Can someone please explain AAS to me

[joyfulhomeschooler]

I am wondering what a typical day with all about spelling looks like. Is there much writing? If so what do they write?

 

If I want to move at a faster pace with one student is that possible? If so how would you do it? I have an emerging 1st grader who would be doing level 1 and an emerging 3rd grader who would be doing level 2/3 hopefully.

 

Anything you can tell me about this program would be great!

[mom2att]

A typical lesson in the early levels--review letter, sound, and rule cards. Review word bank lists if necessary (basically reading a list of words that reinforces a certain rule). Teach any new concepts outlined in lesson. Spell new words with tiles (10 new words each week). Spell same words on paper. Dictate phrases, then sentences for student to write (generally 5 - 6 each of phrases and sentences each week, and I currently have level 2 in front of me. Level one has fewer or none at all, the higher levels more).

 

Now, that is a complete lesson. At my house we do as much as we can in about 10 minutes, then return to where we left off the next day. For my second grader (level 2) that means we complete a lesson a week (we do 4 day weeks). For my 4th grader, who is currently taking a break before starting level 4, we did as much as a lesson a day when we first started in level one, but that slowed down to one lesson per week by the time we finished level three.

 

I recommend starting both of your children in level one. Your older one will likely fly through the first two levels, but there are rules and concepts to learn that will be very important to have set down now for the later levels. Your younger one may also move quickly through level one, as it starts out very simply with letter sounds and "easy" words to spell, but it's the rules behind the spelling of the word that makes AAS a successful program. You can move along with whatever pace is appropriate for your particular student.

 

Now with that said, I don't think AAS is for everyone. Some kids need the rule approach, some just kind of internalize it naturally. My oldest would have gone crazy with such a program as AAS--she was fine with the workbooks of SWO. My middle child NEEDS what AAS provides, and I'm using it with my younger one because I already have the books!

 

Hope that helps!

[Cranberry]

not much writing unless you want it to be. My son does the 10 words with the tiles, then writes the phrases and extra optional words with a white board marker. You could do everything with tiles if you wanted.

 

You can absolutely go faster. I truly thing that with a little extra review at the beginning of level 2 if you have an older child who is fluent reader, you could start with level 2. My son is really blowing through this program fast and we've been doing about a lesson a day (3-4x week). But he loves it so we can sit for 20 mins or so and do it, and he picks it up quickly. It is very easy to tailor to your child. There is optional practice with each lesson. For a struggling child you would use it for extra practice to solidify the rule. For my son, I just use it as more stuff to do because we've gone through everything else quickly and he just wants more words to spell.

 

HTH!

[SnMomof7]

The books are broken up into 'steps', so you just move through the steps at a pace that allows your dc to master the content. There is normally a standard progression of things to do for each step: review, teach new concept with tiles, introduce new key/phonogram cards, have your child spell with tiles, dictate words that use the new concept (writing), dictate phrases and sentences that use both the new concept and review concepts (writing). It takes a while to find your groove and some steps will need more review/take longer than others.

 

My daughter likes to do all her spelling on the whiteboard, and we do a step over a few days so she doesn't have to write 6 sentences at once :).

[jenL]

We also use the white board for all of the writing. Occasionally, I will give my son a "test" to determine how he is doing on a piece of paper. It's outside of a step lesson, so I don't review at all before it. It's not something the book tells you to do, but I find the reinforcement to be reassuring for *me*.

 

Some days ds moves the tiles and doesn't write, other days he uses the white board to only write, other days it's a mixture. I let him determine what he wants to do unless I see he is struggling with a certain concept, phonogram, or rule. In that case, I will have him manipulate the tiles and write the words out by hand. We always do the phrase & sentence dictations offered; however, we usually don't do them all at once.

 

AAS is an excellent program. I am a certified Wilson Reading instructor, and AAS is very similar. I chose it because it's less teacher/planning intensive than Wilson. The program does work if you stick with it.

