I have HAD IT with AAS

[amyc78]

Ok I keep trying to make it work but every lesson I come away wanting to throw the whole thing away. It's not just the tiles, I feel like the program itself is lacking. 

 

For example, we learned the "wh" phonogram a few lessons ago and there are "wh" words that the student is asked to spell in review (while, why) but they were never taught why we use "wh" in those words instead of just "w". Is it the long i sound?

 

Another example is the double-consonant rule- other than memorization, no explanation has been given as to why you spell "until" with one l and "windmill" with two l's. Is it because one is a compound word?

 

We just learned the "ee" phonogram and today my DS wants to spell "here" like "heer", and I can't find any instruction as to how to teach him to know the difference. Maybe it's that its just a rule breaker but I think they need to specify that.

 

I swear, I think I could do a better job with just a list of spelling rules that I teach myself.

 

Yes, I posted about this last week, we are halfway through Level 2, if anyone has any suggestions for where we should go next, I'm all ears. Or eers. Or eres. :)

 

 

[Guest]

Logic of English might help you out.

[8filltheheart]

English phonics rules are about 96% effective for decoding. However you cannot rule your way into spelling. There are literally multiple phonetically correct options that break no rules. They simply have to memorize which is the correct spelling. Some rules help narrow options,some have a short list of exceptions, but it is not by any stretch a given.

[Jess4879]

We started at level 1, and my oldest is in Level 4.  *If* I remember correctly, the double letter rule for "f,l & s" is taught in level 1 - which would apply to windmill.  I can't recall off  the top of my head about "until."

 

The "wh" lesson I don't remember being taught until level 3, so I'm not sure where it is coming up in Level 2.  Which lesson is it?   I couldn't find it in the word list. 

 

ETA:  I need a nap.  I found it. 

[Aloha2U]

Logic of English might help you out.

 

:iagree: Also, some others options are Spell to Write and Read, which I prefer, or Writing Road to Reading.

[EmilyGF]

If you couldn't stand AAS, would you like LOE?

 

I couldn't stand the over-scriptedness of AAS, the fact that the writer thought everyone should start in level 1 (can't she just write a transitions lesson set that teaches everything in a few weeks for kids who can spell well?), and all the fiddly parts that my kids also hated. I guess we're just not into magnets. :-) 

[Doodlebug]

We're level three, but I wanted to chunk it 1/2 way through the year for the same reason. So many words are pointed out as rule breakers that you would assume any word NOT exactly fitting the rules learned thus far would labeled.

 

I did stick with AAS. I started paying more attention to doing exactly what was prescribed (word banks, periodic review of mastered material, etc) and it was very helpful. I'm glad we stuck it out but am not sure what I'll choose for next year.

 

:)

 

Stella

[Crimson Wife]

w vs. wh is very tricky for those of us whose dialect doesn't make a distinction between the two phonemes. Apparently some American dialects do, and I've seen a recommendation for putting a piece of paper in front of the mouth to catch the "hw" sound. But that's not the way I say "wh" words and it sounds like a total affectation if I do force myself to say "hw" instead of just /w/.

 

I have decided to just teach it as a "silent h" and work on it as a visual memory thing.

[amyc78]

I understand that there are a bazillion exceptions to the 'rules' in the English language. Part of the problem is that I personally am a very intuitive speller, I don't know any of the rules, I just know how to spell. So I'm not exactly sure how to teach someone to spell.

 

Step 3 of AAS 2 teaches "y" making the long i sound at the end of a word. The word "why" is one of the words they are asked to spell. The "wh" phonogram has been taught at the point with the instruction that "wh" is pronounced with a breathiness… I don't know anybody that says "why" with a breathiness. And it wasn't really explained how to know when to use "w" or "wh"...

[amyc78]

 

I may need to try LOE. It just seems very expensive and time-consuming? Do they have a satisfaction return guarantee? It does seem very well laid out.

[Paige]

I have mixed feelings about AAS. It's worked ok in some ways but isn't perfect.

The wh words are spelled with wh instead of w because they are supposedly pronounced differently, or should be.

