All About Spelling

[persephone43]

I was trying to figure out where to place my 9 yos/3rd grade and the website says "Level One will form a solid foundation for future lessons" and I have a terrible speller on my hands that needs a solid foundation. In ps he has consistantly failed his weekly sp test. I dont mind starting from the beginning but my concern is the price. Is this really worth the money?

Also, is it necessary to work up through all of the levels to 6, one year at a time? That seems like a lot of spelling instruction when we could eventually get to other things when he has mastered the basics. Or am I missing something?

[jenL]

This is our 2nd year using AAS, and we are enjoying it. Initially, I was worried about retention with my son; however, within 2 days of posting a question about it here, it's as if the light has gone on with him, and he's really gettting it now!

 

The program is SOLID. With a child who has gaps and is a poor speller, it is definitely necessary to go back to the beginning. This will fill in any holes as well as provide confidence for your child. Just warn him that you have to start at the beginning, and his effort with it will allow you to move through it very quickly, so it won't feel "easy" for long.

 

HTH!

[sixpence1978]

This is our 2nd year using AAS, and we are enjoying it. Initially, I was worried about retention with my son; however, within 2 days of posting a question about it here, it's as if the light has gone on with him, and he's really gettting it now!

 

The program is SOLID. With a child who has gaps and is a poor speller, it is definitely necessary to go back to the beginning. This will fill in any holes as well as provide confidence for your child. Just warn him that you have to start at the beginning, and his effort with it will allow you to move through it very quickly, so it won't feel "easy" for long.

 

HTH!

 

:iagree:

 

I would absolutely start at the beginning. You will more than likely make it through Levels 1 and 2 in the first year. I haven't moved beyond that so I can't say how quickly the other levels are finished.

 

For a struggling speller, I think the price is worth it...especially if you factor in the resale value of the program.

[robsiew]

We have been extremely pleased with AAS. I would recommend starting at the beginning as well. You will move through Level 1 quickly and possibly Level 2 also, but really.... it's worth it. Especially for a struggling speller. You will likely get through more than one book a year, but it really depends on how your child progresses. The beauty is you can speed up and slow down as need dictates. My 4th grader is a strong speller and he's in Level 5 over half way through. My 3rd grader who **could** be a good speller, but doesn't care :glare: is in Level 4 in the first half. My 1st grader is in Level 2, but we move very slowly. It's great to be able to tailor instruction to meet each child's needs. I don't think you will be sorry you invested. And, once you don't need it you can sell it. AAS has a very good resale rate!

[In2why]

We began with the first book and a lesson takes only a few minutes. On concepts I knew he knew, we learned the rule and he wrote my dictations on the white board. I didn't bother with the tiles. If you have an older child I believe that you can do a couple of lessons a day in less than 20 minutes. I would just make sure that you do the review of the cards that there were any hesitation about until the child has the rule down pat.

[persephone43]

Ok, i'll start with level one and hope this is finally the answer to my prayers. Thank you for your replies!!:001_smile:

[MerryAtHope]

Ok, i'll start with level one and hope this is finally the answer to my prayers. Thank you for your replies!!:001_smile:

 

I hope it works out for you! I tried to start my kids (then they were at the end of 3rd & 5th grades) in Level 2. But I soon realized they had gaps from Level 1 and we needed to go back and fill those in. My kids had already memorized how to spell the Level 1 words, but they didn't know the why's--they didn't know why cat uses C but kept uses K, they didn't know the multiple sounds for many of the letters--they knew long & short vowel sounds but not that O has 4 sounds, CH has 3, S has 2 etc... We only needed about 3 weeks to fill in the gaps from level 1 (I didn't make them spell all of the easy words, but I did pull out words and have them teach the concept back to me to demonstrate mastery of the concepts, since they already had mastery of the words.

 

Here's a link about which level to start with, 1 or 2, if you want to double check. And they have a 1-year guarantee, so if you use it & decide it's not for you, you can still return it.

 

Hope it works out! Merry :-)