Last week was an exciting week for Stella. She began her very-own reading program: All About Reading!
I taught my oldest daughter, Mira, to read using a rather piece-meal approach; it wasn’t structured but it worked. Mira, now at age 5, is a phenomenal reader and can easily tackle books like Pippi Longstocking and Ramona Quimby with minimal assistance.
With Mira I never have to give too much thought to “how” I’m going to teach; it just happens. But my 3.5 year old, Stella, is a different matter entirely. I realized awhile ago that Stella’s learning style will be completely different than her older sister’s, and instead of panicking about it I have learned to embrace it. It’s part of what makes homeschooling so cool- this personalized and individualized approach for each child, and it keeps me on my toes as their teacher. There’s never a dull moment here.
I have been happily using All About Spelling with Mira for a year now and love it. The simple pick-up-and-go lessons, the fun interactive tools to enhance understanding, and the easily-adaptable curriculum all stand to make AAS a truly stellar program. And last year they released their newest program, All About Reading. So when Stella asked when she would learn how to read like her sister, I knew right where I wanted to go.
All About Reading Pre-level deluxe package
After Stella’s package was delivered I carefully hid it from her sight and used that night to prepare her box and laminate some of her alpha cards. (Laminating is not a necessary step but I’m a self professed laminataholic.) I chose to begin Stella on AAR’s Deluxe PreReading Level (pictured above) which is geared for preschoolers or kindergartners and lays the foundation for strong pre-reading skills and includes activities on things such as letter sounds and syllabication.
This past Monday Stella had her first “official” day of reading. I made a big production of introducing her to her new material, and of course, big sister Mira was nearby to share in the momentous occasion. Stella was very excited to get her very own “choo work”!
Look at that happy smile!
Before beginning our first lesson, I took some time to allow Stella to look over her new materials. The black and white illustrations of their books and cards immediately captured my girls’ attention and they responded with lots of “awws”. The simplicity of the artwork lends a vintage feel to the curriculum that was instantly appealing to me. No overkill on color or images here. Just the perfect amount of detail to capture your child’s interest without extraneous fluff.
Stella became engrossed in her new Zig Zag Zebra book and asked if she could read it. She flipped the book page by page “reading” as she went. I loved her enthusiasm but was itching to start a lesson with her.
After ten minutes of Stella’s self-directed reading I could feel myself getting impatient and I asked her if she wanted to start her lesson so I could teach her how to read.
She looked up at me sweetly and said, “but Mommy, I am reading”, and she continued to move her finger across the page and tell imaginative stories related to each picture.
I had to laugh at my folly. Imagine! Trying to interrupt my daughter from her enthusiastic, unprompted reading so I could teach her to read!
I shut my mouth and enjoyed her enjoyment of the book. A good homeschooling mom knows when to throw planned schedules and preconceived activities out the window…
So Mira and I settled back and listened to Stella’s excitement. Around the third retelling of the story, Mira jumped on a brief pause in Stella’s narration to introduce the Ziggy puppet.
There’s nothing like a cuddly zebra puppet to increase the allure of a lesson.
Our lesson began with Stella getting a chance to look over her (newly laminated) alphabet cards. Stella already knows her alphabet and most of the letter sounds so she immediately worked her way through the alphabet to her favorite letter- P.
And oh sweet joy! The letter P is a PIG! (Currently Stella’s favorite animal.)
Yes, this is photo of Stella kissing her pig card.
Once our “official” lesson started it took us all of 15 minutes. But the amount of quality fun and engaged learning time was timeless.
There were plenty of smiles all around.
-Initial Review of All About Reading’s Pre-Reading Level 1-
PROS
- After having completed our first week of lessons, and having had time to review future ones, I can confidently say that all of the features I love about the All About Spelling program are included in the All About Reading curriculum: easy to use materials, scripted lessons that can easily be tweaked if needed, and minimal prep and planning required. In fact the “play-based learning” feeling is more readily apparent in AAR as it is geared for younger children. The added features, like the plush zebra puppet, are not necessarily a requirement but go a long way in further engaging the child. It’s amazing how much more of a dedicated focus my children give to Ziggy than they do to me….
THINGS TO CONSIDER
- Price. In today’s economy every penny counts. $120 for AAR’s deluxe package might be enough to deter some people. And in all truth and honesty, similar activities and lessons can be compiled by searching the internet for next to nothing. For me though, time is precious and one of my most valuable resources. Raising and educating my three daughters will require a constant weighing and balancing of resources against my time. In that regard, having a ready-made curriculum with perfectly proportioned lessons is priceless. I can save myself countless hours researching online and hunting down activity ideas for more important things- like listening to my 3.5 year old “read” to me for extended periods of time.
For parents trying to be frugal there are some alternative routes you can take:
- You can skip the Deluxe package and go with their basic version. It doesn’t include all the bells and whistles but will still lead your child to the same result.
- Use one of your child’s favorite stuffed animals in place of Ziggy the Zebra (or pick up a cheap new doll at a dollar store.)
- Make a sound recording of yourself or family member reading the included books in lieu purchasing the CDs.
So all in all- my initial review of AAR is pretty darn positive. But then again, I was already a fan of their All About Spelling program and the similarities are there. I love the fact that after Stella completes All About Reading we’ll be able to seamlessly move into our All About Spelling program.
A good resource makes the homeschooling heart happy.
I’ll be posting more of Stella’s progress with AAR, so be sure to check back often and let me know how AAR is working for you.
Update: More AAR posts here.