 

There is no real rule for when to use ee vs ie, ea, ece, etc. That's why they do the common words lists you are supposed to read. The one rule they teach is that e is very seldom used in vce words, so I teach my kids that vce shouldn't be their first choice when trying to spell a long e word.

 

With the doubling of f, l, and s, the rule is they are frequently doubled in one syllable words. Until is a 2 syllable word so the rule doesn't apply. F, L, and S are rarely doubled when used as isolated syllables or suffixes in larger words. Windmill is also a two syllable word but it is a compound so you are spelling based on the original words rather than syllables.

 

That said, if you don't like it now, dump it. I don't think it gets better. I went through Level 3 with my older girls and then quit. My youngest is using it now and doing better than they did, but I'm not going to buy more levels than what we have just for her. It's expensive and takes a lot of time, and if you don't love it, I don't think it's worth it.

[warneral]

before jumping ship with the program, I can tell you that I was confused by that but we just moved on :)  If you are interested in LOE, I would want to hear from someone how they approach it in LOE.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Some of the missing pieces are word origins and that fact that some English spellings actually are arbitrary (they've happened through changes in spelling due to sloppy handwriting being improperly transcribed, letters being dropped in common usage, and so on---just look at how different the spelling is in illuminated manuscripts compared to what we have now).  AAS made me want to cry with the "no English words end in i" rule.  Yeah, it's great to say that "ski," "spaghetti," and "yeti" are not English words, but given that they are commonly used in the English language and that the program does not teach word origins to kids (not saying that it should, just saying that it doesn't), it's a NONSENSICAL rule.  It would make more sense to say that if a word ends in "i" then it has non English origin. 

 

I also had an issue with the discounting of dialect---"say it to spell it" doesn't make sense unless you already know how to spell it.

 

I gave up on at the beginning of level 3 because my excellent reader was still not learning to spell the words she wanted to be able to spell and the "exceptions" outnumbered the rule followers.  Phonetic rules are a beginning for good spelling, but they are not enough.  We also hated the tiles.  I do think there's value in the first two levels, but I can't fathom using all the levels.

 

I will hush now. :closedeyes:

[forty-two]

For example, we learned the "wh" phonogram a few lessons ago and there are "wh" words that the student is asked to spell in review (while, why) but they were never taught why we use "wh" in those words instead of just "w". Is it the long i sound?

/w/ and /wh/ are actually different sounds (I suck at hearing/feeling the difference, though), so when to use 'w' and when to use 'wh' is determined by which sound you hear - 'w' and 'wh' aren't two ways to spell the same sound.

[amyc78]

Some of the missing pieces are word origins and that fact that some English spellings actually are arbitrary (they've happened through changes in spelling due to sloppy handwriting being improperly transcribed, letters being dropped in common usage, and so on---just look at how different the spelling is in illuminated manuscripts compared to what we have now).  AAS made me want to cry with the "no English words end in i" rule.  Yeah, it's great to say that "ski," "spaghetti," and "yeti" are not English words, but given that they are commonly used in the English language and that the program does not teach word origins to kids (not saying that it should, just saying that it doesn't), it's a NONSENSICAL rule.  It would make more sense to say that if a word ends in "i" then it has non English origin. 

 

I also had an issue with the discounting of dialect---"say it to spell it" doesn't make sense unless you already know how to spell it.

 

I gave up on at the beginning of level 3 because my excellent reader was still not learning to spell the words she wanted to be able to spell and the "exceptions" outnumbered the rule followers.  Phonetic rules are a beginning for good spelling, but they are not enough.  We also hated the tiles.  I do think there's value in the first two levels, but I can't fathom using all the levels.

 

I will hush now. :closedeyes:

 

Have you found anything better? DS7 is also an excellent reader. He can read almost anything. His writing is suffering because his ability to spell cannot keep up with his ability to compose. I really just want his spelling to "catch up" to his reading and composition abilities so that we can make writing an integral part of our language arts program without hi having to stop and ask me how to spell every other word in a sentence...

[8filltheheart]

I understand that there are a bazillion exceptions to the 'rules' in the English language. Part of the problem is that I personally am a very intuitive speller, I don't know any of the rules, I just know how to spell. So I'm not exactly sure how to teach someone to spell.

