jmjs4 Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) nm Edited September 20, 2017 by jmjs4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 :grouphug: BTDT 1. Are you saying they cannot yet read at all, or they are struggling in certain areas or...? If your almost second grader isn't reading yet, I would be concerned that there is something else tripping them up besides just switching a program mid-year. Why are you 100% certain they don't have dyslexia? 2. That being said, I wouldn't panic over children that young being a bit behind in reading. There is still plenty of time, even if it turned out they had a learning challenge with regards to learning to read. 3. With regards to the Sunday School class, is there a way you could talk to the teacher and ask for them to provide you with what will be read a week in advance? You could pre-read with your children. I was a Sunday School teacher and I have kids that struggled to learn to read so I have seen this from both sides. Talk to the SS teacher. See how you might be able to help the situation while you work on how to approach reading at home. 4. Some kids are not easy to teach phonics to, so if you are looking for a fun way to teach phonics to children that don't rapidly pick up phonics you may not ever find anything. I agree, start AAR1 at the lesson you left off on (but you may need to give a refresher) and commit to sticking it out. They are old enough now that things may start to click more smoothly and you might be able to pick up the pace further down the road. 5. Reading fluency and decoding skills are based on critical foundational skills. Sometimes those skills get picked up intuitively by children and sometimes it takes some systematic instruction and sometimes it takes intense systematic instruction and practice. Don't focus on the levels and thinking "behind" or "ahead" but think of this as critical foundational skills that your kids seem to need more targeted instruction and practice to internalize. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjs4 Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) nm........ Edited September 20, 2017 by jmjs4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 *hug* Don't beat yourself up for switching. I am sure there was something your gut was telling you about those methods that just wasn't working for your family. I am sure if you hopped back over to AAR and stuck it out they would get the skills they needed or Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is straightforward and easy to teach. My personal preference for phonics though is A beka Language arts 1. The lessons take about 15 min per child and their are 2 workbook pages per day to reinforce the lesson along with the readers. It works like nothing I have ever used. Every one of my children (with varying learning challenges from ADHD to ASD, hearing loss and everything in between) has learned to read with this program. They all continually test above grade level in reading and I give all the credit to the program. If you feel you need to do a full switch to something else then I might give it a try. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 They can both easily reading cvc words, beginning and ending blends, and they know a few sight words (the, a, I, so, for, etc). Then it sounds like they are making progress. Maybe just slower than you had expected. Hang in there. Go back to AAR or try another program but I agree, stick it out for a year, whatever you choose, then reevaluate. FWIW, phonics can be a HUGE drag to teach with some kids (and sometimes it is the kids and sometimes it is me as the teacher that has been the one that struggled). I found that keeping lessons short, doing them first thing in the morning so we got the unfun stuff out of the way, following it up every time with something they did think was fun and were looking forward to, really helped us all get through. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjs4 Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) nm........ Edited June 28, 2017 by jmjs4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syllieann Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I am surprised you only made it through loe a. How much time did you spend on phonics each day? If you worked on it consistently, then it seems like there might be some sort of learning issue going on. If not, then the commitment to put in the time and effort will probably prove far more important than which program you use. If you did not put in the time, then I would go to opgtr and commit to spending an hour a day with the 2nd grader (maybe 3 sessions of 20 minutes per day) and maybe 45 a day with the 1st grader (3 sessions of 15 minutes). If there are learning issues, then opgtr might not be the best choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReadingMama1214 Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 We used OPGTR after doing the pre level of AAR. It was incredibly effective especially if you're kiddos don't need all of the games. And it goes to a 4th grade level so you can't beat the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjs4 Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 I am surprised you only made it through loe a. How much time did you spend on phonics each day? If you worked on it consistently, then it seems like there might be some sort of learning issue going on. If not, then the commitment to put in the time and effort will probably prove far more important than which program you use. If you did not put in the time, then I would go to opgtr and commit to spending an hour a day with the 2nd grader (maybe 3 sessions of 20 minutes per day) and maybe 45 a day with the 1st grader (3 sessions of 15 minutes). If there are learning issues, then opgtr might not be the best choice. :/. They started the year in public school, so we got a late start. We got to lesson 12 of AAR 1, and many of those lessons had to be split up into two days. We switched to LOE in March, and got through it in two months. In the beginning we did two lessons of LOE a day, and then when we got to the spelling lists we did one lesson a day. I am committed, and we did phonics/reading daily. I switched to LOE because I heard so many raving reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) Your younger one (just finishing K, right?) is not behind, and the older one will make faster progress anyway as you keep moving along. You might want to get something simple like Phonics Pathways or OPGTR and just keep at it. Five minutes a day with each kid, plus continuing to read aloud and let them check out library books, and you should get a breakthrough soon--especially if you keep it up 5 or 6 days a week even through the summer. (ETA: I liked LOE B and C, and used them when DS got to parts of PP that were too much for him, but didn't think A was worthwhile.) Edited June 28, 2017 by whitehawk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I'd just do OPGTR or order a copy of Phonics Pathways and commit to doing it each day, including Saturday. I like PP over OPGTR because I prefer the non-scripted format. And it's easy to customize to your child each day because there aren't set lessons. If they're struggling one day, do 5 minutes worth, which might be a portion of a page. If they're doing well, do 20 minutes, and this might mean flying through 5-6 pages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExcitedMama Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 I love AAR, it's a great program that can be tailored to individual children and will teach them to read very systematically. It's tricky at the beginning because it teaches in a very different order than most programs so a lot of the beginner books aren't really accessible until AAR2 but if you stick with it they will be confident readers. We started very slowly with AAR1 and broke up the lessons up over several days. When it finally really clicked and his reading stamina took off we went much faster. He finished 1-3 in K and 4 as he was starting 1st. He started 1 without being able to read CVC blends. It's the kind program that's easy to slow down or speed up. After AAR1 they recommend AAS which will help cement phonics rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syllieann Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 :/. They started the year in public school, so we got a late start. We got to lesson 12 of AAR 1, and many of those lessons had to be split up into two days. We switched to LOE in March, and got through it in two months. In the beginning we did two lessons of LOE a day, and then when we got to the spelling lists we did one lesson a day. I am committed, and we did phonics/reading daily. I switched to LOE because I heard so many raving reviews. In that case, I would do OPGTR, moving at whatever speed they are able. They will probably be able to make up the time pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) Your second grader could watch through my online phonics lessons this summer, any that are over 20 minutes split into 2 parts. Then, OPG or PP are both easy to accelerate through, or for free, Word Mastery, OPG and PP go to a 4th grade level, Word Mastery to a 3rd grade level. You could also try my syllables spell success, a fun way to quickly go through the phonics basics and get a start on Webster. http://www.thephonicspage.org/Phonics%20Lsns/phonicslsnslinks.html http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/syllablesspellsu.html Edited June 28, 2017 by ElizabethB 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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