Is AAS enough for phonics?

[FairProspects]

If you have read any of my other posts, you know that reading lessons = pain in our house, and thankfully, AAS has solved all reading fights. That being said, is it enough for phonics instruction or at some point should I be looking to add something to it?

[Sue G in PA]

I can only tell you that at age 5, my ds was not interested in reading...at.all. He wasn't interested in learning letters, sounds, reading or even being read to! This year, he is 6 (almost 7) and just now learning to read CVC words (and sometimes it is painful here, too!). We use The Reading Lesson and he groans everything I bring it out. We also use some Phonics readers I had left over from our K12 days. That being said...he LOVES AAS! And, he can spell much better than he can read! I will dictate words like cat, hat, bat or pig, big and jig and he can spell them with the tiles or even handwritten w/out problem! Those same words written out on a page will still give him trouble, even if he has seen the work 100 times before. I say, use what works for your ds. If he likes AAS...use it! Bring out the readers or whatever you were using later. It might take time for it to "click" with him like it did with my son. Do you use the dictation in AAS? You could have him read you his sentences or phrases when he is finished writing them for some reading practice. HTH

[MaryCatherine]

I think AAS moves too slowly to be used as phonics teaching. It would take several years to get through all 6 books. But I think it's absolutely fantastic for review and it has greatly improved my younger son's reading ability - nice bonus.

[MerryAtHope]

If you have read any of my other posts, you know that reading lessons = pain in our house, and thankfully, AAS has solved all reading fights. That being said, is it enough for phonics instruction or at some point should I be looking to add something to it?

 

It can be, lots of people do use it for teaching reading. As apayne mentioned, it might move too slowly for learning to read (although if you have a child who is struggling with learning to read, it might not move too slowly). One thing you could do if you need to speed up the reading instruction is to introduce the rest of the phonograms through the cards or the CD-ROM that comes in the Starter Kit.

 

You can also use the info in the books for reading practice and then go over it more thoroughly for spelling instruction later on. So you would be working at two different places in the series--one for reading and one for spelling. The word cards and the dictations can be used for reading practice. Some of the generalizations in the lesson will help for reading, while others might not be needed for reading purposes. As an example--in level 1 when it teaches when C can say /s/, that's also helpful for reading. But learning when to use C and when to use K for the /k/ sound doesn't necessarily help with reading.

 

HTH some! My kids' reading improved greatly with doing AAS also.

 

Merry :-)