Spelling--AAS?--for a remedial 3rd grader.

[yellowperch]

My DS learned to read in Russian before English. After a lot of hard work he's on track in reading in English but is still horribly behind in spelling. (Russian is a tough language to learn but reading and writing are purely phonic processes so learning to read is easier than it is in English.

 

He's was in an American public school this year for the first time, and had weekly spelling tests. He tended to get 100s and 90s. But when he writes--and luckily he likes to write--he'll misspell words such as when, are, anyplace, etc. He'll misspell about 50 percent of the words he uses.

 

I'm thinking of ordering AAS but I'm wondering what level to buy and how good this program might be in general for a child like mine. I'm also wondering if I really need the starter kit. I have lots of manipulatives--magnetic letter tiles (but not colored ones), felt letters, cards,etc. I'll buy them if I need them but I don't need another item I don't actually use.

 

Thank you for your help.

[mom2att]

Well, my AAS experience is limited, as we only just started with it, but so far, so good! My nearly 9-year-old second grader has great difficultly with spelling. I wanted to be sure to not miss anything, so we started with level one and are moving quickly through it. This has given us the opportunity to get used to how the program works, and has helped him enjoy it more because it's easy.

 

I would bite the bullet and get the starter kit. There are more than just standard letters with the tiles--there are lots of letter combinations that you'll use as the lessons progress, and if you're like me it's so much easier just to have it there, ready to go.

 

Hope this helps!

[jensway]

I started level 1 with my 5th grader because his spelling was poor. We went through level 1 fairly quickly, but it did have rules that have helped him. We finished level 1 and 2 in his 5th grade school year. So you might want to get level 1 & 2, and go through 1 as quick as your child is ready.

[tarana]

We just finished Level-1 with my 7 yr old going into 2nd grade. Starting at Level-1 help build her confidence level. It practised her to sound out the words.

 

There were some rules my girls were not aware of that we found in Level-1. For example, why GRASS has 2 ss at the end. As per their school books, the school should have taught them open/closed syllabals, but appears the teacher did not have time.

 

I highly recommend starting at at Level-1.