Question for AAS users.........(Merry?)

[mommyagain]

In reading the review at RR, it stated that AAS is best used after a child is reading well. I'd like to use it with a child who is struggling with phonics. What are your opinions?

[MerryAtHope]

I don't think the author would agree--in her article on readiness she states:

 

"All About Spelling is different than most other programs. With All About Spelling, your child can begin as soon as he is ready to learn to read. You don't need to wait until he has learned how to read in order to start instruction."

 

Here's a link, & she gives reasons for why she thinks starting early is a good thing.

 

My kids were older when I started but I wished I'd had it from the start--I think it would have prevented a lot of confusion. As for learning the multiple letter sounds--really, a child can't read much even at a first grade level without knowing those sounds--words like: is, me, go, put, do, we, I, ice...all can be sounded out if kids know that letters have more than one sound, and that if the first one doesn't make sense, try the second sound etc... The intro is very gentle too--no more than 4 letters at once (and it wouldn't be 4 letters with multiple sounds), and all you do is show the card, say the sounds, and have the child repeat. Short & sweet daily practice, and when those are mastered, add in some more letters. Plus Level 1 doesn't make the child need to spell with all of the sounds--there is lots of practice with short vowel sounds, and you take it at your children's pace--however fast or slow they need to go. The review is easy to customize for them too.

 

I think the key is to keep it light & have fun with it.

 

If a child hasn't learned the basic letter sounds yet and is not yet reading, you could look at All About Reading Pre-1 instead. I don't know if you've seen that or not, but it covers 5 major pre-reading skills: Print Awareness, Phonemic Awareness, Letter Knowledge, Listening Comprehension, and Motivation to read. The sample TM has definitions of these on page 10 and then you can see in the examples that follow how it delves into these different areas. (I confess, I've drooled over this--I looked and looked for good materials when I was teaching my kids to read--my son especially struggled and I just think this would have helped him so much! But obviously I haven't used it yet and have my own bias because AAS has helped us so much! so see what you think if this is the stage your younger ones are at).

 

If they already know that info, then they should be ready to start All About Spelling Level 1. Only 9 letters have additional sounds, and they could work on those gradually as they go through the Level--additional sounds are not used for spelling until later in the book, so you have time.

 

Well, just my .02! HTH some, Merry :-)

Edited March 11, 2011 by MerryAtHope

[In the Rain]

My youngest dd started AAS while she was still working through RME. She was VERY motivated by the white board, markers, tiles, and the idea of doing what her big sister was doing. I felt it enhanced her reading skills.

[mommyagain]

Thank you, Merry!:001_smile: That is just what I wanted to hear. I have been AGONIZING over whether to use PR or AAS/FLL/WWE. I finally decided to use AAS and then I read that review.:confused:

She does know all her letter sounds (short vowels only), but has to sound out words every. single time. she reads them. And she can't seem to remember the difference between short "e" and short "i". I also catch her making wild guesses based on pictures.

 

I can't wait to use AAR with my little guys!!!! I checked out the samples and it looks AWESOME! I plan to get the level 1 readers for my dd. Do you think AAR level 1 will be available by fall?

 

Thanks again!! You are a wealth of info.:grouphug:

[mommyagain]

Thank you, Julianna. That is encouraging!

[mo2]

In reading the review at RR, it stated that AAS is best used after a child is reading well. I'd like to use it with a child who is struggling with phonics. What are your opinions?

 

 

I don't know why they would say that, as there are quite a few people who use AAS to teach reading in the first place. :confused:

[momto3innc]

You definitely can use it...I did this year with my struggling reader who was at the same point as your child at the beginning of the year. It has been a good fit for us (we bought the readers as well and have done all of those and that helped a lot). We're doing level 2 now and going strong!

[mommyagain]

You definitely can use it...I did this year with my struggling reader who was at the same point as your child at the beginning of the year. It has been a good fit for us (we bought the readers as well and have done all of those and that helped a lot). We're doing level 2 now and going strong!

I am feeling so much better about my decision now! Thank you all so much!!

 

This board is awesome!:D

[MerryAtHope]

And she can't seem to remember the difference between short "e" and short "i". I also catch her making wild guesses based on pictures.

 

For the e/i confusion, check out this video that Marie made. These vowel sounds are similar, and in some regions of the country there isn’t a discernible difference in how they are pronounced. Can she pronounce the sounds correctly? If not, I would start there. You might try slowing down how you say it just a bit so that the vowel sound is clearer. Let her know that sometimes when we say a word quickly, the vowel sound gets muffled or changed a bit, so we have to pay extra careful attention to how we say the word. You may need to really enunciate them. Another idea is to have her watch your mouth as you make them, and to watch herself in the mirror. The mouth should be open taller when she says the short E sound than when she says the short I sound.

 

I can't wait to use AAR with my little guys!!!! I checked out the samples and it looks AWESOME! I plan to get the level 1 readers for my dd. Do you think AAR level 1 will be available by fall?

 

 

It sounds like the plan is for it to come out in June, so hopefully the timing will work out!

 

Merry :-)

[happyhappyjoyjoy]

In reading the review at RR, it stated that AAS is best used after a child is reading well. I'd like to use it with a child who is struggling with phonics. What are your opinions?

 

 

A friend bought AAS based on my recommendation. She was holding on to it, because her DS was not reading well yet. She gave up on EZ lessons and was trying some other things. I suggested doing AAS now and it worked. He is finally reading 3 letter words. She said she would have never though to use it for a non/beginner reader, but it worked.

[jentancalann]

yep, it has helped my 10 yo immensely. we started it when he was in 2nd grade and not reading well at all. he is doing much better, still struggling a bit, but writing and reading have come a long way. we've used nothing else as intently as AAS. it's been the primary source.

[mommy4ever]

I LOVE AAS. I used it along side OPGTR. It worked awesome! When she didn't grasp something in one, the other seemed to be the catalyst to comprehension. Neither one being the one that made the difference. Sometimes AAS was the clincher, other times OPGTR. And the AAS readers were awesome, it gave dd such confidence to be able to read a story, completely and successfully, based on what she'd learned in AAS. It's kind of exploded her reading.

[mommyagain]

I'm so happy to read all these positive replies!

I placed my order today and I can't WAIT!!!!!!!