 

Step 3 of AAS 2 teaches "y" making the long i sound at the end of a word. The word "why" is one of the words they are asked to spell. The "wh" phonogram has been taught at the point with the instruction that "wh" is pronounced with a breathiness… I don't know anybody that says "why" with a breathiness. And it wasn't really explained how to know when to use "w" or "wh"...

It still doesn't work that simply. Why is pie spelled ie vs py or tie vs ty?

 

Wh vs w has no simple explanation if a child can't hear a distinction.

 

I have 2 kids that that had a horrible time learning how to spell. I taught one via WRTR for 5 yrs. I tried AAS with the other. English spelling cannot be mastered just via rules. It does not work, especially when you start hitting words around a 5th grade reading level.

 

A simple book that contains all the phonics rules, word lists through 12th grade, and spiraled dictation at a fraction of the cost of 1 level of AAS is How to Teach Spelling's TM.

[Jess4879]

I understand that there are a bazillion exceptions to the 'rules' in the English language. Part of the problem is that I personally am a very intuitive speller, I don't know any of the rules, I just know how to spell. So I'm not exactly sure how to teach someone to spell.

 

Step 3 of AAS 2 teaches "y" making the long i sound at the end of a word. The word "why" is one of the words they are asked to spell. The "wh" phonogram has been taught at the point with the instruction that "wh" is pronounced with a breathiness… I don't know anybody that says "why" with a breathiness. And it wasn't really explained how to know when to use "w" or "wh"...

 

Too funny, I am working through Level 2 with my second kiddo and I didn't notice "why" or "while" either go around.  The kids never questioned it and I guess I didn't either. 

 

The "breath" trick works well for us with the "w" vs "wh" words, but maybe it's how we pronounce it.  I can feel a definite "breath" on my hand when I say "when" as opposed to "were" for example. 

 

We like AAS, but if you're not loving it, maybe try something like Rod & Staff?  No point struggling through something that makes everyone miserable.  :)

[Kerileanne99]

I do understand the frustration with AAS, but the more I use it I am really impressed with how well it is working for my dd.

Honestly, when there is something like those you mentioned above, I usually find I have missed some little important bit in the book, or didn't apply it correctly...or, after reading te AAS forums just realize we haven't quite come to that point.

 

For example, the 'until' vs 'windmill' IS briefly mentioned in the compound word section...and as far as the EE lesson I just rechecked to be sure. There is one little box at the beginning of the lesson that has you build 'he' and 'Steve' to show why each has the long e sound...to distinguish between the open syllable long e and the silent e word. Same with the word 'here'. So maybe you can point out to you dd that it is a silent e word?

 

All that being said: my dd wants/needs words that she has not learned the rules for, and is not going to wait:)

I posted here and a few people suggested printing out the spelling rules and giving her the rule as she needed, then just touching on it a we go through AAS. This has been perfect for us, although it is certainly speeding up the rate of AAS!

Also, I took her through the Dolch list to make sure she could spell those, and we used the list of rules as much as possible in a brief way. She is very logical, so this really helped her. Not to mention she is much happier and less frustrated having those words at the ready, without waiting for a specific AAS lesson.

 

We rarely use the tiles at all as I think they are just a bit too fiddly. We use an app, or write them on a dry erase board with lines to practice penmanship.

[kiwik]

My grandmother was drilled ay school to say the wh sound - it was clearly different when she said it- but over the years the difference has disappeared so now it is more historic. until and hill probably have different root languages but I was taught to right 'til as short for until but it is commonly till now which makes things more confusing. And US English has a lot of changed spellings - you all seem to use peak (as in peak his interest) instead of pique which is what we would use. The changed spellings make spelling easier (plow vs plough) but I am not sure they make spelling rules easier.

[forty-two]

The "breath" trick works well for us with the "w" vs "wh" words, but maybe it's how we pronounce it. I can feel a definite "breath" on my hand when I say "when" as opposed to "were" for example.

)

That's pretty similar to how LiPS teaches to differentiate between /w/ and /wh/ - the amount of "wind" you produce, with /w/ having the least and /wh/ having the most.

