I hope this helps. With my own children, I have had to wait until 4th or even 5th grade (9 to 11 years old) to begin formal writing because they have struggled so greatly with reading and spelling. Thank you! Placement for spelling is based on the student’s knowledge of spelling rules and concepts rather than grade level, reading level, or the words a student has memorized. This is an important skill for writing. Yeah, amen. I’m happy to hear you found this helpful. So why is language arts such a difficult subject to plan and teach? There are situations when starting earlier or waiting longer would be appropriate. When I realized that an all-in-one curriculum just wasn’t a viable option for my children and that I would have to go another direction, I knew I had to begin by identifying what my goals were. When students have the foundational skills in place, they usually find jumping into writing whole paragraphs not difficult at all and even fun! You really break it down incrementally. And I still read aloud most days to my 15-year-old as well as his younger siblings. Your students need to be doing well in reading and spelling before they are ready to add in formal writing and grammar. The author describes it as a Math-U-See approach to writing. My personal preference is to let him complete AAR I first because I don’t want to overwhelm him. Let us know in the comments! I think either way is fine, so you can go ahead with whichever seems best for your grandson. But it is great at getting reluctant writers to write, and it teaches solid research skills, especially outlining from a source. Each level teaches grammar using sentences from a single story, so there is the added fun of seeing the story slowly unfold. Both are complete phonics programs, so they are interrelated in that way. Thank you. It is from near the end of AAR 2 and if he can read it fluently with good comprehension, then you can be confident that he would be better in AAR 3. My child is 3.5 years old. Some of the programs focus exclusively on grammar, while some include writing as well. I hope AAGrammar is in the works? Have your son read the last story, “Rawhide” from this All About Reading 2 sample. What do you think about it. If I was to add writing, how do I tackle that if we are not yet doing formal spelling? Others, however, find it better to start the school year with a little less and then build up to more subjects after things get going well. When your child is ready for more, you can begin to add in writing and grammar. Did you have him read “Train Cat” soon after reading “Rawhide”? I recently learned about this curriculum. Sticking to these time limits requires some prioritizing. Let me know if you have any questions. – Analytical Grammar teaches mastery of grammar by working on it for short grammar-focused units once a year for 2 to 3 years. Students are given books they have no reason to care about and asked to discuss characters and situations that have no relation to their own experiences. I hope this helps. learn to read faster than they learn to write or spell, great reasons to read aloud to your children. A basic beginning plan for kindergarten or first grade might start like this: When just starting out, handwriting doesn’t have to involve putting pen to paper. Ruthie, Courtney, Fast forward to my 4th child who is a kinesthetic and visual learner and slightly struggling reader. The lessons are presented in short video segments of 3 to 5 minutes and then the student works on the concept that was taught. Minette, But when inner-paragraph organization skills are stronger from this program, we’ll go back to IEW more in depth until he is ready to take my class in 11th grade. We love IEW for younger kids, through middle school. That isn’t enough for me to judge how quickly new concepts are introduced or how thoroughly concepts are reviewed throughout. Leila, I like the reviews of Institute of Excellence in Writing curriculum and I am considering purchasing it.