CLE Leaning to Read OR All About Reading??

[avazquez24]

I'm having a very hard time deciding between using CLE Learning to Read or All About Reading 1 with one of my dds next school year! I used AAR for several years for my older kiddos, but it has been about 7-10 years.  We use a lot of CLE material and so for my next kiddo coming up, was planning to start CLE from the start. 

I'm  now second guessing everything and am completely torn on using CLE LTR (which I have never used.....earliest we've used is RTL 1) or AAR 1. I do remember dreading those fluency sheets though 😅.

So, looking for any input and would love to know if you'd choose CLE LTR or AAR 1? 😊

**My other kiddos will be in 11th, 10th and 6th, so they work very independently.  I currently have an 8 mo old as well though, so will need to take that into consideration**

 

 

[Servant4Christ]

I haven't used AAR, but I used CLE LTR with my Oldest and we loved it, though we've now moved on to less consumable curriculum. Just be aware that CLE language arts is where the phonics instruction continues through grade 2. Also, CLE teaches both phonics and sight words. I didn't know the OG method (like in AAR) of teaching reading even existed when I started homeschooling.

Edited June 27, 2022 by Servant4Christ

[Terabith]

All about Reading.  CLE's program is pretty heavy on sight words and handwriting.  

[Brittany1116]

We used and loved CLE LTR this year with my second child (and the first I taught to read). We did do about 60% of 100 Easy Lessons the year prior, so LTR was breezy. But no complaints and I would use it again. 

[Clarita]

So we had to start AAR 1 twice. The first time I started with my son he was 4 and it was a drag in no small part because of the fluency sheets. He could sound out all the words but every letter every word needed to be sounded out. So, we ended up taking a pause and doing more phonemic awareness, practice reading words, etc. We started AAR 1 again when he could grab an easy reader and pretty much read it on his own. then he breezed through the fluency sheets. I still felt we got a lot out of AAR 1 even though he knows more phonograms than that book covers.

I forgot who suggested it on this board (which is why I took the pause in the first place), but I feel like you have to be a little fluent before starting AAR1.   

[bensonduck]

I have used both (with the same kid, haha). LTR has a nice, defined amount of work every day that is not too much. We didn’t find the amount of writing to be too bad. There’s like circling and matching activities and coloring too, which my kid enjoyed. The word and phrase flash cards are nice and big and on quality card stock. 
 

AAR has fun games. But also fluency sheets which were very frustrating for this particular child (I had an older one breeze through AAR and enjoyed the fluency sheets so it is very kid dependent). It’s hard to know where to start and stop a lesson. There isn’t as much practice as there is with LTR. No writing. (This particular younger kid of mine seemed to need to write the words and say the sounds as he was writing to help him remember the phonics). The flash cards are not on as nice of paper and tear easily.

I do not agree with the AAR flash card system at all and I think it leads to guessing. LTR, on the other hand, just says, review the following word and phrase cards. They can sound them out as long as they need to - every day if they want - with no penalty. 
 

As a side note, my kid who used both did not really have success with either. I suspect he may be mildly dyslexic. He finally began reading fluently with a combination of ABCeDarian and the I See Sam readers.

[barnwife]

11 hours ago, bensonduck said:

I do not agree with the AAR flash card system at all and I think it leads to guessing. LTR, on the other hand, just says, review the following word and phrase cards. They can sound them out as long as they need to - every day if they want - with no penalty. 
 

I guess I must have missed someting about the AAR flashcards. While I haven't used LTR, flashcards are flashcards. I'm not understanding why ones from LTR would be better. There certainly isn't a penalty in AAR with them, at least not how we used them. I'd hold up a card, kid would read it. I'd sort them into piles based on whether he could or could not easily read it. I don't see that as a penalty; it's just me keeping track of what he knows. 

Also, we did eventually turn it into a game. "How many can you read in 1 minute?" If he hit a certain number for a certain number of days, he got extra tablet time.  Eventually though, toward the end of level 1, we gave up on the flashcards. Now that kid is in the middle of level 2, and seems to still be making progress. 

The fluency sheets are not our favorite, but he absolutely needs all of that practice/repetition. So we don't skip them. Although sometimes we turn them into a game. ("If you read this section with less than 2 mistakes, I'll hop around the table backwards. Bet you can't do that faster than me!")

13 hours ago, Clarita said:

I forgot who suggested it on this board (which is why I took the pause in the first place), but I feel like you have to be a little fluent before starting AAR1.   

I think this is true of many reading programs. This is why I don't start a formal program with any child who is unable to pretty easily read CVC words. 

Frankly, with as many kids as OP has, I'd go for cheap and easy, as long as I didn't suspect the child would have issues learning to read. I'd do random oral practice of blending CVC words until kid can do so easily. Then I'd move onto blending words from a dry erase board. I do this stage in all uppercase letters. Then I'd move on to Webster's speller and/or Progressive Phonics. If at any point, I suspected dyslexia or anything, I'd switch to AAR in a heartbeat. 

One of mine started disliking PP about halfway through but still needed a little more phonics work. OPGTR came to the rescue for him.

While I adore AAR because it is helping one of ours to become an independent reader, I really, truly think it is overkill for most kids. I have used LTR, so I can't say anything about it.