With my oldest, we started with Horizons phonics. I liked Horizons math, so we thought it would be best to use one company. I didn't love it though. I feel it has too much handwriting for kids. And I began to feel it was best to separate handwriting and phonics instruction, as kids aren't always ready for them at the same time. But, my oldest completed K and 1st grade, and then she was ready to read real books (Emerging Readers from Heart of Dakota is what we did next).
With my second, I didn't want to use Horizons again based on my feelings above. So I bought Phonics Pathways after a lot of research. I wanted an open and go curriculum that wasn't a workbook. I also wanted it to cover most of the rules, but it didn't have to cover everything. I also bought Reading Pathways and the Boosters at that time.
Well, my son did not do well with it when we started. He was/is the kind of child that workbooks work best. So, back to Horizons we went. We went slower, adding in Bob Books along the way. Since his fine motor skills are great, he didn't struggle with the writing either (although going half speed probably was one of the biggest helps). After he completed K, I thought he would be okay going to the Emerging Readers. But he wasn't. We read all of the Bob Books multiple times. We read Elephant and Piggie books. He made it through the Bibles and the first few Emerging Readers, and then it became a struggle. So, I pulled out Reading Pathways for him. He is almost done with the book (started the beginning of November). And I think it is a huge help for him! It really seems to be helping with his fluency. Hopefully he can jump back into the ER books next week!
With my third, I knew workbooks weren't a good idea. So she is using Phonics Pathways. Everything was going well until we got to long vowels. So, we went back to the beginning and started over. We do about half a page of review and half a page of new things right now. So it is SLOW going. But, she is getting there! Hopefully she will be ready to do a full page of each soon (or drop the review at some point). But she is making steady progress!
As for the boosters, we haven't used them. I can see where games would be great and helpful, but I just don't have the time or energy to do them right now. I have three kids in school plus a toddler. Our days are full! Instead, I did get a Starfall membership, and the middle two do use that some.
