Hi all,
Many of you who are currently using the v2 curriculum might be wondering whether you should switch over to the v3 curriculum, and what the main differences are between the two. (If you're not aware of the v3 update and what new features it brings, please
see this announcement.)
Main differences in Curriculum Content- Pattern PhonicsAlthough there are the same number of PP lessons, they get shown twice a session (slightly shorter duration each time) in Semester 1, so all PP lessons get covered much sooner in the curriculum than before, and we get to repeat them more. They also start from Day 1 as opposed to Day 21.
- Sight WordsWe no longer have a Word Flash session at the beginning. Instead, we use the time to show these sight words, in word-flash mode, later on in the lesson. That's why we now start with Picture Flash.
- Word Split lessonsNo new words are added here, but we take certain words from the curriculum (words previously shown before) and show them in split format - sometimes split into syllables, and sometimes into parts of a single-syallable word.
- StoriesYou now get all 25 stories that come as storybooks in the LR Deluxe package, and these stories now start from the first day of Sem 2. (Note: Three categories which were previously "Simple Sentences" Categories have been converted into stories.)
- Main CategoriesThe order that the main categories appear remain roughly the same, with just a few exceptions, eg., we moved "Shapes" from Sem 2 to Sem 1, because we show "Colors and Shapes" much earlier now (see below regarding "Third Category").
The day in which the main categories appear will not likely be exactly the same as before.
In v3, all of these Categories get reviewed again later over a 2-day period, typically in upper case.
- The "Third Category"In v2, the third Multisensory Category that gets shown in a session usually contains "Follow-up" content (like couplets of words already shown, singular/plural, simple sentences, etc., and then finally changing into stories halfway through Sem 2). In v3, these Follow-up Categories all get shown in Sem 1, so that the whole of Sem 2 gets devoted to Stories for that time slot (as mentioned above).
- Game lessonsNo new content here, except that the day's content is reviewed using the new Game mode.
If you're in the middle of a v2 curriculum, should you switch?It's fine to just keep using the old curriculum, and that would be the easy thing to do. The v2 curriculum is still a very effective curriculum.
However, I would encourage you to switch, as we believe the lessons are more engaging and even more effective. This is especially so if you're still in Semester 1. Personally, unless I were already past Day 200, I would switch. And I would simply carry on from the same day. Or if you started on Sem 2 not long ago, you might want to start from the first day of Sem 2 again, since the stories start then.
The switch might be a bit jarring at first, but it will probably settle down before long. If you find that the review lessons are covering categories that have not been shown before, then go to Categories and play back those categories separately.