[8filltheheart]

...and as far as the EE lesson I just rechecked to be sure. There is one little box at the beginning of the lesson that has you build 'he' and 'Steve' to show why each has the long e sound...to distinguish between the open syllable long e and the silent e word. Same with the word 'here'.

An open syllable does say its long vowel sound, but that rule does not help when needing to distinguish between ea, ee, ie, etc. There is no easy explanation as to why to spell here/hear or thief or leave or feet/feat or beam or seem/seam or believe or ______ with the correct phonogram. English is phonetic for decoding. It is next to impossible to reverse phonics rules into correct spelling without memorizing the correct phonogram.

[nature girl]

An open syllable does say its long vowel sound, but that rule does not help when needing to distinguish between ea, ee, ie, etc. There is no easy explanation as to why to spell here/hear or thief or leave or feet/feat or beam or seem/seam or believe or ______ with the correct phonogram. English is phonetic for decoding. It is next to impossible to reverse phonics rules into correct spelling without memorizing the correct phonogram.

 

So to summarize...memorizing spelling lists is the most productive method? It's probably how most of us learned (through spelling lists and picking spellings up naturally through reading.) I have such a hard time understanding how kids can possibly memorize tens of rules and be able to apply them while writing, without it taking forever.

[RootAnn]

/w/ and /wh/ are actually different sounds (I suck at hearing/feeling the difference, though), so when to use 'w' and when to use 'wh' is determined by which sound you hear - 'w' and 'wh' aren't two ways to spell the same sound.

 

There is no difference in how I say words with those two phonograms (were & when give the same amount of breath for me). I couldn't fathom what people were talking about when I read there is supposed to be a difference (on here, about two years ago). I finally heard someone differentiate these when I listened to Lincoln: A Photobiography on audiobook. The reader said "h-wigs" for Whigs. No one around where I live & no one I've ever spoken to said /h/w/I/ for why. 

 

Amy- (8fillthe)Heart is right - there aren't enough "rules" to tell you how to spell everything. You have to memorize which phonogram to use -- and frequently which one to use for which meaning:  bear / bare, fare / fair, there / their / they're, or the one that always gets my kids giggling:  male / mail. 

 

I'm not sure you'll like LOE any better than AAS because your expectations are not achievable. LOE is based on SWR which is based on Spalding's Writing Road to Reading. 

 

I let mine write with spelling mistakes and if it is for an assignment, we go back and edit it later. Some kids have a better visual memory than others. (Mine have basically no visual memory and that equals poor spelling for them until they can finally get the spelling memorized.)

[Crimson Wife]

/w/ and /wh/ are actually different sounds

Only in some American dialects. Not in mine (I grew up outside of Boston) and not in DH's either (he grew up near Philly). It's like the whole Mary/marry/merry thing.

[zarabellesmom]

I hate to agree with memorizing spelling words, but... Honestly, my daughter has a hard time memorizing anything. Understanding and thereby making it her own? Check! But spelling rules and then converting it into proper spelling? It seemed like too many steps for her. We made it through AAS 2 and quit about halfway through 3 because, while she knew the rules and the individual phonograms, she only knew the words in the context of the lesson and not in the dictation sentences and certainly not in her own writing. We switched to LoE. She was miserable with the "fiddlyness" (yes, I know that's not a word! lol) of AAS and I really liked the rules based approach to spelling. I was hoping LoE would solve both our problems. Also, I seem to have an addiction to new and shiny curriculums. :drool5:

 

To make a long story short, Sequential Spelling, however stupid that sounds, has really worked here. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I'm not sure what I'll do with my first grader next year. I've got three spelling programs here, (4 I guess, I bought a R&S book too, just remembered) and I have no idea what will be a good fit for her.

 

I did want to second RootAnn when she said you probably wouldn't like LoE any better.

[kolamum]

 

Another example is the double-consonant rule- other than memorization, no explanation has been given as to why you spell "until" with one l and "windmill" with two l's. Is it because one is a compound word?

 

 

But they did teach this rule. It's the Floss rule: F L & S are doubled at the end of a one syllable short vowel word. I think the idea for windmill is to build off of being able to spell wind & mill. Which is another lesson all together in regards to the varying different syllable breakdowns. BUT.. I do feel you. I have a child who needs to know WHY & as long as that's covered he rocks a step, if not it can take longer.. 

