open and go. You can add in any little readers you want to, but you don't have to. I sometimes print worksheets focusing on a word family (tons free out there).

[sunshineslp]

Thanks! What is HOP?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[Slache]

Thanks! What is HOP?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

Hooked on Phonics

[mom31257]

A mom I know with 4 kids really likes Funnix.

 

http://funnix.com

Edited April 23, 2016 by mom31257

[aufan]

I like All About Reading. I have 3 children in 3 different levels. We used OPGTR and LOE Foundations previously. AAR has lots of built in review. It is pretty open and go once you get set up at the beginning. We work for a set amount of time, mark our place and pick up there the next time we have a lesson. I wish we would have started with it instead of floundering around on other programs.

[sunshineslp]

I like All About Reading. I have 3 children in 3 different levels. We used OPGTR and LOE Foundations previously. AAR has lots of built in review. It is pretty open and go once you get set up at the beginning. We work for a set amount of time, mark our place and pick up there the next time we have a lesson. I wish we would have started with it instead of floundering around on other programs.

This is my thought. I feel like I am floundering! You feel that AAR is open and go? And easy to do with multiple kids? It's promising that you use it with 3... How much time do you spend per day per child? Do you also use AAS?

[aufan]

This is my thought. I feel like I am floundering! You feel that AAR is open and go? And easy to do with multiple kids? It's promising that you use it with 3... How much time do you spend per day per child? Do you also use AAS?

 

I do feel it is pretty open and go and has a lot of built in review. I spend about one night(two at the most) prepping all the materials when we start a new level(whether its a child moving up a level or a new level we haven't done yet). Then in the morning I review the lessons to make sure I know what we are covering that day/get out any other materials I might need. I try and save the cut out things or the stapled things from the activity book for each lesson so that when the next child uses that level I don't have to redo them. I usually do the cutting out/stapling the day of( or night before IF I remember!) Otherwise I do it when they are all doing something independent. If I was super organized I would spend about a week in the summer getting ALL of that prepped.  As far as time its about 20 minutes sometimes longer depending on how the lesson is going. I have one child that some of it is review so we don't do all the activities and we get more done/spend a little more time because there is more stamina there then some of the younger ones where 20 minutes is about all they can handle. I do try and have them do parts of the review pages in the evening to someone other then me just for practice but that doesn't always happen so we try and cover it as part of the lesson.  We do not currently use AAS although I do have the first two levels on my shelf.  It is very much a one on one program especially if you have kids on different levels but if you do it by time instead of looking at it as you have to finish a lesson a day it is much easier to get done with multiple children if that makes sense. Hope that helps!

[desertflower]

Phonics Pathways.  If you don't need all the bells and whistles, this is a good choice. 

 

I use AAS with my 3 children.  I don't use the letter tiles or file box.  So, it's open and go for me.  I just mark my page. 

[sunshineslp]

Phonics Pathways. If you don't need all the bells and whistles, this is a good choice.

 

I use AAS with my 3 children. I don't use the letter tiles or file box. So, it's open and go for me. I just mark my page.

I've wondered about this. Can you use AAS without all of the extras... You make it work... So you just use the book and have him write things out?

 

Have you ever compared AAS or AAR to RLTL or ELTL? Just curious how they compare.

[desertflower]

Yes, I just have the teacher's manual and have him write the words/phrase/sentence.  This is actually the only dictation he is getting. And I am fine with that because I just found out why we have dictation and that there is more than one way to fulfill that purpose.  If he is having a hard time with a word, I put it down in the book for the next lesson or 2 lessons over.  AAS seems to have a built in review. 

 

No sorry.  I've never compared the two. 

 

I hope you find something. 

[Vida Winter]

Reading Made Easy, by Valerie Bendt. Easy, relaxed, and enjoyable.

[MerryAtHope]

This is my thought. I feel like I am floundering! You feel that AAR is open and go? And easy to do with multiple kids? It's promising that you use it with 3... How much time do you spend per day per child? Do you also use AAS?

