All About Reading Level 1 (Curriculum Review)

When the Language Arts curriculum we were using wasn’t working for us, a friend recommended All About Reading. I researched and compared it with other programs and eventually decided to get it for my 5 year old son.

Now, after 5 months, we’re halfway through it. Here’s my review on this popular reading curriculum. If you’re considering All About Reading (AAR,) read about how it’s been working for us so far and find out if it’s a perfect fit for your family.

What is All About Reading Level 1

All About Reading is a reading program you can use to teach your child how to read. You may use this as (or a part of) your curriculum for Language Arts if you’re homeschooling.

Level 1 is for emerging readers. They have a pre-reader and more advanced programs as well. You can take a placement test on their website to see which one fits your child best.

Our Copy of All About Reading

I decided on getting the Level 1 for my 5 year old after taking the placement test on their website. He was already reading before we even got this material but I wanted to make sure that we covered all bases and that we didn’t have any gaps.

I purchased the All About Reading Level 1 Materials and the Reading Interactive Kit. If I could do it all over again, I will skip the reading interactive kit because I ended up not using the letter tiles, magnets and the app.

For the letter tiles, I used the Alphabricks from @thecrafterteacher instead because we were gifted with a set and my son loves using the Lego-like pieces!

I live in the Philippines so, I had to have the whole curriculum shipped. I bought all the physical items online on their main website and had it shipped using a P.O. box service.

Things I Loved About AAR Level 1

1. Lessons were systematic: It started out easy and the level of difficulty gradually increased. They make sure the child was properly prepped from the previous lesson. I like that a lot because I tried another Language Arts curriculum (not AAR) and my son experienced finding one lesson both too easy and too hard at the same time. This shouldn’t happen.
2. Open and go: I don’t have to do any preparations before the lesson.
3. It’s scripted: I like having a guide on what to say to my child during the lesson.
4. Stories were engaging: My son enjoys the stories in the readers!

Things I Didn’t Love About AAR Level 1

1. Having two books: AAR Requires you to have both a Teacher’s Manual + Student Book separately: It’s a little bothersome for me to hold two books each time. Also felt that it wasn’t necessary because the student worksheets can be detached anyway. They should’ve just placed it in one book OR split it into Part 1 and 2 instead of separating the teacher’s guide from the student book.
2. Reading Practice Sheets: My son does not care for the reading practice sheets (and I don’t blame him; sometimes, he has to go through a full page of words)
3. Having to Set-Up the Materials: So many things to set-up upon receiving the material. They’re not hard, but they were time consuming. I felt like I had a school project of my own! I wish it were all already prepared and assembled beforehand.
4. The price: It does not come cheap at all and especially for the younger years, you may have many other more affordable options.

Reading Games with Ziggy the Zebra

All About Reading comes with an optional add-on called Reading Games with Ziggy the Zebra.

I had high hopes for this because my son loves games. I showed him a preview before purchasing and he was so excited about it. However, I don’t really recommend it. Here are my reasons why:

1. It’s tedious to prepare. Unless you’re super into DIY-ing things, this can be a bit of a hassle. I found it annoying that I had to cut up so many things and glue the pages on cardboards before we could start playing. (Okay, so I noticed that this is one of my big problems about the program haha.)
2. The games are extremely simple. They are like one level up from the activities on the actual workbooks but there is nothing amazing about them. They are amusing enough for my 5 year old but I feel not nearly challenging nor engaging enough.

It’s still up to you of course, but if I could do it again, I wouldn’t bother getting this add-on anymore.

Will We Continue?

I still can’t decide if I want to continue with All About Reading for my son. We are now halfway through the lessons. So far, my son has really been learning so I would say that it’s been helpful. But because of all the reasons I mentioned above, I’m not completely sold yet!

Maybe I’ll really decide a month or two before we finish Level 1! 😉

I’ve read great things about All About Spelling though, so I might consider that one as well… we’ll see!

—

RELATED POSTS:

• How We Homeschool: 5 Years Old (Level K)
• The Good and The Beautiful Level K Math: Curriculum Review
• Daily Schedule at Home: Life as a Work-at-Home, Homeschooling Mom
• Recommended Books on Homeschooling