AAS users chime in

[MyLife]

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Edited December 9, 2017 by MyLife

[alisha]

I have a 10 year old in AAS3 (we started late) who does the same thing, so I'm listening in. Like yours,  he does great in the lessons, but isn't able to implement it in other writing.

[El...]

I think that's normal, but that they can grow past it.  It takes forever.  We're on AAS level 6, and Dd is a fairly natural speller, but every few paragraphs will have a spelling error.  At this point, I say, "There's a word misspelled somewhere here.  Look for it."  She can usually find and fix it.  It helps to have her identify the rule as she fixes the problem.

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

My 8 yo is also a terrible speller, and I switched away from Spelling Workout to AAS this year.  We are almost done with Level 1 review.  I have no "advice down the road" to give.  My oldest is a natural speller, but I am just giving it time with this one and continually reinforcing.  Some of it can be a maturity gap, and some of it is just a need for repetition.  There was zero retention with SW.  At least with AAS, I have a rule to go back to and say, "Remember..."  I don't expect it to fully internalize right away because he isn't a natural speller, but I like all the review of rules and dictation in AAS that I feel offer better retention long term than a one and done list every week.  I think this is a marathon more than a sprint, and reading, writing and spelling will all work together to improve over time from continued practice.

[MyLife]

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by MyLife

[MyLife]

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by MyLife

[My4arrows]

What we do each day is review the rules we've learned already. That refreshes in DS mind what they are. Then we do the review part of the lesson, learn new lesson and work again on reviewing words as needed. The second day we do the phrases and sentences which already incorporate review of past words. If he gets something wrong I remind him of the rule or ask him to try again. This is for my struggling speller at 10 and my more natural speller at 5.

Try different ways for practicing spelling- writing on paper, tiles, out loud. One way may help him remember better.

[MerryAtHope]

Very normal! Some kids are in junior high before they are really ready and able to put these skills all together in outside writing. 

 

Some things you can do when you are reviewing AAS or doing dictations: 

 

"There's one mistake. See if you can find it." Praise for any he can find. See if he knows how to fix it--if so, great! "How did you know how to fix it?" (See if he can verbalize the rule--if not, ask him if he can think of a rule that applies. Just telling him the rule allows him to be more passive--if he is thinking it through and remembering the rule and then applying it, that's a more active form of learning. Of course, if he can't remember, do tell him--and then also put the word card and blue key card that relates back in daily review. 

 

For something like "proublem," ask him to read *exactly* what he wrote. Sometimes just that will help a student be able to fix their work. If not, then try saying something like, "I would read this as 'prowblem.' [emphasize the /ow/ sound]. We want 'problem.' Do you know how to change it?"

 

Two articles that are really helpful: 

• Helping Kids Achieve Automaticity
• How to Handle Spelling Mistakes

Really make use of that review box--being able to customize the review to your student's needs is a big part of what makes AAS work. I found one of mine really needed a lot of review.

 

I also found it really helped to make sure I didn't move on until my kids could easily teach the lesson back to me with the tiles. I used to start each day saying something like, â€œThis week we are studying how to spell the /k/ sound at the end of a word. Do you remember what our choices are for that sound?†If your son remembers, great, praise him! Then ask a follow-up question, such as, “How do we decide which one to use?†At whatever point he doesn’t remember, review it. Then, walk through a tile demonstration whether he remembered or not, and have him teach it back to you. 

 

Then with the review cards, I used to wait until a Monday before moving any to the "mastered" tab. If my kids had been teaching me the concept for several days with the tiles and then also remembered the cards easily after the weekend (without having to self-correct or stop to think about things), then it seemed more likely to stay mastered.

 

Oh, another good article that really helped me tweak my methods for both kids--Help Your Child's Memory. Hang in there, your son will get there!

[knitgrl]

Our dd is not a natural speller, but has significantly improved with AAS. We go over the cards that she's had trouble with and we don't move on to the next lesson until she can spell everything correctly two days in a row. Sometimes that means we finish a step in 3-4 days, sometimes it is 10 days. If she spells something wrong, I remind her of the rule, and she can see her mistake. Or I ask her to sound out what she wrote, and she corrects it from there. Sometimes, she just has a mental block. I think we have spent 4 or 5 months on the word "April." I did continue on with the lessons because that was the only word that was tripping her up, but I kept it in her spelling list until she could spell it correctly on a regular basis.

