Primary Arts of Language or All About Reading?

[Naxi]

Has anyone used both of these programmes? I am trying to decide which one to go with for my DS2.

I hear lots of praise for both, but is there anything that you don't like about them?

My DS1 "learnt to read" at school, before we started homeschooling. I have used AAS with him, and it seems to be a good programme for us, which is why I am looking at AAR.

What I like about AAR:
The materials are familiar
I like the look of the readers
It slots well into AAS, which we plan to continue using
It goes for several years - I am considering using higher levels with my DS1 to improve his confidence

What I like about IEW PAL:
I think the letter farm would be good for the way my DS2 learns
I like the integrated writing programme

I don't like that their materials seem very confusing to navigate on the website. I am also concerned that the continuation of the writing programme is very expensive.

Please, what have been your experiences?

Natalie

[Starfox]

We started ds1 last week and loooove it. My DS was really struggling with reading and he is having success!!!

It is really easy to follow and do.

[Naxi]

Which programme was that, Suzi?

[4thekids]

AAR got my 7 yo son to enjoy reading. We're about half way through level one and he's started to just pick up books and read and sound things out. He's still a very basic reader but that's a LOT better than he was at the beginning of the year.

[ECingMama]

I'm not super impressed with All About Reading. : bag. I might like it better when she gets to level two. The readers are pretty. You can return it if you do not like it. My DD likes the activities.

[Starfox]

Originally Posted by Naxi

Which programme was that, Suzi?

AAR. it autocorrected to ds1's name.

[heartofjoy]

I like PAL. The hardest part about it is that it's kind of time consuming. If you want to spend most of your homeschooling time on reading, it's great. Interesting and full of different activities. If you are also trying to do a full science and history program, something like Sonlight, then it might be too much. It's also probably too much for a kid that is going to pick up reading quickly. Some kids learn with a simple method like teach you child to read in 100 easy lessons. That's way faster!

I've only done the pre level of All About Reading. It's simple, and ended up being too simple for my son. He was ready to move on before we were a third of the way through it. It seems more expensive than PAL. I think PAL gives you more teaching ideas for a lower price than AAR. However, you have to spend more time implementing those ideas.

I think PAL is a thorough program that will succeed with most kids. If you choose it, be aware that you can modify it to fit your needs. It can be overwhelming to do everything that is suggested.

The website doesn't offer a clear explanation of it, so I'll give you a look at a day with PAL. The ig lays out every day for you, so it's easy to follow.

Journal - mom writes a journal entry. Child can help or read a word or two. You can look offer past entries and point out helpers. Helpers are letter combinations that form certain sounds.

Poetry - go over a poem. Find helpers in the poem. Talk about different grammar or literary elements as per the ig.

Writing - do a handwriting page

Writing - listen to a story and practice narration (I never did this)

Phonics - introduce new words and their helpers using flash cards you make yourself, go over old flashcards

Games- play file folder games, sometimes you introduce new games and sometimes you are just repeating games

Worksheets - one activity sheet (cut, paste, color) that child must use his new words to complete

Phonics farm - put new stickers on the phonics farm for the helpers taught in the lesson, go over all the previous helpers

Reading sentences - a page of sentences that the child marks the helpers in the words and then reads, eventually there are books to print and read

Activity time - we rarely did this but you are supposed to start activity time where the child has a list of things to do that he can read himself using words he's learned. Things like coloring, puzzles, chores, the activity page, sentences, etc. This is helpful if you need a young child occupied during school hours.

It also recommended a second teaching time later in the day where you go over the phonics farm again.

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[Naxi]

Wow, Desiree! That is a lot of LA each day, especially for multiple children. Do you need to do everything every day? Or can you spread the work out to reinforce it over several days? I just know my DS will have trouble concentrating for more than 5 minutes at a time (unless it is on something really useful, like how to climb out his bedroom window... )

I can't help thinking that AAR would be best for my DS1, but PAL for my DS2. Oh dear.

Sometimes I wish that there was only one way to do this and one perfect set of materials that fit everyone!

[heartofjoy]

You can slow it down as much as needed! It's very flexible and easy to drop parts or take more time to do certain parts. My son who was 6 paid much less attention than my dd who was 8. She was behind in reading and it was excellent for her. I was willing to put in the time because she needed it. My son ended up doing it with us for a few weeks and then I dropped it with him because he was balking at doing the lessons. I switched him over to just Explode the Code books and readers.

PAL is a 1-3 grade program, and you would use it simultaneously with all kids, so no repeating everything multiple times. It's not a mastery program, so it wouldn't matter if one kid was getting it faster than the other. You would do all the steps with everyone.

Also, you would definitely not have to transition to IEW for writing just because you did PAL. PAL sets a good foundation for any writing program.

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