busymom5
- Reviewed on Sunday, August 01, 2010
- Grades Used: K
- Dates used: 2005-2010
For my family, this program has been tried and true. I have used it to teach four of my kids to read. I admit I have only used the first level (Adventures in Phonics A) along with the readers, charts and spelling handbook). Even with that being the case, the final result yielded good readers.
I did supplement with Plaid phonics A here and there simply for extra practice where I felt it was needed. (Some concepts are given a good deal of practice and review while others are not.) Others have felt this is not necessary. Even with the supplementation, you can't beat the price or ease of use.
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albanyaloe
- Reviewed on Wednesday, January 13, 2010
- Grades Used: K,1,2
- Dates used: 2006-2009
We've used Level A, and B of Adventures in Phonics for our two children. This is a very reasonably priced curriculum. If you are new to phonics I'd suggest that you use the Teacher manual too. The workbook is well set out. New sounds are introduced and later reviewed too, which helps children to keep remembering them. I'd use the readers and flash cards too to get the full benefit of the program.
The phonics concepts are well explained, but are to the point, not heaps of detail. A few diacritical markings are used, but not to the extent that ACE and CLE use them.
The books may not be full color like Abeka, but they do the job. If you have a child that likes workbooks, this could work. If your child needs hands on methods to learn, you're going to need to supplement a lot, so I would not suggest it. You may need to move a little faster through the K book if your child writes well and knows her letter sounds well.
The Teacher Manual will tell you when to start the K readers. These are phonics readers. I do not usually like phonics readers, which are contrived stories, but these are better than most. My children enjoyed them, and liked the pictures, though there are not many racial groups represented.
There is no schedule, which I like, you just divide the book over your school year/semesters as it suit you.
I found this to be the program I can use, even though we use very different pronunciations.(South African English) ABC"S with ACE and Christie and CLE (after the Learning to Read program) did not work due to this.
Each book does quite a bit of review of the previous year, so you do not have to start at level a if a child has basic phonics training.
I laminated the word lists and have found them very useful for phonics tests.
If I have one criticism it is that the space for writing is a little small, unless your child is accustomed to writing in small lines.
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srpollitt
- Reviewed on Saturday, December 12, 2009
- Grades Used: K
- Dates used: 1996-2000
I was so pleased to read the above review. I have sometimes wanted to send in my own positive review for Adventures in Phonics, but honestly it has been so long ago since we used it and I've gotten rid of the material, so I had no way to give a specific, constructive review.
I can only assume the current edition of Adventures in Phonics is very much the same as when we used it, and from what I read in the above review, I'd say that is so.
I will just add that it worked like a charm for my children at age 5. We happen to be ones that enjoy the workbook approach, so take that into consideration for your own situation.
My teacher-friend, who teaches first grade in the public school, was quite favorably impressed with the abilities of my kindergarten dc. She asked me, "How did you get them to do that?" I replied I just followed the directions in the book!
I would agree that the material is so reasonably priced that I would also suggest to buy everything that goes along with the program. We especially loved the readers!
I remember being a very nervous first time homeschooler when we started using Adventures in Phonics and it was nothing less than a Godsend for us.
Susan
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susieinms
- Reviewed on Sunday, December 06, 2009
- Grades Used: K
- Dates used: 2009
We are only about 1/3 of the way into AIP and I really didn't want to post till we were done, but I see there still is no other review here and I feel that it is deserving.
My dd is only 4 1/2 yo so we are using this earlier than it is intended and doing it slowly. I have the wkbk, TM, flash cards, charts, beautiful readers, and handbook. All this together will run about $35 so it is very inexpensive. However it is very thorough and very easy to use. This program uses the Noah Webster method.
I have heard it said that you don't need the TM. You can do the wkbks without the TM, but you will miss out on some activities that can help with the learning. It also tells you when to use the charts, and when to start the readers. For $6.49 it is well worth it in my opinion.
I have also heard one person refer to the wkbks as ugly. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. My dd and myself find them quite attractive even if they are not in color. The b/w illustrations with a hint of blue are quite cute in our opinions.
The TM is set up so well that a reading child could use it their self.Each page is set up with two reduced pages from the wkbk. Above each reduced wkbk page is the instructions for the teacher teaching the lesson, words for the student to print, chart number for the child to read from, sentences to read, etc.
The wkbk has a variety of lessons: matching, circling, tracing letters, incert the middle sound, choose first sounds, write the correct word (choices are given), ocassional fun activities like dot to dot and color the shapes with dots to find the pic, and more. By the time the child reaches the end of the year s/he is learning consonant and vowel blends and reading short stories from the readers that have sentences like:"Paul has bought a new yellow bicycle. ....." The wkbk is $8.99
The readers are set up so well it is hard to believe that you get all four for only $12. They are full color and have two page spreads for each lesson. On the left page will be the list of words and sentences to be mastered before reading the story on the right page.
The handbook is also excellent. In blk/wht/red each page is like a mini wall chart with words that focus on certain sounds or blends. Most pages have sentences to read as well. Site words are listed as needed. There are very few. At the end of the book is a reading review that includes selections about the Bible, story of Joseph and more. This runs $7.49 The handbook is not scheduled in the TM so if you choose to use it you decide when to do so. Some pages line up beautifully with the wkbk pages.
The charts are numbered lists of words on cardstock. They come with the flash cards. The cards need cutting. There are not very many flscrds and they are the letters and blends. On one side will be a list of blends like ur,er,ir,ear,(w)or. On the other side will be a list of words that use these vowel blends. I placed the charts in page protectors and into a 3 prong folder for easy storage and usage. The cards I bundled up with a rubber band and placed in the folder pocket. These cost $3.29.
My dd is really enjoying this program and is progressing well. I couldn't ask for a better, more teacher friendly phonics program. Being an economical Christian program is icing on the cake.
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