Continuing on with my brief overview of the curriculum we chose to use in Kindergarten, let's talk about All About Reading... 

Due to the publisher coming out with a new edition and the vendor not having it on time, we just received All About Reading Level 1 in the mail a few days ago. I was finally able to set up the program and we did our first lesson Friday. So far, so good. I think this will be a great program for mastering phonics with a great foundation. I suppose once we're a month into it, I'll have a better opinion on it. (Perhaps after that, I'll come back and add a little more input at that time.) It does appear as though it's absolutely necessary that you get the full kit -- Teacher's Manual, Student Activity book, and readers. In fact, I'm finding out the hard way that the interactive kit might be a necessity, too. We don't have that and I'm not sure yet if I'm going to order it since we already have magnetic letters, but if you're buying the whole set, I'd recommend adding that to your order as well. It'll make things a lot easier!

Updated on 5/12/18 to add...

I LOVE All About Reading -- like, seriously LOVE it! We're almost done with All About Reading Level 4 now, and I can't say enough about how fantastic this program is! If you've read other posts about this, you know that I give all the credit to AALP for helping with my son's speech delay. On top of that, my 6 year old (he'll be 7 in a month) can read nearly anything! Not only can he read it, but he enjoys it! I really think this program has done a great job at encouraging a love for reading. The stories are fun and the lessons are thoroughly, but not overwhelming. My son is super excited about the thought of completing the 4th level, but also sad, because there won't be any more after that! 

Also, the wonderful people at All About Reading have recently created a fantastic letter tile app that works with their program. If you'd rather use a tablet than magnets, be sure to check that out. My boys love using it just for fun. They take turns creating words even when we're not doing school -- total win!