Our New Language Arts I Didn't Want to Buy

[@ThisEnchantedHour]

Ashley, I’m so glad you found my videos helpful on this. Like you, I seem to be drawn to resources that are not used by many. Maybe it’s the creative in us that likes things to be different. 💜 I hope your daughter continues to enjoy using Foundational Phonics & you experience the same enjoyment and success that we have. For me, I wasn’t willing to rush thru reading fluency bc I know it will impact their grammar, spelling, and writing as we go along. With my oldest, I have been very pleased to see that exposing him to all those word families, the diacritical marks, and good sentence structure he was immersed in FP has paid off in building natural spelling and story telling skills as he’s gotten older.

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@ThisEnchantedHour this is so encouraging to hear, thank you 🙏🏻 and yes, I totally agree that it is the creative in us that keeps us going rogue 😆 I’m very happy to have stumbled upon your video and can’t wait to share an update in the future!

[@noncorporealentity5641]

Please don't let what charlotte mason believed hold your daughter back. The science of reading has come a long way since her time, and we know much more about how our brains learn to read. Phonics, repetition, and "boring" CVC words work. Reading is not a natural skill that kids can easily pick up just through exposure to great literature and memorizing sight words. Wholesome vintage stories and nice pictures don't matter. Explicit instruction is hands down the best way to learn anything, reading especially. I would recommend taking some time to learn about the science of reading. I don't mean to sound harsh, i genuinely want what's best for everyone but I have seen so many people try to hard to fit a certain homeschool style even when it is not working for their children. There's no prize for being the most authentic CM homeschooler. I really hope this curriculum sticks.

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@noncorporealentity5641 I appreciate your insight very much!

[@alenatorres7071]

Yes, perfectly and respectfully said.

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@noncorporealentity5641 and if the curriculum doesn’t stick, that’s ok too. We will find one that does. I hope it’s clear how much I do care about my daughter’s education. Even unschoolers learn to read. And we are far from unschoolers. Some children just take a little longer than others and I guess I don’t totally appreciate being made to feel that I’ve chosen the wrong path for her. The whole point of me making these videos is to share our path.

[@samanthageary8514]

I love Foundational Phonics! I've used both books with 3 of my 6 children so far, with 2 boys and a daughter who is very neurodivergent. They learned to read so much faster than my other kids who used other phonics programs, and I love the fact that it's one book, not alot of extra bells and whistles to teach phonics. Alongside this program, we practice with Bob Books and other readers and then we move on to the McGuffey readers and/or Explode the Code once they've finished the second book in this program. Hope it works for your family!

[@homeschoolandme]

I recently found this program as well, for my son who has a similar reading journey. Your daughter and he seem very similar, very active and vocal 😆. I also had wanted to be more CM in my approach, which would have worked very well for my eldest (who taught himself to read at 5), but my younger (now 9) just needed more instruction. An excellent podcast docu/journalism series about the science of reading called “Sold a Story” made me feel much better about pursuing more phonics and relaxing in CM’s reading approach. Hopefully Foundational Phonics is a good fit for you, we are enjoying it so far as well.

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@homeschoolandme I’m so glad to hear that your son has taken to it! Yes, my daughter is very animated😆 Thank you for the tip on the podcast, I’ll definitely check it out.

[@rachaelpierson3470]

I am so glad you are sharing this program!!! I have had almost the exact same reading journey as you. We tried good and beautiful, alpha phonics, ordinary parents guide, as well as McGuffey readers. The McGuffey's felt almost perfect but as you said there wasn't enough repetition for phonics. Each time I opened YT videos on AAR or Logic of English my brain got overwhelmed with all the stuff and steps involved. I just wanted to be able to open a book and go. Something that kept my child engaged but with enough practice, while also being simple (no fluff). I don't know how I stumbled upon foundational phonics (I think Rainbow Resource has a comparison graph and I went through each one). Foundational phonics has been the answer to my prayers for us. My daughter is 6 and we do one page a day and ETC for extra practice. I bought the digital copy of book 1 and 2 and plan to use both for my son when he's ready. Praying this one works for you as well!!

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@rachaelpierson3470 oh I love hearing this, thank you! I really felt that this program fell into my algorithm for a reason. It’s simple, streamlined phonics but with the classic feel that I do love so much in the McGuffeys.

[@carm1030]

My daughter hated teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons and caused us to take a big break from reading, but it did help me to learn how to teach. After that we started reading the Bob books and flash cards. Then we got lots of readers. We even found the All about reading books at a thrift store so we read those too without the curriculum. When we started first grade and had to school “officially” we did all about reading 2. We’re still sticking with it but even without doing the lessons she can read the stories. She has a good memory I think. We read a lot of books. She doesn’t know all the phonics rules but I’m teaching them anyways cause I don’t want to miss anything.

[@OurMessyHouse]

That book looks amazing! I hope it works well with you. We just finished TGATB mixed with the McGuffey’s but I think we are just going to turn the McGuffey into a reader for her. TGATB was fine just really slow moving, the slow movement is not for us. We made the decision to move onto the campfire phonics and reading around the campfire. Please review in the future!

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@OurMessyHouse thank you for sharing! They do make lovely readers. The Primer will be a great one to continue for that. I’m curious about Campfire Phonics! And I’ll definitely do a review once we’re into the swing of this program.

[@OurMessyHouse]

Phonics and reading around the campfire are great options if you’re still looking.

