Queen LL for phonics? And a couple of other questions...

amyw33 · Post by **amyw33** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:18 pm

Hi Everyone,

I am thinking about using LHFHG next year for K. I've been lurking around lately, reading lots of helpful posts...but I still have a couple of questions I was hoping someone could answer

.

DD and I already started using Queen's LLFLO vl 2 for phonics. I read the thread about R&S being chosen over Queen for the later years and it made perfect sense to me. However, does anyone have an opinion about the Queen phonics books? Should I be running screaming to buy "Reading Made Easy" even though I like the Queen books, and don't really want to spend the extra money??? I also own an old copy of Alphaphonics.

Also, has anyone else NOT used a handwriting program for K, and done it themselves? I have an only child, and I am thinking I can handle watching the letter formation myself. BUT, I could possibly be just an overconfident newbie!!!!

And one last thing...I also already own Horizons math K and am thinking about skipping buying Singapore for LHFHG. I'm not sure I love Horizons, but I feel like I could live through one year with it either way. Anyone have an opinion on that?

Thanks for your patience if you got this far

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:39 pm

I'll give this a shot.....

Yes, you can use whatever works for you for math. If you already have Horizons, then go for it. However, the little Singapore workbooks are fairly cheap and Carrie has written great activities to go with them.

Yes, you could probably get by without a handwriting program. You could just use Lang. Lessons for copywork or whatever letter you're working on with AlphaPhonics for practice.

Lang. Lessons is a good program, but I don't know if I'd rely on it soley for my phonics/learn to read program. The AlphaPhonics would be my choice for learning to read (of what you listed, I've never used it so I don't want to confuse anyone!).

Once you start Little Hearts, you may find you want to go with Singapore (or not) or the Reading Lesson (or not).....it's easy to transition even after you start.

I did want to mention that those little R&S books with Little Hearts are just so good and very cheap, so try not to miss those.

HTH,

Mel

Tansy · Post by **Tansy** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:27 am

Amy,
The beauty of HOD is that you don't have to jump in and spend, spend, spend, to follow the program. You can with ease use Your own Math, Reading, Handwriting ect. As long as you get the basic package you can hang anything else you want to on it. Substitute any part for one of your own. Carrie built it to be like that!, so feel no guilt about using what you have and not buying what "matches"

We don't use the singapore (we did, but dd just didn't get it. Now were with MUS). We didn't use the reading lesson (we used teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons, which included letter writing as part of the lesson)
So we used a white board for our first handwriting lessons.

Hope that helps
Huggles and welcome to HOD

Jen in Va · Post by **Jen in Va** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:21 am

Melanie wrote: Lang. Lessons is a good program, but I don't know if I'd rely on it soley for my phonics/learn to read program. The AlphaPhonics would be my choice for learning to read (of what you listed, l

I agree--I have the first two volumes of LLFLO, and I just don't think it's enough either--nice gentle intro to language arts CM style, though. I used Alphaphonics to teach my two older kids to read--all you need to supplement AP would be some easy/beginning readers--like Bob Books, Sam I Am, etc., from the library. I'm using Ordinary Parent's Guide for reading for my youngest and really like it. I was able to pick up a used set of Little Patriot readers pretty cheaply at our convention last year--these have been great to use along with OPG. You may be able to find something used to supplement AP, but I'd try the library first and go from there.

amyw33 · Post by **amyw33** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:46 pm

I know this is going to sound DENSE but I didn't "get" Alphaphonics at first! I think Queen helped me figure out what I was doing, but lately(although I do like it, and it is a very sweet book) it doesn't seem like "enough".

I am a little concerned about doing phonics "right". I learned to read so fast in school, that they had me completely skip phonics. My mom had to teach me phonics at home years later when I started having problems figuring out words I didn't have memorized. Perhaps I am making a mountain out of a molehill.

Reading Made Easy looks really great, but I don't really want to invest the money....for an only child who's already reading 3 letter words.

Anyway, thanks for the tips!

Post by **Carrie** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 9:17 pm

Amy,

I just wanted to welcome you and to assure you that the ladies are giving you wonderful advice!

You can always start out with what you have already purchased and feel confident that "Little Hearts..." will give you a great back-up plan in all areas.

However, if you are feeling that some of what you have is not a good fit, and finances permit, you could always switch to something you are more comfortable with instead.

I would also encourage you to do a more complete phonics than the Queen's early books gives you. But, it does sound like they've been a good fit for your little one right now, which is great!

Blessings,
Carrie