AAS dictation/writing

[golfcartmama]

Just a quick question (sorry if it's been asked, when I searched I couldn't find it)...do you have your child write the dictated words and then phrases as well? We are plowing through book one and I know we will slow down on book 2, but for now we do more than one lesson (section) per day and he hasn't made mistakes yet, but it seems like an awful lot of writing. Today we had 15 phrases and 10 words just in one lesson and we did two, plus he had grammar, science narration and history to write for.

 

Do you think it would be ok, while we're in one to have him maybe write 1/2 and spell out loud the others to cut down the writing? Or am I missing something with the writing?

[MomOfOneFunOne]

We do (most of) the words on the board once but I don't dictate them for her to write. I dictate the phrases and sentences, though. The instructions do say to dictate the wds after doing them on the board but we don't. If we hit a rough patch and they don't stick or get difficult, I imagine I'll start.

[siloam]

Stacy,

 

I personally would slow it down in order to do the writing, for two reasons. First is there is a connection made between the physical writing of a word and recalling it later. I can't cite studies, but it just made sense to me. Second, the phrases are intended to give the child practice in recalling the rules and words outside of their nice neat context. This is to try to reinforce the correct spelling in an environment that is more like their daily work.

 

But at this level, if it is all easy it probably won't really hurt him. In level 2 you are going to have the same amount of phrases, and a set of sentences. You also begin working with other pieces like a homophone list and silent e book (isn't that in level 2?). My biggest concern is to start a habit then one day realize it isn't sticking and you need to back track and add the stuff back in. You know best if that would be likely to happen or not.

 

Heather

[Daisy]

We wrote out the spelling words and completed the dictation of the phrases. I didn't always have him write out all the words for extra practice. If it was too much, I just broke it down over two days. We still completed the first book in one semester.

[Jennay]

My DS age 7 has done Levels 1 - 4. I would often ask him to spell some of the words orally instead of writing them all out. He has had no problems with retention.

[Amber in AUS]

We are currently in level 3. We write and/or use the tiles to spell all of the words on the basic list. We hardly ever do the extra words, DD just gets it. We always write the dictation phrases or sentences, yes, all of them. Sometimes we write them on the whiteboard and sometimes in a notebook, whichever DD prefers at the time. We don't do all the words, phrases, sentences in one go. I make it a manageable amount depending on how much writing we have already done for the day.

[MerryAtHope]

Just a quick question (sorry if it's been asked, when I searched I couldn't find it)...do you have your child write the dictated words and then phrases as well? We are plowing through book one and I know we will slow down on book 2, but for now we do more than one lesson (section) per day and he hasn't made mistakes yet, but it seems like an awful lot of writing. Today we had 15 phrases and 10 words just in one lesson and we did two, plus he had grammar, science narration and history to write for.

 

Do you think it would be ok, while we're in one to have him maybe write 1/2 and spell out loud the others to cut down the writing? Or am I missing something with the writing?

 

I think it depends. If you know that your son already can spell the words in a list, then he's not learning something new by writing them again. Sometimes people take kids through level 1 just to fill in the gaps their kids have in conceptual knowledge. If your focus is teaching concepts, I'd have him demonstrate on a few words and when you know he understands the concept, move on.

 

When you reach lessons where he doesn't know how to spell all of the words, or if you are not sure that he knows, then I would slow down and do all of the words and all of the dictation.

 

My caveat to this would be if you have a student who needs the writing practice. AAS presents a gradual progression--level 1 has just phrases. Level 2 has 6 phrases and 6 sentences per step. Level 3 has 12 sentences per step. Partway through it adds on "The Writing Station" where kids write some of their own sentences, or a short story or vignette if they want. In Level 4 the sentences get longer. From that perspective, it's very helpful to gradually build up stamina in writing and do the dictations. But if stamina isn't an issue and your child can already write phrases and sentences, you don't need to be concerned about this part.

 

BTW, you don't need to do a lesson all in one day--you can spread it over several days--as much or as little time as needed. Aim for 15-20 minutes a day for spelling and take it at his pace. HTH! Merry :-)