After trying out some other reading/LA (language arts) curriculums I have decided that what works best for us is All About Reading. So after completing Level 1 we have moved onto Level 2. I loved the way I organized the first time so I have kept that same system for Level 2. I start by taking the teacher manual to Office Depot, any office supply place with a print department can help, and I have the cut the binding off and then spiral bind the pages for me. It is just easier this way when I need to flip through the book. Then I tear out all the pages in the student booklet. They are perforated so it is easy to do so. I go through each page and see if anything needs to be cut out. I cut every piece out and I write on each one which All About Reading it goes with and what lesson. I then laminate all the pieces and recut them. It is important to cut them, laminate then cut again. The reason for this is that if you laminate them in a big chunk then cut them you will risk opening the laminate and if for some reason they get wet than the water will soak in. I get a sandwich size zip lock bag and tape an index card to them. The index card says which AAR and the level. All of those go into a big gallon size zip lock. For the pages that do no get laminated I store in sheet protectors. I put 10 lessons worth in each one since they typical hold about 50 pages each. When we go to use them I then place them into a separate sheet protector so that we can write on them with expos. This way we can reuse them if need be, I can save them for our youngest and then sell them when done. There are also phonogram and word cards. I tear these out and you guessed it I laminate them. Even with a 5 mil lamination they still fit in the box which is nice.
What is so great about All About Reading is that you go at the pace of your child. There are a lot of activities to do. Different little games to keep it interesting and engaging. There is enough work that your child is sure to learn everything in the lesson. There are fluency pages which help out a lot then will have words from the current lesson and words your child will already know. Sometimes there is a lot to read on the fluency sheets so I break it up and do different games for them. One our daughter really likes is the feed the monster game. I put inspirational stickers on an index card and cut them out then each time she gets the words/phrases correct then she can feed the monster. The regular games that come up in some lessons we do them every day that we are on the lesson so it is not use once that use the games. You also get books full of stories that go along with the lessons. The words your child will be reading during the lessons will appear in the stories. I like that the stories are not to long and the pictures are nicely done.
The way that All About Reading is set up is that you only do 20 minutes a day so there is no need to complete a whole lesson in a day. They could take you a week and that is just fine. After we complete the 20 minutes for the day then I read to the girls for 20 minutes. There is no need to complete a level each year you just finish at your child's pace. I would definitely recommend All About Reading to anyone of all the reading programs we have tried this one was the best. And the teacher manual will tell you exactly what to do. One thing when you buy it you will have a choice to use letter tiles or the app. The app only works on a tablet but it is the same price as the tiles. I got the app because I could just see us losing those little magnets. What reading curriculum do you use? Have you tried All About Reading, if so what did you think? Let us know in the comment section below.
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