[amyc78]

Thank you everyone. It's not JUST the issue with rules that bugs me about AAS. They didn't invent our quirky language so I certainly can't blame them… Although I do think AAS sells its method based on the idea that spelling is logical and rules-based. Regardless, something about the program itself makes me crazy and I can't quite put my finger on it. I always feel a little flustered during lessons, scattered but not sure why… I really just want some SIMPLICITY…

 

We used Sonlight Language Arts for grade 1 and DS would memorize the words for the week no problem but he wasn't gaining any sort of long term ability to apply. As I said, he is a very advanced reader but I think that has actually hurt his spelling because he rarely sees or hears the phonetics of words- he just reads them. So we started using AAS which I really liked in the beginning because it taught him to segment and apply basic rules when spelling words. 

 

@kerrileanne99, would you mind sharing the link of the spelling rules? I think this would help DS and I out a ton. I just ordered the HTTS â„¢ and I'm wondering if reading through that, finishing up with AAS 2 and then starting at the appropriate level in HTTS will work for us.

 

Sorry to vent all my frustrations to all of you, I really do appreciate the feedback!

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Have you found anything better? DS7 is also an excellent reader. He can read almost anything. His writing is suffering because his ability to spell cannot keep up with his ability to compose. I really just want his spelling to "catch up" to his reading and composition abilities so that we can make writing an integral part of our language arts program without hi having to stop and ask me how to spell every other word in a sentence...

 

What is working with my 8-year-old and my 10-year-old (both went through the 1st two levels of AAS):

Targeted copywork and modeled dictation.  For this to work, you need to pay attention to what they are misspelling in their writing and target that.

 

1. Monday- I give them a selection to copy from our current content work that targets spelling and punctuation I know they need to work on.
2. Tuesday- I write Monday's selection on the whiteboard and we go through it word by word, noting all punctuation, applicable spelling rules, rule breakers, etc.  I make particular note of any misspelling patterns I've noticed.  My 8-year-old, for instance, would sometimes leave out the "e" in a verb that ends in "-ed", so I would point that out to him. I then erase the selection, and dictate it to them.  We go over their dictation and for any errors, I have them rewrite the word 3 times and then write it in a sentence.
3. Wednesday- I give them a new selection.
4. Thursday- modeled dictation of Wednesday's selection.

Rinse.  Repeat.

 

I haven't found it necessary to go over the same selection over and over.  Now that I think of it---I looked at the new Spelling You See samples and they are similar to what I actually do (and have been doing for months), but mine is customized to my kids and I can't fathom having them copy or write from dictation the same passage over and over again like that.

 

Copywork by itself did not improve their overall spelling or punctuation.  Drawing their attention to specific things did.  Both of them have improved their spelling and punctuation by leaps and bounds using this method alone.  I intend to go through the Natural Speller words lists to check them on words that don't happen to come up in their own writing.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

To make a long story short, Sequential Spelling, however stupid that sounds, has really worked here. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I'm not sure what I'll do with my first grader next year. I've got three spelling programs here, (4 I guess, I bought a R&S book too, just remembered) and I have no idea what will be a good fit for her.

 

I did want to second RootAnn when she said you probably wouldn't like LoE any better.

 

Sequential Spelling was a bust with my 10-year-old.  She simply did not retain the words she had "mastered," nor did she apply those patterns to other words.  :lol:

 

However, she is definitely a parts to whole type of person---I think she really just didn't SEE the patterns even though I was pointing the out to her---I suspect that it would have worked better with her younger brother who is more of a big picture, visual person.

[MerryAtHope]

One thing that helped me understand AAS better was when I read the article on Effective Spelling Strategies. Rules are only one of the strategies that AAS is teaching--the other main strategies are phonetic, visual, and morphemic. As you work through AAS with this in mind, you can really see when the program is emphasizing one or more of these. (For example, e_e vs. ee is primarily visual, though AAS does have a note that e_e is not very common, and that helped my kids on that one). W vs. WH can be taught phonetically (if they are different in your area, or if you use pronouncing for spelling), or visually. And so on. For me, it just helped me catch that overall vision of what the program was doing and where it was going. Later on, the program teaches students how to analyze words and decide which strategy/strategies to use when learning a word, and that's been extremely valuable here. 

