First Grade LA Conundrum

[Calming Tea]

Ds 6, will turn 7 in January (normal first grade age)

Option 1: Already purchased and on its way:
Pathway Learning Through Sounds
Climbing to Good English

Option 2:
Queen's Language Lessons

I had decided on Language Lessons for Little Ones Volume 3. My son is a good reader, but guesses a bit. So I sort of chickened out and decided on the Pathway stuff. I do know my son needs a little bit of sight word learning. He has taken off using a combination of phonics and sight reading. However I worry that with the Queen's LA that he will not be getting enough of anything. The lessons looked *so* short. But I also worry with Pathway that he will dislike English and Phonics (again). Explode the Code seems like it's too much review in each given area, it's too slow.

If I do opt for the Pathway stuff I don't need a separate handwriting as that is integrated into the English.

I looked at FLL and I'm sure my ds would hate it. It would be far worse than a workbook. He absolutely hates any kind of repetition or memory work.

I looked at Growing with Grammar but it seems like it's not a full English program, but just Grammar, and it didn't seem much different than Climbing to Good English. And it was more expensive.

Ideas?

[OhElizabeth]

He doesn't need to do grammar till he is reading comfortably. All the material in grammar curricula repeat, so it's NO problem to skip 1st and go directly into 2nd next year. In fact, it's better to chose by reading level than just age grade. If he can't comfortably read the text, why have him do it? Like I said, it's just not time well-spent. I'd focus on your phonics, get him reading happily, and save grammar for another year. Or two. Or three. It WON'T matter one bit, honest. :)

Have you tried something like Happy Phonics? I haven't used it, but the idea seems like it might be perfect for your ds. (google the board and find past posts on it) You could play games to review his phonics.

[Trivium Academy]

I would wait until the products come in before looking at anything else or ordering anything. You'll be better able to assess what you need or want when you can truly look at the products you've ordered in depth.

The lessons being short optimize his attention span and you may find he learns better (and with a better attitude) with the shorter lessons. I'm not saying Language Lessons is your answer, just that the "short" lessons have been wonderful here.

[chiguirre]

I have and use both Learning Through Sounds and Queen materials. Honestly, the Queen books are very light in reading instruction. They do include phonics, but it's no where near enough to learn to read. They're great for the CM elements, but they're not a complete LA curriculum.

LTS is a no-nonsense, get the job done, phonics workbook. It requires a lot of writing, especially combined with the Pathway reader's workbooks, but it doesn't include handwriting instruction. There's no "how to make a letter" pages at all. If you use all the Pathway materials you'll have plenty of reading, phonics and basic grammar. With Climbing to Good English, you'll have so much that you can skip some of the more tedious stuff guilt-free.

You can easily combine both Queen and Pathway if your budget allows, they're so different that they'd complement each other well.

[Calming Tea]

He's reading comfortably now- books like Danny and the Dinosaur, Frog and Toad, Pretty much anything in the I Can Read It repertoire. He still needs a little bit of phonics but not much- I think the last level of HOP will more than cover it. Though he's reading well I am not ready to drop phonics for another year. But at the same time, he's really ready to move on with other things, and we don't have a year's worth of LA just in the phonics department, definitely not.

Jessica, this is a good point about short lessons. You never know how much more a kid will absorb when they are happy and focused.

And yes, I'm thinking CLimbing to Good English will be good because it's straightforward, and the LTS being straightforward is also good. No distractions mean faster lessons. That's a good idea about possibly using CLGE and LL...

Thanks for the input I have some good food for thought.

[chiguirre]

If your ds is reading that well, LTS will be waaay too easy. The first book is just CVC words, the second introduces long vowels, blends and digraphs. If you can return the first grade Pathway stuff and get 2nd, it would be a much better fit. OTOH, if you want to continue with easy readers, I would just get ETC 4, 5 and 6 or Plaid Phonics B. Pathway 2nd grade just includes the readers and their accompanying wbs. They have phonics, but it's not sold seperately.

Queen's LLfLO will be too easy as well, but Language Lessons for the Very Young would be fine, I think. It has more extensive copywork and doesn't include any phonics.

[Calming Tea]

This information is extremely helpful.

ARGH. I had considered Plaid Phonics B. My son likes the colorful pictures that came in my dd's Plaid Phonics K. Maybe that wouldn't be too much torture.

The Climbing to Good English is still a good fit, apart from phonics, so that'll be a keeper hopefully.

I couldn't decide between LL for the Very Young and LL for Little Ones Volume 3. I'll take another look at that. Maybe I should just go back to that idea all around, and just add Plaid Phonics B. My son is sick of ETC, so he definitely doesn't want to see any more of that.

[chiguirre]

If you don't need a workbook for retention, you can just use OPGTR. It's very complete and even a child with a good reading level would be able to use the later part of the book for practice. It includes more advanced phonics than HOP. You'd have to add in more handwriting practice on your with copywork (or use Queen's stuff).

Another alternative is LLATL Red. It has a workbook, but it's a lot less writing than ETC and it has cut and paste activities too (word wheels, flip books, story charts). Here's a link to the samples:

http://www.commonsensepress.com/red.htm

The major downside to this curriculum is the funky, italic script. It doesn't bother my kids to trace it and then write the words with HWT letters, but if it's a problem you can write the letter beside their example with a yellow marker. The upside is that it includes grammar, writing prompts, poetry, literature study with easy to find picture books and the readers that come with the program are very colorful. This pops up used on ebay a lot so you may be able to find it for about the same amount as Pathway readers second grade would cost.

Good luck finding something that works for you, I know how stressful that can be.