We’re getting ready to start level 3. I do plan to use the readers because they stick to using words the kids have learned how to read or are learning to read that week. It’s a lot less frustrating for them.
We will sometimes try out a regular book for fun. Oliver likes Dr. Seuss for example, will do Frog and Toad sometimes. We spent about 6 weeks in Jan/Feb doing a reading challenge where he read aloud every day for 15 minutes using these sorts of books. It was a big challenge at the beginning of the 6 weeks but he improved a lot. Then we dived back into AAR 2 where we left off.
He tried the first page of the first Magic Tree House book last week just to see how it would go being at the end of AAR level 2 (he has 2 lessons left). While he made it through the page he really isn’t ready to make that big a leap and enjoy it, so we are going to begin level 3 of AAR.
I don’t own level 4. When we get near the end of level 3 we’ll see if he’s ready to move to easy chapter books. I suspect he will be, and we won’t use level 4. We’ll see. Oliver is 8 and reading has been very much a slow and steady progression for him.
I have 2 others who have started level 1 of AAR. Caleb is 6 and so far he’s flying through pretty easily. We’re not in a hurry. Mason is 5.5 and was intrigued by the letter tiles, so he’s started AAR too. He doesn’t know all his letter sounds quite yet but AAR has you learning just a couple each new lesson. He takes as long to do a lesson as he wants – so far an average of 2 weeks. Again, no hurry at all and if there is a day where he doesn’t ask to do it I don’t pull it out. Why? Because he’s 5! I don’t do lessons until age 6 unless the child is the one asking for the lessons that day.
