All About Reading Level 3 (A Timberdoodle Review)

All About Reading Level 3 is an incredible program that is part of Timberdoodle's Second Grade Kit. Don't let that fool you though. If you have homeschooled for any length of time—or talked to anybody who has—you know that the grade level on a curriculum does not matter. As the teacher, you have the option to choose exactly what your child uses based on his needs—which is beautiful. I have to admit, I thought I was pretty good at teaching reading because my older three were avid readers at a young age. I was wrong. They just picked it up and were excellent learners. Now that I am teaching a struggling learner how to read—it is a completely different ballgame—and it is all about having the right resources and dedicating the time to implement them. 

After I had done a Google search for the best homeschool reading curriculum for dyslexia and All About Reading popped up in the top ten—I knew that I had to try it. I did and I have been hooked ever since. Level 1 was a struggle but worth every minute. Level 2 was challenging for him but it helped him gain many foundational skills. It is one of those programs where you get out of it what you put into it. If you skip over some of the activities and tasks that your child might need, some foundational skills might be missed. Now remember, I am only talking about struggling learners here. Some kids (like my older ones) never needed to learn the FLOSS rule or certain rules of the English language—they just figured it out and developed strong reading skills without knowing the ins and outs of phonics. They learned the basics, but not as in much detail as a struggling learner might need to.

With a struggling learner though, it works! I remember FINALLY seeing the lightbulb go off in my son's head and even though he is not at grade level (whatever that means) he is growing by leaps and bounds. 

Once he completed All About Reading Level 2, he was so proud of himself—and so was I. I was eager to begin Level 3 with him and the transition went smoothly. Much of what is covered in the first few lessons is simply review which helped to build his confidence. 

The format of the lessons were easy for him to follow because the different levels of the program build on one another. That said, even if a child has never picked up an All About Reading book prior to level three, the lesson plans are laid out so well that he could easily pick up the format. The lesson plans are scripted, easy-to-follow, and extremely detailed for the parent to use. If your child seems advanced, you could absolutely skip some of the activities, but if your child needs additional help—so much is included. Like I said, you will get out of it what you put into it. This might sound stressful to a parent but I don't mean it in a stressful way. Rather, I mean in it the sense of IT WORKS. If you put the time in, the lightbulb will go off and your child will grow. I've seen it happen, which helps me to push through those hard days of teaching a struggling learner—even if tears are involved. (Usually on my end, not his.)

One of the biggest perks to this curriculum is the hands-on aspect. My son loves when there is a cut and paste activity or something more involved than simply reading from the book. Once he becomes familiar with the key words through the activities, he has loosened up, had fun, and is ready to setttle down and get into the book. I have noticed (and so has he) that the text size is smaller in this level than in previous levels. That has been a little challenging for him but I do have transparencies to help him if needed. 

Sometimes as homeschooling parents we wonder if there are any gaps in our child's education. I know when we use the textbook approach that our kids get tons of word problems with random names. It certainly is a skill to learn how to read names as a struggling learner because many of them do not follow the rules of the English language! I loved that there are activities that include names—and the activities are fun!

I highly recommend All About Reading for struggling learners and even those who are not struggling but like the hands-on approach. If you want to have extra activities to help reinforce what your child is already learning or you want to use this as a stand-alone language arts curriculum, it will be the perfect addition to your homeschool!

Disclaimer: Many thanks to Timberdoodle for providing the above product in exchange for an honest review. 

All thoughts are 100% my own.