MominIN Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I am seriously thinking of doing AAS next year. I will have four schooling and planned on using it with all of them. I'm a little worried that it will be too time consuming. Does anyone use it with that many kids? I won't be able to teach any of them together, right? I think the program looks great, but I don't want to bite of more than I can chew. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommee & Baba Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I use AAS with my 2 children. We LOVE it!! BUT I can say that it is what you make it. You can make it quick and solid and you can make it long and time consuming but still SOLID! With my dd5 each step varies in time but on average 1 step takes 20 min. However on occasion we will split a step over 2 days as she's just not into the day. With my dd7 she's doing level 1 as well as we just found AAS and she is flying! In a 20 min time frame she can do on average 3 steps and we'll even do all the additional spelling words as she LOVES to spell! I do think you can do it with many children, allow them to go at their pace, have a notebook to keep notes on each child's progress or purchase all children their own cards. Both my dd's have their own set of cards as keeping notes just wasn't jiving with my teaching style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paige Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I do it with 2 of mine at the same time. They take turns answering questions and spelling words. They are at the same level, though. I tried it with my oldest and he was just too far ahead of level 1 or 2 to start over with it and we do something else for him. It is still a rules based program but it is more mature and independent. I think you could combine several kids at one time if they are about the same level. It is time consuming but it has been great for the younger 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MominIN Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 Thanks!! I think I'll definitely give it a try. I may try to combine a few of the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 I use it currently with 2 kids, most likely next year I'll have 3 kids using it (if little guy is ready and oldest hasn't moved to something else) I make it a 15 minute session no matter what. I simply set a timer and how ever far we get in that step is what we get done. I put a post it flag in that spot and then next day we just pick up there. So for 2 kids it would take me a total of 30 minutes a day to teach spelling, when/if I have 3 kids using it then it will take 45 minutes of my time. I think you get where I'm going with this. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robsiew Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 My suggestion would be to set a timer. Maybe 15 min. per child. In my opinion it really makes a difference to do it one-on-one. I think the most progress can be made. However, since time is of essence that means you'd have to be pretty diligent with the timer or you could easily spend 2 hours on spelling! Another idea would be to do longer sessions, but only 2 kids per day. That would work too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eight_gregorys Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 I am using AAS with my four boys right now. I agree with setting a timer. We love it. I like the hands on aspect and the interaction I get with each child. It really gives me a feel for how they are progressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 I am. It is slow going, but doable. I focus on my oldest, giving her most of my time. In level 1 and 2 she did a step (lesson) in 1 day (she was 5th grade) and now she does a step in 2 days. She is finishing up book 5 and will complete the series in the next year. Each step is broken down into several pieces. In a typical level 3 lessons you might read from the word bank (build visual memory), do a word sort (distinguish what words are spelled with long o because they are an open syllable, which are because of silent e, and which are spelled with oa and ow, then new teaching on a spelling rule or introducing a new sound, then words to add to the silent e book and last the spelling words and writing station. Where my oldest will do all of that over 2 days, with my younger kids I do only one thing. I also use the cards slightly differently. Because I break the lessons down into such small pieces I do review of the phonograms on Monday, review of the key cards (spelling rules) on Tuesday, review of the sound cards on Wednesday and a Homophone worksheet on Thursdays (a separate product sold by AAS). With my younger kids they might cover phonogram cards, do 4 review words and read the word bank. That is it. The next day they would do the spelling cards, review 4 words and then do the word sort. This isn't the fastest way of getting through the program, but it is working. Once my oldest is finished I can re-focus on my 2nd dd and she can do a lesson at the pace my oldest now does. Eventually they will all finish, just not at the ideal grade level. Of course it would have also helped if I had used AAS from the start, but we will still get there. :D Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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