 

Generally you spend about 20 minutes on reading (unless you have an older student who needs more practice per day) and about 15-20 minutes on spelling. I always gauged it by my kids' attention spans--one did well with about 20, the other did better with a slightly shorter time. It's better to do shorter, daily lessons than longer lessons that don't get done daily. Here are a couple of blog posts on how much time to spend on each:

 

All About Reading--how much time

All About Spelling--how much time

 

I've wondered about this. Can you use AAS without all of the extras... You make it work... So you just use the book and have him write things out?

 

You can use AAS without the tiles if your student doesn't like them--you can use underlining to show when two or more tiles form a team, or you can demonstrate with the tiles but let your student choose to just write. I found the cards necessary for my kids--that's how you work in the review for spelling and make sure that they get as much practice as they need with the tougher concepts. (They do get review through dictation too, but the cards are how you track what is mastered and what still needs review--and they make it easy to customize to just what your kids need.) But some people come up with alternate ways of tracking for review, and some kids don't need as much review. Since you said you were looking for more spelling practice though, I'd be hesitant to cut them.

[paulasue]

I am using RLTL and it's open and go. I can't really compare since I've only used RLTL.  I've been very happy with it.

[sunshineslp]

I am using RLTL and it's open and go. I can't really compare since I've only used RLTL. I've been very happy with it.

Thanks! How long are the lessons? Do you think it's easy to do RLTL with several students in different levels?

[calihil]

I also like All About Reading. I'm using it with my 5 year old now after trying several other things with my now 7 year old when she was younger. At the time I just didn't want to spend the money but now I wish I had. It really is SO easy to do and lessons are fast and my dd is learning a lot and loves to do it every day. Is definitely recommend it and plan on using it with my other 2 kids when they're older.

[908874]

Fwiw

I love AAR. DS is doing AAR2 and DD is on Pre-AAR. Even with the early level it is 20 minutes of parent intensive time. I cannot think of anything hands off while doing this program. I suppose I could have DS copy some fluency words and DD will color the craft sheet by herself, but otherwise I'm right there one-on-one most of the time. It is open and go, but you do have to stay w the child.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[xixstar]

We also use AAR. I needed something that didn't need extra thought on my part because I was in grad school and needed open and go.

 

My kids like it, the review is helpful. You are working with them the whole time, so it does take your full attention but there is no setup or prereading prep needed, just open and go.

Edited April 24, 2016 by xixstar

[ExcitedMama]

Another vote for AAR. It is super easy to use and literally open and go. You open the teacher's book and read a script. Generally the lesson introduces a concept (one of the sounds of O, the phonogram th, etc.) then shows how to do the lesson with tiles, then has an activity on it. DS had a rocky start with AAR1 because he didn't get blending but now almost a year after he started and couldn't read cat he's doing AAR4 so I think the program is amazing. The activities are super simple and he likes cutting them out so you don't have to worry about a lot of set up. It's usually a couple of pages taken out and used simply like feeding cards to an animal or laying out a racetrack. Then there are the cards to review and fluency sheets. Once DS got blending he started reading over my shoulder in the teacher's guide what he should have been doing with the tiles so we dropped the tiles. Which is great because the lessons are super quick. In fact the lessons in AAR3 were way shorter than in AAR1. The next day's lesson is usually reading a story with the new concept. The readers are very impressive. Most readers with controlled vocab are boring and stilted but these stories are interesting and fun and have great illustrations. It's super easy to speed up or slow down. In AAR1 we often broke up a single lesson over a couple of days if he needed time with it and the fluency sheets could take days then. Once it clicked everything went way faster. I think our lessons are less than 15 minutes a day now but we're probably closer to 20 in the earlier levels if it was a teaching a lesson and then less if he was going over cards and working his way through the fluency sheet. It would be very easy to reuse again with your younger children too. You would only need to get them their own activity book if they would be interested in the activity parts.

