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Confession: All About Spelling Vs. How to Teach Spelling


Lovedtodeath
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I did a search for my last comments about HTTS so that I could admit to everyone that I found AAS very cheap used and bought it. :D

 

I have no doubts that it is based on HTTS, but it has some incremental steps that HTTS is missing, probably pulled from an OG reading program.

 

DD was balking at sounding out and learning phonograms and basically anything phonetic about spelling. Having AAS is worth it for me because I am absolutely confident that I am teaching it the correct way, and that I am not making her do something she isn't ready for, or missing any steps. I need that confidence to stand up to DDs bad attitude. I will probably switch back to HTTS after this first level of AAS because then I can implement their methods with HTTS, plus the beginning steps are already taken care of.

 

I have been recommending HTTS instead of AAS all over. I have egg on my face. :tongue_smilie:

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I have been recommending HTTS instead of AAS all over. I have egg on my face. :tongue_smilie:

 

No eggs from me! I bought 2 levels of AAS, and then bought HTTS after reading some of your posts. HTTS has been much better for my older boys. :001_smile:

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I don't think you need to apologize. Mish-mashing ideas from numerous programs to make one that works for you is what creates a teacher. :) I don't use ANY curriculum the way written (except for math). I take my yrs of the good, bad, and ugly, sift through it all and create something that works.

 

Sounds to me like that is exactly what you are planning on doing. I bet your creation will surpass both.

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Nope! You are allowed to change your mind. :D

 

How easy the words are in AAS is a problem for some kids. My oldest probably really should be doing something else (spells at a 7th grade level), but she likes AAS and wants to finish it, so we onward we march...

 

I have no idea how HTTS is structure, but I know that AAS is also similar to Barton Reading and Wilson Reading. They have different sequences and Barton and Wilson focus more on unit phonics (-ont, -onk, ect...) where AAS will have the child sound those out instead of teach them as units. Too bad you didn't live next door and I could browse your HTTS and you could browse my AAS. Wouldn't that be fun? :party:

 

Heather

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I agree, you are certainly allowed to change your mind!

 

My confession: I taught with whole word methods for a month before I changed my mind. (1994, my first tutoring student. She made more progress in 1 hour after the switch to phonics than in the first month!)

 

I hope to get a copy of AAS soon. While I don't "need" it, it sounds and looks great and I'd like to try it out, I don't like to recommend anything I haven't used personally on an actual student. (Some of the worst designed curriculum, I have a theory that they were all designed by people who have never seen an actual student. Some of the best curriculum, they keep updating based on work with actual students...like PP, I do like the 9th edition better than the 1st, although the 1st is better than many people's 10th editions--she worked with several real students before she wrote it! I also have a theory that the absolute worst curriculum is written by people who have not only never seen an actual student but have not seen an actual child for years and have forgotten their own childhood.)

 

I wouldn't have payed full price for AAS either, but a friend has promised to send the books in exchange for books I no longer need. I plan to try it out next year on my daughter and hopefully some new remedial students...I'm sure there are plenty in California, some of the schools there not only teach a ton of sight words, they have speed drills on them. :eek:

 

Of course, we have about a bazillion boxes to unpack first when we finish our vacation.

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Carmen, I wasn't aware of your troubles (I don't read every post on the board, haha), but you should know that HTTS just isn't age appropriate with a 7 yo. The thought process as well as the words just aren't what a 7 yo needs. AAS, although not something I've used, is perfectly fine. It's a Spalding spin-off, and Spalding studied under OG, hence the connection. (I may be wrong on my history, but I think that's right, that Spalding studied under O and G, hence the similarities between OG and Spalding or Spalding spin-off approaches.)

 

We all eat crow around here occasionally. It's the price of having such big mouths--the big birds and feet fit in. :) (That's only me, lol.)

 

I just want to say one other thing. A 7 yo is still so willing to please, I think a "bad attitude" on her part may well be either environmental or a response to what is being thrown at her. Bad attitudes are in teens. With 7 yo's, it's being hungry, being overwhelmed, physical problems, etc. Truly. I even think about this with my 10 yo, as I try to sort out, when things are sticky, whether the problem is ME or her. But I'm pretty convinced, looking back on our days, that when she was younger her balking was a sign that I was missing her clues. So I'd take a break, come back at it fresh, and really try to listen to those clues. Don't make it hard. Play some games. Do a learning styles assessment for free at http://www.educate.com and use reinforcement/practice methods that play to her best learning style. Figure out what makes her tick or what motivates her and then use that. For instance, my dd is seriously home eccy, I mean SERIOUSLY. She likes to sculpt, decorate, read, sew, shop, and doesn't really give a whit about formal schoolwork. So if I had been really smart when she was that age, I would have found ways to turn cooking into spelling, sculpting into spelling, sewing into spelling. But no, I'm dense and just had her write words. Also, I shouldn't have worried nearly so much about it. All that stuff we worried about started sticking naturally this past year (4th gr, age 9). I think it was developmental.

 

I have HTTS btw, got it around the age your dd is, during one of our "everything is going wrong, gotta change" stages. When I stopped spelling, she took off. Like I said, I think it was all developmental. :)

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