[Seeking Squirrels]

DD9 was the same a year ago. Aced her lessons, didn't carry any of it over into other writing and forgot previous lessons when the rules came up in new ones. She still knew the rules, but had to be reminded of them every time. Sometime over the last year it clicked and she does a lot better now. She's in 3 now and doing really well. She still sometimes forgets a rule here or there, especially outside of spelling lessons, but even then I can just tell her to give the word another look and she figures out what she missed. She's actually become a really good speller in general and will randomly spell words she hears because she likes the letter patterns. 

[MyLife]

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by MyLife

[MyLife]

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by MyLife

[fourisenough]

DD9 was the same a year ago. Aced her lessons, didn't carry any of it over into other writing and forgot previous lessons when the rules came up in new ones. She still knew the rules, but had to be reminded of them every time. Sometime over the last year it clicked and she does a lot better now. She's in 3 now and doing really well. She still sometimes forgets a rule here or there, especially outside of spelling lessons, but even then I can just tell her to give the word another look and she figures out what she missed. She's actually become a really good speller in general and will randomly spell words she hears because she likes the letter patterns.

Could have written this almost exactly (except DD is 8.5). Just be patient: it could take a couple of years to reach this point. Repetition over time is the key to mastery. Tell yourself you're in this for the long haul! After trying MANY other products, I'm convinced AAS is the best thing on the market for a struggling speller (not necessarily for kids with LDs- I'm talking about those in the neurotypical range). Good luck!

[nixpix5]

Very normal! Some kids are in junior high before they are really ready and able to put these skills all together in outside writing.

 

Some things you can do when you are reviewing AAS or doing dictations:

 

"There's one mistake. See if you can find it." Praise for any he can find. See if he knows how to fix it--if so, great! "How did you know how to fix it?" (See if he can verbalize the rule--if not, ask him if he can think of a rule that applies. Just telling him the rule allows him to be more passive--if he is thinking it through and remembering the rule and then applying it, that's a more active form of learning. Of course, if he can't remember, do tell him--and then also put the word card and blue key card that relates back in daily review.

 

For something like "proublem," ask him to read *exactly* what he wrote. Sometimes just that will help a student be able to fix their work. If not, then try saying something like, "I would read this as 'prowblem.' [emphasize the /ow/ sound]. We want 'problem.' Do you know how to change it?"

 

Two articles that are really helpful:

• Helping Kids Achieve Automaticity
• How to Handle Spelling Mistakes

Really make use of that review box--being able to customize the review to your student's needs is a big part of what makes AAS work. I found one of mine really needed a lot of review.

 

I also found it really helped to make sure I didn't move on until my kids could easily teach the lesson back to me with the tiles. I used to start each day saying something like, “This week we are studying how to spell the /k/ sound at the end of a word. Do you remember what our choices are for that sound?†If your son remembers, great, praise him! Then ask a follow-up question, such as, “How do we decide which one to use?†At whatever point he doesn’t remember, review it. Then, walk through a tile demonstration whether he remembered or not, and have him teach it back to you.

 

Then with the review cards, I used to wait until a Monday before moving any to the "mastered" tab. If my kids had been teaching me the concept for several days with the tiles and then also remembered the cards easily after the weekend (without having to self-correct or stop to think about things), then it seemed more likely to stay mastered.

 

Oh, another good article that really helped me tweak my methods for both kids--Help Your Child's Memory. Hang in there, your son will get there!

This 100%. Such great advice here.

 

The only other thing I would add is some kids do better with spelling when it is within a "muscle memory" approach so make sure you are adding in an age appropriate but good amount of copy work each week that showcases words that use the rules you are working on. Copywork really has been the thing for us that reinforces it and plants I firmly in their brains. My kids will be able to tell they spelled something wrong and it encourages them to rethink how to use rules to spell it.

[Maryam]

I, like other posters here, switched dd (who wasn’t a natural speller at all) from Spelling Workout to AAS. The main difference is that she understands the rule, so even if she makes a mistake she can figure out why (sometimes with some prompting and others on her own). I feel like programs where kids more or less memorize lists, like Spelling Workout, don’t really benefit students who aren’t natural spellers. So I think if you hang in there and apply some of MerryAtHope’s great advice your ds will improve.

 

 

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