 

AAS is even simpler. Since DS doesn't like or need the tiles our lessons are pretty quick. Open the book to the lesson and go over the concept like adding E for silent E words, they recommend doing with tiles but I just have DS write them out. Then they have the words on cards to spell which I have DS write out. Generally I stop him there and the next day he does the short phrases from the lesson (like "hate kisses" or "broken robot" so very short) and then the next time we will do the sentences which are pretty short and simple too and that completes the lesson. I make note of words he gets wrong and I have him keep practicing them at the beginning of his lesson over however many days it might be until he knows them. I think spelling is probably done easily in 10 minutes. It's the perfect length for handwriting practice.

 

Have you tried the samples? I think there are lengthy samples of AAR which might give you a better feel for it.

Edited April 24, 2016 by ExcitedMama

[sunshineslp]

I am very interested in AAR and AAS... it seems i keep getting conflicting opinions on it being easy to use vs difficulty with so many parts and pieces... people say they left it due to it taking so much time and feeling like it was just too many pieces.  so you all are saying AAR/AAS can in fact be simplified? 

[ExcitedMama]

It's just a teacher's book for AAS, and AAR also has an activity book plus the two books to read from. Both recommend the tiles. Both have small cards with words that you will rotate through as they learn them but they are easily kept in small boxes. Personally I don't think it has too many parts. With AAR the activity book is perforated and you tear out the pages as you go. For example it might have a couple of pages for the activity which DS cuts out and a fluency page. If your kids like the tiles and they help them learn then that would be the only real part to keep track of. I just used a small magnetic white board for ours.

 

It sounds complicated but it's really super simple. Like on lesson day we just sit down with the books and card box and see what we are doing. No prep at all. In the beginning I would have brought over the tiles too. On story day we just sit on the couch together with the books. Inevitably I always forget to grab the card box cause we're sitting on the couch so I just show him the cards afterwards. I think you could start doing some of your kids together and then just break them off as needed if they're pacing is different. For example your preschoolers could have their own boxes where you kept track of which words they were working on. AAR sells boxes but you can also just use a small box meant for index cards. If you wanted to do AAS with your older two they recommend starting at 1 so they might start together but your older might move faster so you could just get different boxes for the cards and a separate bookmark for each child to know where they are in the book.

 

I'm a newbie homeschooler so I like simple and easy! I like ELTL but I actively avoided any reading program with those phonetic markings which I still have no idea how to read, which I know is in one of those reading programs (RLTL?). I think math is annoying because of all those books to lug out but AAR/AAS is super simple. Lessons are short and it's truly amazing what can be accomplished in just 15 mins. a day. I really agonized over how to teach reading, and it's really the only thing I now feel comfortable answering questions on, so ask away if you have any other questions on it.

Edited April 24, 2016 by ExcitedMama

[paulasue]

Thanks! How long are the lessons? Do you think it's easy to do RLTL with several students in different levels?

 

I only have one kid, but he's a full of energy boy, so we don't take long for the lessons.  I never have timed it, but probably no more than 20 minutes, depending on his mood.  I literally open the book to the next spelling list, or we do the reading.  I don't schedule anything, I am a just do the next lesson person. 

[MerryAtHope]

I also like All About Reading. I'm using it with my 5 year old now after trying several other things with my now 7 year old when she was younger. At the time I just didn't want to spend the money but now I wish I had. It really is SO easy to do and lessons are fast and my dd is learning a lot and loves to do it every day. Is definitely recommend it and plan on using it with my other 2 kids when they're older.

 

I was just reading your other thread--you could start your older one who isn't reading fluently yet. AAR has placement tests, so you would place her at a point where she either has to work to sound out the words, or where she has something new to learn. She wouldn't have to start at level 1 (unless she needs work at that level).

[Meadowlark]

This is my thought. I feel like I am floundering! You feel that AAR is open and go? And easy to do with multiple kids? It's promising that you use it with 3... How much time do you spend per day per child? Do you also use AAS?

I also love AAR and will never use anything else. I'm a former reading teacher, and I think this has just got to be one of the best programs out there. Is it doable? YES! I'll eventually be doing 3 different levels, but I will make it work because it's just that good. Here's a tip though-don't have your child color or consume the workbook. Instead, over the summer, rip out all of the pages and put them into page protectors in a giant binder. Cut out everything and do all of the prep work. It's literally open and go. Every night, I just pull out the binder and put the page protector in the book where the lesson is. That's it! Teaching it does require 1:1 around here, so that's the only thing but I imagine that'd be the case with any program. HTH!

