All About Reading, You have been a treasure!!

It’s time, it’s time for an All About Reading post. We have started our 3rd level with this amazing curriculum that I felt the need to write a little bit about it and why it might just be what you are looking for!

A few years ago, I felt intimidated by the thought of teaching my oldest to read. I love to read, yet teaching someone to read felt scary. My husband, the school teacher, stressed the importance of teaching our children to read and comprehend well. Daily he sees the struggle of illiterate students at the high school level. Daily he sees how this effects e.v.e.r.y area of that students success in school. Teaching a child to read well is so important!!

How many sounds does the letter A make and why does the letter O sometimes say one sound, and in another word say a different sound i.e. broken vs. cot. And wait a minute…why does the letter E say three different sounds in the word -remember. Teaching my child to read by sight words was NOT an option, I needed a phonics program! Too many kids fall behind in reading by 3rd grade using the sight word method. They were not taught how to decode new words they encounter, ya know, the ones not on the list of sight words they’ve memorized. That said, I absolutely believe some kids can thrive using sight words and so I’m not here to argue that. Most likely those kids would thrive in reading no matter.

Meet, All About Reading!!

At first sight the price tag made me question whether this was affordable for our family. However, after I have used the pre-reading + 4 levels of this program with all 4 kids, it comes out to be about $35 per level per child. I hope I did that math right, one handed, while nursing a newborn. I am already using this curriculum with our second born, so yes, this curriculum IS being used again. On a similar note, homeschoolers don’t make these memes for nothin’!

There are plenty of phonics based curriculums out there, quite a few Teach Your Child to Read in so many lessons books, at a fraction of the cost. (Please feel free to step away from this post if what YOU are using to teach reading is working!) So what sets All About Reading a part? In my humble opinion, quite a few things. So let’s dig in.

Pros:

The teacher guide takes you step by step from the phonograms to breaking down words into syllables and applying phonics rules. Re-mem-ber. Open syllable, closed syllable, the sound of ER. It’s all there! By the end of Level 4, your child will be able to decode high school level words, that means around 3rd grade!
Multi-sensory, this program utilizes visual, auditory, and kinesthetic pathways of learning. Over and over I see the benefits of my son standing on a stool and working at the white board I have pictured above. This works best for my son when decoding multi-syllable words. He has a harder time seeing where to ‘splice’ words in black and white on paper. All About Reading tiles take the struggle out of decoding multi-syllable words. That’s a win!
Decodable Readers, Decodable Readers, Decodable Readers! Every single word they encounter in the readers will be decodable. A story utilizing a new phonics rule is introduced after a lesson that taught the rule. They are funny, enjoyable readers!! Success in reading! Read the link about the Matthew Effect below.
Non-consumable! (If you re-use the activity guides).
Adaptable for a struggling child or an advanced child!
Teaching takes just 20 minutes a day!

Cons:

Upfront cost $$
For some, this curriculum can seem behind compared to public school peers in the beginning. All About Reading is sequential, incremental, and mastery based. No list of high frequency words will be handed out to be memorized. Therefore, your child may not know how to read the same words as his public schooled peers in the beginning. I emphasize in the beginning because your child will, in fact, be able to read those same words as he works through the All About Reading levels! If this is a concern of yours, be sure to ask yourself why you are concerned with this? Remember, homeschooling is like a winding road, not the steam train that public schools are. We have the ability (and luxury) to take things slowly and master them before moving on!