staceyobu Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 Has anyone done this? I may cross post this on the sonlight choosing forum as well, although I get nervous about posting questions over there... Some questions... 1) DD is solidly reading CVC words and is starting to read a lot more (like four letter words with a silent e). She'll be 4yrs and 10ish months when I would look at starting p4/5 (in the fall). The description in the sonlight catalog makes LA K sound behind where she is currently at (says it teaches them the alphabet and letter sounds). However, I understand it has a lot of difficult writing. Should I look at doing a different LA program so I can let her read but not keep up in writing? Would LA K be a good match for her? Too far ahead of her? Boring? She can read the first box of BOB books pretty well now. 2) Do I need the Language and Thinking book? The picture dictionary? Bingo? We already have some "letter" games. I was wondering if I should save some money and just get the LA K IG? Or if I should just get the whole package? Are these things scheduled in the LA K IG or just "extras"? 3) Is their any advantage to waiting until after Apr 1st to order? My understanding is they have already been mailing out the 2009 p4/5 due to some out of print books. Would I only be paying more after that deadline? Thanks!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 If she's blending CVC words without hesitation and has started on silent e, she's past the reading in SL K. Does she know consonant blends and digraphs? If so, she knows a lot of what's covered in SL LA 1's READING portion. SL LA 1 covers Explode the Code 1 (CVC), 2 (consonant blends and digraphs) and 3 (silent e and vowel teams). If this is your situation, I wouldn't use SL LA for now because she'll be ahead in reading but just learning to write so the LA1 copywork would overwhelm her. I would opt for individual LA elements, something like Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading and ETC if she like workbooks or computer time. Start a K handwriting program and when she's ready for more copywork, you can use First Language Lessons and Writing With Ease (or other early grammar and writing books). The way these books break up LA skills will make them much easier to use in your situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted March 28, 2009 Author Share Posted March 28, 2009 She's working on blends and digraphs now as they come up in books... she's good with th and sh but doesn't know ch. So, it's definitely something she still needs a lot of work on. Does that make sense? So, we'd do better to opt out of sonlight LA for awhile? The readers and reader schedule are separate from the LA portion, right? Should I order the readers 1 with the p4/5? Can I even do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabrett Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I purchased SL P4/5 with SL K LA and my dd was way past SL K LA. I have dropped the entire SL K LA program! I agree with the previous poster about buying individual componants. P4/5 is great. What are you using to teach your dc to read right now? It sounds like it is working. I would just keep using it and add a handwriting and math program. Mighty mind from the P3/4 program is great too. If you want more phonics use ETC 1-3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 What are you using to teach your dc to read right now? It sounds like it is working. We used starfall.com for letter sounds. Then we started playing "words" on the computer. I'd type some easy words (sad, bad, dad) and she'd read them. Now she likes for me to give her a word and she types it out. We went and bought the BOB books because she was trying to read her books to herself and they were all too hard. So, I wanted to give her something at her level. I do have a hard time explaining stuff to her sometimes, though. I never learned phonics or grammar... so I don't know any of the "rules" to teach her. But, she seems to be easily picking things up in spite of me, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petepie2 Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I'm doing p4/5 right now with my four year old. Before we started p4/5, we had already been going through OPGTR and she was reading Bob Books. I looked at the SL K Readers at a conference and they all seemed to be CVC words, which she could do pretty well. So we opted for Readers 1 and Explode the Code books 1-3. The readers do come with a schedule that includes some basic comprehension questions. It's been going very well for her and these books have been building her confidence. She's ahead in OPGTR compared to the readers (so far anyway) and so the readers have, for the most part, been a review. So, from what you have described, I would agree with the other posters that LA K would definitely be below your daughter's current reading level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I do have a hard time explaining stuff to her sometimes, though. I never learned phonics or grammar... so I don't know any of the "rules" to teach her. But, she seems to be easily picking things up in spite of me, lol. Take a look at OPGTR and Phonics Pathways. They both guide you as you teach phonics. Most libraries should have both of these so I'd take a look at them to see which one you like better. Computer words sounds like a lot of fun and you could easily adapt either OPGTR or PP to the computer instead of a whiteboard. OPGTR uses magnet tiles for spelling practice so it's not handwriting dependent at all. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabrett Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 We used starfall.com for letter sounds. Then we started playing "words" on the computer. I'd type some easy words (sad, bad, dad) and she'd read them. Now she likes for me to give her a word and she types it out. We went and bought the BOB books because she was trying to read her books to herself and they were all too hard. So, I wanted to give her something at her level. I do have a hard time explaining stuff to her sometimes, though. I never learned phonics or grammar... so I don't know any of the "rules" to teach her. But, she seems to be easily picking things up in spite of me, lol. It sounds like you might like Phonics Pathways. It is a complete phonics book and cost about $20 at Amazon. You can start in the book where your child is at. It is what I am using with my 5yo dd. I have just gone as fast as she could go and when she got stuck on a skill, we just camp out. When we have mastered the skill, we move on. They have suggested readers here. I have lots of readers and just use my own. There are no written activities for this book. There is suggested writing (spelling program), but you wouldn't do the writing unless you child was 6 or so. You don't do grammar or spelling in K. Grammar and spelling starts in 1st or 2nd grade, so don't worry about it. You can add ETC 1-3 and write in the answers she tells you with a highlighter and have her trace until she knows how to form all her letters, but ETC doesn't teach the rules in the same order. If you do ETC 1-3, 2 pages a day will make all 3 books last a school year. Have you looked at math programs? I am doing RightStart A. You might like it. It is very hands on and has little written work. SL P4/5 Phonics Pathways with a set of readers Handwriting program Math program Along with cutting, pasting, coloring, play dough, lacing, puzzles, ect... Makes a pretty complete K program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2Three Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Since your DD's reading is beyond typical K work, it makes much more sense to keep the fun K activities and use separate materials that fit her phonics/reading/writing level. SL P4/5 Phonics Pathways with a set of readers Handwriting program Math program Along with cutting, pasting, coloring, play dough, lacing, puzzles, ect... Makes a pretty complete K program. :iagree: This is basically what we are doing for DD in the fall, plus ETC and some MFW K fun activities. I looked at SL LA but my DD would have been beyond LA 1 by the fall and LA 2 would have been too much. No reason to rush it. Phonics Pathways and ETC is laying a very strong foundation for her. For ETC, there is more circling than writing and before DD could write well, I would write the letters in highlighter and let her trace over them, or just skip the writing part. For readers, I found a used set of Abeka first grade readers that we enjoy. The first one is rather easy for her, but she is building reading fluency with the extra practice, and the stories are becoming a little more complex as she moves forward (no offense to the Bob books, lol!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 I'm starting K with my 5yo (just turned on Fri.) in June. We are using P4/5 with K readers, but will be adding WRTR as our LA program. He also can read cvc words and some more complex words (silent e, th, sh, ow) as we get to them in reading. He's halfway through the Bob books and really enjoys them. I figure that we'll breeze through the K readers while still learning (including writing) the additional phonagrams from WRTR. The K readers will only be confidence boosters and added reading material (he reads to me every day, but it is hard to find material without words that are too hard). We'll also focus more on fluency as we go through them rather than just sounding out the words. Once he's got all 70 phonograms down and we start the spelling portion of WRTR, we'll order Readers 1 from Sonlight (the few we don't already have) to give him appropriate level reading material and so on from there. I hope that helps. We just have to find the right fit for our kids... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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