[FO4UR]

Happy Phonics. 

 

Check the lulu link in my siggie.  I'm still in process writing the 1st grade level, but my Treadwell Companions are designed to be efficient and thorough.

 

Dancing Bears Reading is another good option.

 

 

With your age spread, you will need to keep each lesson short and sweet and/or combine.  You can combine kids with the games in Happy Phonics. I highly recommend that you try that.

[tm919]

I like both The Reading Lesson and AAR.

 

The Reading Lesson has some annoying aspects (e.g., taught the first 2 sounds of A, then introduced a word that has the third sound with no guidance), but it's fast,  its cheap, and the sample is online. I do think this mostly works if your child can intuit a lot of the rules/words that aren't taught in TRL. If they can't (like my younger daughter), they may hit a roadblock -- especially with words they need to break into syllables properly to sound out. Then you'll have the problem of whether you (a) teach it all through spelling, which takes an AGE or (b) do another program.

 

With my younger daughter, I did The reading lesson then moved to AAR. I don't regret it. She learned to read to second grade level on TRL, and gets to enjoy reading on the long journey through AAR. With AAR it teaches everything completely, but it's not a quick road.

Edited April 24, 2016 by tm919

[sunshineslp]

You guys are SO helpful. Love it! I'm down to AAR/AAS or RLTL. I guess I need to go by trial and error and just buy one because I honestly have looked at all the samples and I like that RLTL seems like a combo of AAR and AAS and might seem more straight forward. But I also like the tried and trueness of AAR/AAS and how thorough it is. Maybe that's a topic for a new post, but do you guys have any parting opinions on whether you'd pick AAR or RLTL?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[MotherGoose]

It appears you have already gotten lots of great advice, I'm just throwing it in that I like Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  It's one teacher's manual and nothing else.  I used it all the way with my oldest, who was a natural reader, and have picked it up again with my youngest, after doing some AAR and CLE (that child needed some more review and also liked the games/workbook aspect--oldest hated that part, and she was 4 when she started reading and had no patience for much of anything).  It may be that some of your kids will move faster and OPGTR will do the trick.  Youngest now is fine with OPGTR and is doing Spelling Work Out for Spelling, and CLE just for grammar.  

[sunshineslp]

Is it easy to follow? Or does it work like 100 EZ? I hate the layout of that book for some reason! So confusing! Is OPGTR a simple layout to follow?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[MotherGoose]

OPTGR is super easy!  No prep.  And I went with it versus 100Ez because I didn't like the font craziness of 100 EZ.  You could have 4 book marks, open it to the correct page for each child, and begin.  I found that at some points each child became a little hung up and needed review, but we could go do that and come back to the place where we were and continue.  

[MotherGoose]

Here's a sample http://www.welltrainedmind.com/the-ordinary-parents-guide-to-teaching-reading/

 

 

[sunshineslp]

So does OPGTR teach the broad vowels? Like /a/ in father?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[MotherGoose]

That I'm not sure about.  I don't remember it, and I don't see it on a quick flip through.  However, both of mine can read the word and probably spell it. :)

[ReadingMama1214]

I am not sure if OPGTR does specifically teach the /a/ as in father, but it is open and go. And the format is not the same as 100EZ. We don't use the magnet tiles she suggests. I made my own tiles from foam board. But my daughter wasn't interested in them and would rather write.

 

I do sometimes write our lessons in a notebook instead of out of the book. It takes a few minutes to do and isn't necessary. It just cuts down on clutter. It has been effective for us. It's not fun and games, but it's easy to add those. I use Pinterest or google to find games that I can easily make or print to reinforce concepts. I love it. And the price can't be beat!

[xixstar]

I tried OPGTR first and found it too dull for me and just not enough. Yes, you can make it more but at the time I had no mental energy to make it more. My dd did fine with OPGTR but really lit up and enjoyed AAR far more.