 

Anyway, hope you find what works best for you! Merry :-)

[MerryAtHope]

Yeah, it's great to say that "ski," "spaghetti," and "yeti" are not English words, but given that they are commonly used in the English language and that the program does not teach word origins to kids (not saying that it should, just saying that it doesn't), 

 

Actually, in Level 7 it covers a fair amount of word origins, including 3 lessons on Latin roots, 1 on Latin plurals, 3 on Greek word parts, 4 on French loan words, 1 on Spanish, and 1 on Italian. Not exhaustive by any means, but enough to give students a good feel for common patterns with regard to language of origin. 

 

There really aren't very many words ending in "i" that we commonly use, so teaching them as exceptions worked fine here. 

[Chelli]

Check out Apples and Pears Spelling. It is basically how I spell and I'm a very good speller.

 

It will teach kids through morpheme and visual methods by repeating, repeating, repeating the spelling words through spiral study and dictation. There are a few spelling rules in the program, but not very many at all.

 

Apples and Pears is the only thing that has worked for my oldest. AAS frustrated her to no end with the tiles and choosing the wrong phonogram like 8Filltheheart was talking about.

 

Here's my review of A & P if you want to take a look.

[scootiepie]

Have you found anything better? DS7 is also an excellent reader. He can read almost anything. His writing is suffering because his ability to spell cannot keep up with his ability to compose. I really just want his spelling to "catch up" to his reading and composition abilities so that we can make writing an integral part of our language arts program without hi having to stop and ask me how to spell every other word in a sentence...

 

I think it is normal for a 7 yr old *not* to be able to spell everything he can read.     I know plenty of adults who can't do that.     Not that it's OK for an adult;  I understand you are trying to avoid that!     Give him time.    Some words will just require repeated exposure and before you know it, he'll get it.    

 

I don't love AAS but I'm going to finish the year (2) and look at Spelling Power and Spelling Workout.   Those are 2 that SWB suggested in a recent lecture I attended.   I'm also going to check out AAS 3.    I'm not ready to jump ship but this is one subject I feel a need to look around.       

[petepie2]

My oldest, a natural speller, is almost finished with AAS 7, so I've seen the whole kit and kaboodle. It's a great program, and even though I'm a natural speller, I've learned a ton myself.

 

My DS is on Level 3. He is not a natural speller, but AAS seems to be working for him. Starting in Level 3, you have to start using visual memory along with rules. For example, knowing when to use "a", "ai", "a-e" or "ay." There isn't a rule to know when to choose "ai" or "a-e." So we just do a lot of practice. If I know the origin of the word, I try to throw that info in, as well. I also do any kind of tricks I can think of to help him remember, i.e. "here" is in all the position words like "where" and "there." EAR is in "hear." Think "Thus SAITH the Lord" when you're trying to spell "said", etc. I'm teaching him to ask, "Does that look right? If not, what are my options for fixing it." That's where the rules come in. We also started Evan-Moor's Daily Paragraph Editing that has a few spelling errors here and there. It's helpful if he can at least recognize that something is spelled wrong. It's been slow going, but he's definitely moving forward.

[CafeDiem]

I found all the parts and pieces of AAS annoying. I also just wanted 1 master teacher guide that had all the rules with a list of words to practice each rule. I didn't need the bit by bit scripted lessons and a shelf full of books to buy. I wanted to be able to use an index to look up a rule when we came across it in our daily spelling. The book Uncovering the Logic of English was better for that. It is a nice book to have on the shelf for my reference... but not a program I'm trying to implement with the kids.

 

AAS did help my kiddos cement early reading skills (the older two did 1-3, the youngest only lvl 1) but it didn't improve their spelling skills much. We used it along with Explode the Code. Only 1 of my 3 seems able to take spelling rules and apply them to her own writing (she is a fairly natural speller)... but it doesn't always work and that really bugs her (she is quite the rule follower herself). The other two kids just have to memorize lists of similar words by repetition and studying. After trying many programs (AAS, Spelling Power, Sequential Spelling, Spell to Write and Read, Rod and Staff, Natural Speller, Spellwell...) I finally have a rhythm established for our spelling. I really like the Spelling Power test booklets and their way of studying spelling words (I buy those for the kids weekly pretests and tests)... but I didn't like their word lists or the daily tests that took too much mom time. So we use a simple workbook for spelling, but use the spelling power style of testing a couple days a week. All the dictionary markings included in the Rod and Staff program confused my son like crazy, so even though I liked their phonetic approach it was making spelling even more complicated for him.

