AAS...what if my child can't write

[lovinmomma]

I know that 1 of the big components to an O-G approach is writing the phonograms. Should I wait to continue with AAS1 until my children can write? They are ready otherwise. Also, I'm not that interested in pushing them to write. My oldest Dd would be fine, but my son probably wouldn't. I'm more of the mind to wait on handwriting until their fine motor is more developed.

Edited September 3, 2010 by lovinmomma
Punctuation mistake

[In2why]

I know that 1 of the big components to an O-G approach is writing the phonograms. Should I wait to continue with AAS1 until my children can write. They are ready otherwise. Also, I'm not that interested in pushing them to write. My oldest Dd would be fine, but my son probably wouldn't. I'm more of the mind to wait on handwriting until their fine motor is more developed.

 

 

I had a strange thought. Why would a child who couldn't write need to know how to spell?

 

Although I will say I love how AAS backs up our phonics, and I think you could do it with the tiles and not need to write at all if you wanted to.

[Amber in AUS]

My DD could write but didn't really like to when we switched from ETC to AAS. I just had her use the tiles to do all the spelling but also offered her the whiteboard marker should the mood take her. Now she prefers to use the marker and write her words but in the beginning it was the tiles all the way. I don't think it matters much, I have also started my DS and he isn't writing yet, but he is getting heaps from starting now. It is helping his reading a bunch!

[lovinmomma]

I had a strange thought. Why would a child who couldn't write need to know how to spell?

 

Although I will say I love how AAS backs up our phonics, and I think you could do it with the tiles and not need to write at all if you wanted to.

 

I'm using AAS as our phonics. Waiting on AAR, but my children could go pretty quickly through the steps if there wasn't the writing.

[robsiew]

My 6 y/o has trouble with fine motor. His writing is... well.... not great. However, he's getting a ton out of AAS. We started with very little writing... used mostly the tiles last year. He LOVES the white board though so over time he's gone from writing just a few words to actually writing sentences on the board. My ds doesn't write much either, but we're building a great visual memory for him so that once he does start writing more he will be spelling great because he'll know the rules!

[MerryAtHope]

In addition to the tiles, you can use some tactile ways to practice spelling, like writing in the sand with a finger etc... These are good for kids who know how to form letters but don't have a lot of stamina or hand strength yet. Here's an article with ideas.

 

Merry :-)

[lovinmomma]

In addition to the tiles, you can use some tactile ways to practice spelling, like writing in the sand with a finger etc... These are good for kids who know how to form letters but don't have a lot of stamina or hand strength yet. Here's an article with ideas.

 

Merry :-)

 

I should mention that I haven't taught them to form the letters, yet. I plan on doing that after they have their numbers all correctly learned, but even then it will be quite awhile before I can dictate a sound card and them be able to write the letter from memory. They could pick out the letter, but remembering how to form the letter so quickly is another story.

[FairProspects]

I should mention that I haven't taught them to form the letters, yet. I plan on doing that after they have their numbers all correctly learned, but even then it will be quite awhile before I can dictate a sound card and them be able to write the letter from memory. They could pick out the letter, but remembering how to form the letter so quickly is another story.

 

This is actually why we dropped AAS, although I do plan on coming back to it. There was too much dictation and ds did not have the motor planning skills to do it. We worked through HWOT Pre-K & K, and now I am more confident that he could handle it. For us, the knowing how to write was a key component for success with AAS or any other OG program as dictation is a crucial part of this theory.

[MerryAtHope]

I should mention that I haven't taught them to form the letters, yet. I plan on doing that after they have their numbers all correctly learned, but even then it will be quite awhile before I can dictate a sound card and them be able to write the letter from memory. They could pick out the letter, but remembering how to form the letter so quickly is another story.

 

You can do level 1 with only tiles, but you'd need at least another set of tiles to do level 2, because the dictations include phrases and sentences.

 

The other issue is that Level 1 starts out very gradual--first just words, then adds in some 2 word phrases. Level 2 has 6 phrases and 6 sentences of dictation per step. The sentences are short, but still, this is a step up from what you have in level 1. Level 1 really helps transition a child to the longer writing of L2.

 

You might be able to gradually work a child (who didn't previously write) up to the writing in L2 by allowing the steps to take more days, doing some of it with tiles and alternate methods (like the tactile methods), but I bring it up as something to be aware of.

 

If you are going to use AAS to teach reading and phonics, then you could use the word cards for reading practice, and the dictations for reading practice, teach the rules and do some tile work, but save the spelling lessons for later--then go back through it to teach spelling, and at that point do the writing. Many kids learn to read faster than they learn to spell anyway, so it makes sense to let them move ahead faster for reading purposes. You can work at two different places in the program.

 

Merry :-)

[lovinmomma]

Ack! Now I'm over here looking at handwriting programs which makes me want to :banghead:. Sigh. Maybe I need to walk away from my computer LOL