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@OurMessyHouse thank you! I’ll check it out

[@misskat137]

I just started Foundational Phonics book 1 with my daughter a few weeks ago. We were doing All About Reading pre reading level, and it was just not quite clicking. I realized that she was bored and getting bogged down with just doing one letter at a time. I like this program because each lesson builds on the other one and it has them building words early on. She gets so excited when she learns to read a new word. I'm looking forward to continuing this program and hopefully moving on to book 2 for next school year.

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@misskat137 this is wonderful to hear! We are doing all about reading pre-reading with my son and while he enjoys most of the program, I do agree that it has become quite monotonous. It is also my plan to start book one with him as soon as the pre-reading is done or we get too burnt out. I’m so glad it’s working for you guys!

[@countrywisheshomeschool]

I used the book 1 Letter Mastery for one of my struggling readers and we really liked it. Enjoyed seeing the book 2 Word Mastery....it looks great!

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@countrywisheshomeschool wonderful! I’m planning to use book 1 with my son. I think he will really like the simple pen to paper activities in that program.

[@YasminB-u9d]

This looks awesome and I wish I would have seen it last year. We flailed about a bit last year with Memoria Press First Start Reading and then Treasure Hunt Reading (hated it). My language arts is all over the place this year. 🤦‍♀

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@YasminB-u9d oh yes, my daughter hated Treasure Hunt Reading. And I don’t totally get why, but she did. I’ll be updating our progress with this program! Fingers crossed it’s the winning ticket. I’m sorry your LA is feeling chaotic. I get it.

[@jessicajones611]

I might end up commenting and pausing as the video plays 3mins mark - I would just add in flash cards. We used Alpha Phonics and it was great, but I still added in my own flash cards. As a new diagraph or trigraph came along in the program, I would make a card. We always ran through the cards at the beginning and end of a lesson. Whatever program is liked by you especially, will work best, because it’s easier to keep going teaching from that. Another thought that came to me is that I honestly wouldn’t try to box yourself in with a method. Throw that out the window. I also would saying keep up with writing, and with that I mean your child writing the words/sentences they are reading. I hear you say Alpha Phonics was a fail, that’s such a shame because it’s so simple and you can add readers to it which go hand in hand with new sounds, and make some flash cards. It recommends at the back of the book, much better to keep the skills hand in hand. X

[@GayleGuy-g9z]

Happy Cheetah is a breath of fresh air. If you read the how and why of it ,it is brilliant. Some kids just cannot remember all the phonics rules. Lots of great reviews out there! Hope this is helpful to you in some way or even to someone else. This is the only thing that worked in our home!

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@GayleGuy-g9z thank you!!!

[@jenniesmith5620]

That looks perfect!

[@kristenpoletti790]

You can also add in Bob books and explode the code for extra phonics practice. 💗

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@kristenpoletti790 yes we like Explode the Code! It helps to break up lessons. And we got through two Bob Books before she got over them.

[@jessicajones611]

I might end up commenting and pausing as the video plays 3mins mark - I would just add in flash cards. We used Alpha Phonics and it was great, but I still added in my own flash cards. As a new diagraph or trigraph came along in the program, I would make a card. We always ran through the cards at the beginning and end of a lesson.

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@jessicajones611 thank you, yes, I have actually been loving the AlphaPhonics flash cards! We use them every lesson. And I love the words to practice on the back.

[@StephanieMT]

I bought this and then sadly lost it. Its a really good program

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@StephanieMT oh really?! How far did you get?

[@StephanieMT]

​@@ashleymurphy4813we did all of the first book but i bought the pdf of the second book and my computer lost the file so i have it no more. I think ill buy it in physical form and use in new year.

[@HeyMrKnickerbocker]

You’re letting your ego get in the way of trying an Orton-Gillingham approach because it’s “mainstream”.

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@HeyMrKnickerbocker I don’t believe there is one right method or program to teach reading. I don’t like All About Reading or The Good and the Beautiful or anything related and prefer to try to stick closely to the principles in our homeschool. Do you not think this program looks like it could be successful?

[@jenniesmith5620]

We tried All About Reading, and everyone hated it. It's not for everyone.

[@Gameroomschoolhouse]

That seems a little harsh. Orton-Gillingham isn’t magic and not every approach works for every kid. I have three girls and all three of them have learned to read differently. I tried AAR to some extent with all three of them and it has just not been a winner. The thing that struck me the most about this curriculum in your video is that your daughter is excited about it! Buy-in is priceless- you can have the best curriculum in the world but if your kid is not into it, it’s not going to work. Thank you for sharing your language arts journey. It takes courage to put yourself out there.

[@StephanieMT]

​@@jenniesmith5620 we dont like it either

[@Gameroomschoolhouse]

PS- if you end up trying something more mainstream, I would try Logic of English before AAR. It focuses a lot on sounds and is more logical (surprise, lol) in my opinion than AAR. Plus it’s a lot less work to put together.

[@beachgurl788]

You need to do whatever you feel is best and works best for you and your child!🫶 This program looks interesting! I have never heard of it. Just a couple thoughts I want to share with no judgement just for you to have the information if you ever need it. I have a good friend that is very Charlotte Mason but she does still use and highly recommends All About Reading. Some kids learn very differently and struggle with all the phonics rules. Here is another program idea for you if you ever need it. Always nice to have ideas in our toolbox. Happy Cheetah Reading by Dr. Karen Holinga Best wishes!!!❤️

[@ashleymurphy4813]

@@beachgurl788 thank you! 🙏🏻 I’ll look into it for sure