 

A basic spelling workbook that groups similar words together, like Spelling Workout (or we used Seton's this past year) has been the best for us. My kids do the workbook pages Mon-Wed. My youngest also uses Spelling City for extra practice. Then they take a pretest using the Spelling Power booklets on Thursday, study using the SP method, then test again on Friday. Any words still wrong get added to the next week's list (which are very few). My son, who struggles the most with spelling, has improved immensely in the last 18 months now that he has a system for studying words... all the rules and phonics just got in his way.

 

Good luck finding a spelling system that works for you. As you can see from my graveyard of used curricula, it was a subject that we struggled with for a long time.

[zarabellesmom]

Seconding the recommendation for Uncovering the Logic of English as a resource for adults wanting to understand when and why.

[HomeschoolingHearts&Minds]

Actually, in Level 7 it covers a fair amount of word origins, including 3 lessons on Latin roots, 1 on Latin plurals, 3 on Greek word parts, 4 on French loan words, 1 on Spanish, and 1 on Italian. Not exhaustive by any means, but enough to give students a good feel for common patterns with regard to language of origin. 

 

There really aren't very many words ending in "i" that we commonly use, so teaching them as exceptions worked fine here. 

I stand corrected---I should have said "AAS does not teach word origins to kids (or instructors) in the early levels."  Again, I wasn't pointing to this as an area that only AAS is lacking, but an inherent difficulty in teaching early spelling.  I have recommended the early levels of AAS to many people.

 

We left AAS at level 3 because my children were incredibly frustrated about not being able to spell (yet) the things that they wanted to communicate in writing.  The program was holding them back, and I got the impression that this is what the OP is struggling with.

 

 

[Crimson Wife]

My DS has finished through AAS 5, and while we've taken a break from spelling to really concentrate on mastering cursive penmanship, I do plan on having him do levels 6 & 7 next school year. The lists in AAS have always been easy for him, but he's really benefitted from learning the rules. His big sister is a "natural" speller, but DS isn't.

[Tanikit]

Spelling just does not always follow a rule - there are just options for ways you can spell a particular sound - so "w" can be spelled "w" or "wh" wile and while are both words - you need to know what they mean and when to choose which (witch) spelling. That is visual memory and comes for the majority of people through extensive reading of correctly spelled (spelt) words.

 

when BUT - went

while and wile

which and witch 

why (like my, try, by) and wily (more than one syllable ending in E usually is a Y and without a double consonant it means the first syllable is open and therefore a long vowel)

 

And add an "a" to a "w" and things get more complicated 

what, water, walk, whale, wait, way, was, wallow, wall   :)

They still do not ALL have to be learnt be heart - there are rules to follow, but you still need some visual memory.

 

[Matryoshka]

And US English has a lot of changed spellings - you all seem to use peak (as in peak his interest) instead of pique which is what we would use. The changed spellings make spelling easier (plow vs plough) but I am not sure they make spelling rules easier.

 

Um, no, it's still pique, not peak here.  Well, they're different words.  Mary had a fit of pique when she couldn't climb to the peak of the mountain.  It piqued my interest that the peak of Mt. Everest is the tallest in the world.  People are just spelling it wrong.  Like using wallah instead of voila, or sale instead of sell (I don't even understand that switch-up, but I've seen it frequently).  One that gets me is faze vs. phase.  I want to spell the former word like the latter even when I mean the former.  Whoops.  I usually catch myself...

 

Plow instead of plough is indeed a legitimate US spelling change.

 

One of my dds is a British spelling snob.  She likes to use British spelling rules, even though it gets her in trouble sometimes now that she isn't homeschooled anymore (I see Brit spelling as a legitimate variant, so I never corrected her except to point it out, but she was doing it on purpose, so...)  I myself like to use travelled/travelling instead of traveled/traveling.  The US spelling looks wrong to me.  I use grey/gray interchangeably. 

 

[hepatica]

A simple book that contains all the phonics rules, word lists through 12th grade, and spiraled dictation at a fraction of the cost of 1 level of AAS is How to Teach Spelling's TM.

 

We also dropped AAS and moved to "How to Teach Spelling." Neither of my older two children has great visual memory, and my middle child was especially frustrated because she would remember all the rules, but just didn't have the visual memory to remember which digraph to use when. I think I still have a couple upper levels of AAS unopened on my shelf. I now just have them work through the HTS workbooks. They have been exposed to the rules, and the rest is just practice.

 

Honestly, it took my oldest dd until about age 11-12 to start to remember how most common words are spelled. I think that was mainly a function of repeated exposure over many years, and not any particular program. At that point she was typing most of her assignments (she is dyslexic) and the highlighting of misspelled words in the text really helped her (I have to admit, texting her friends also helped).  I just decided that I did not have enough time in the day to spend too much time on spelling. My 10 year old works on spelling for about 15 minutes a day, and we correct her mistakes in writing, and that's it. 

 

That said, I may use AAS level one with my 6yo next year. He likes the tiles and it is a good intro to constructing words for young kids. But, once he is reading well, we will probably move to HTTS with him also. It's just easier. 

[ChrissySC]

A long time ago someone posted this ... http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/spelling_books.html

 

I love the site, and I love the spellers, like Webster's.

 

Don't forget Dictation Day by Day too.

 

AND - Simply Spelling.  That has been my MOST FAVORITE of all spelling programs.  It uses studied spelling, and I coupled it with actual spelling rules and lessons.  It has done wonders in our house.

[Tanikit]

I use lists of linked words to teach a particular spelling pattern and then on the wall in our homeschool room we have a picture page of all the phonemes that say the same sound - so when DD writes a word and it looks wrong she can look up the other options for that sound and try them til it looks right - if nothing looks right she can ask me. But mostly my child has learnt spelling through dictation - when she has finished doing the most common words (Dolch words mostly for now) phonetically then we will probably switch to learned dictation. Right now she is still learning what all the options are for certain sounds, but we are also moving to multisyllable words at the same time and dealing with syllable rules. Building vocabulary is also important for spelling as well as reading.

 

I gave my husband a spelling test the other day just to show him how difficult it is to teach spelling. Here are the words he had to write:

 

bolt, colt, dolton/dalton, fault, halt, jolt, moult, poult, salt, vault/volt - he just didn't know dolton/dalton - one a name and the other a scientific term

 

[ElizabethB]

You could watch through my spelling lessons and use my rules, that explains many of those things. Some you do just have to memorize. I like Spelling Plus with Spelling dictation, the spelling dictation takes the words and lets you practice writing them in actual sentences.

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Spelling/spellinglessonsl.html

 

These charts are also helpful:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/Phonics%20Lsns/phonogramsoundch.html

[Gentlemommy]

English phonics rules are about 96% effective for decoding. However you cannot rule your way into spelling. There are literally multiple phonetically correct options that break no rules. They simply have to memorize which is the correct spelling. Some rules help narrow options,some have a short list of exceptions, but it is not by any stretch a given.

 

Thank you for explaining this so eloquently.

[TGHEALTHYMOM]

A long time ago someone posted this ... http://www.donpotter.net/education_pages/spelling_books.html

 

I love the site, and I love the spellers, like Webster's.

 

Don't forget Dictation Day by Day too.

 

AND - Simply Spelling.  That has been my MOST FAVORITE of all spelling programs.  It uses studied spelling, and I coupled it with actual spelling rules and lessons.  It has done wonders in our house.

I am using the Don potter remedial lessons and I printed out the game.  I still need to download the Webster Speller, it is free.  There is a Wealth of info. on the site about where to start and many free phonics pages to print out in black and white.  There are videos too, but I have not been able to watch them.

 

I have the LOE app on my iphone and our littles take turns with practicing those.  I also read Doodling Dragons to our boys. I suggest watching some of Denise Eide's videos if you are interested in LOE.