[snickelfritz]

Since you will be buying level 1 anyway, I would start there with both. The child needs to know all of the steps taught in level 1. They learn all the sounds for letters (ex. 3 sounds for a and 4 for y.) My fluent reader could read those sounds, but couldn't tell you, when shown an "a", all the sounds that letter made. They learn various rules that they will use in future lessons, like that every syllable needs a vowel.

 

You go faster, because they master it more quickly. My 2nd grader had the first step (all the sounds for each of the letters) mastered after 2 days. My 5 year old took a couple weeks. My 2nd grader started level 1 in September. She is able to do a step in 1-2 days. We only do spelling 2-3 days a week, and she will still finish level 2 soon.

 

We start off with review. I think they've revamped the card system. But there are dividers for "keep reviewing", "mastered", "not used yet.". Once we introduce a new sound or rule, you keep it in the review pile until they have it mastered. So we review phonograms( they look at a card and tell you the sounds that letter or letter combo makes.). We review sound cards, where you say the sounds and they write the letters that make the sounds. We review key cards, which are rules, like the syllable rule. Then you review word cards, which is where you dictate previous words they have learned rules for. You could do tiles or writing here.

 

You introduce the new rule or phonogram, which is fairly scripted in the book. If it deals with syllables, you might have some tile exercises to do with them. If it's just a new sound, it might be quicker. Then, there are words that practice using what they learned. You dictate and they can use tiles or write, though I think they are supposed to write what they can. Younger kids would probably hang out here longer, because the lists can be long. So you spend several days reviewing and working through the list. My dd can usually get the whole list in a day, which is also how we go more quickly. Or if, she's done 3/4 completely correct, I mark them and add in the others in future days for review. Then, there are dictation sentences that use previous rules, along with the most recent rule/ sound they learned. This is the only step where they would HAVE to write, since there aren't enough tiles for sentences.

Edited March 21, 2011 by snickelfritz

[joyfulhomeschooler]

OK thanks everyone! My son 2nd grader is a natural speller and reads pretty fluently. He has some trouble with multisyllable words though such as penniless, and national. Those were two he just recently read wrong. I am hoping this program will help him more with that. Plus it looks fun to me lol so I think we will give it a go. I guess we should start with level one from the sounds of it though.

Thanks again!

[Ritsumei]

I also appreciate the great descriptions of AAS. I'd been thinking about it for next year, and after reading these descriptions I'm thinking that it should be a good fit for us. Thanks!

[MerryAtHope]

OK thanks everyone! My son 2nd grader is a natural speller and reads pretty fluently. He has some trouble with multisyllable words though such as penniless, and national. Those were two he just recently read wrong. I am hoping this program will help him more with that. Plus it looks fun to me lol so I think we will give it a go. I guess we should start with level one from the sounds of it though.

Thanks again!

 

You may be able to start him with Level 2--sometimes kids who are either advanced or who catch on easily can start higher, though most will need at least a few concepts from Level 1. The first step of Level 2 reviews the main points of Level 1 very quickly, and then moves on. You wouldn't want to start higher than 2 because it covers 5 of the 6 syllable rules (unless he knows these from another program). But here's an article from their FAQ that can help you decide if he should start with 1 or 2. Merry :-)

[Classically Minded]

We did Level 1 last year towards the end of K and I videoed us doing Step 7:

 

http://www.cambridgeshireacademy.com/2010/03/all-about-spelling-level-1-step-7.html

 

HTH! :)

[HomeschoolingMy4]

THANK YOU for asking this question. I just got on here to ask this question! :)

[joyfulhomeschooler]

Thanks for sharing the video. Your daughter was a joy to watch. She was so cheerful and had such a good attitude. She must really love her spelling lessons.

 

I placed my order today! Can't wait to get started. I ordered levels 1 & 2 to be safe.

[Classically Minded]

Thanks for sharing the video. Your daughter was a joy to watch. She was so cheerful and had such a good attitude. She must really love her spelling lessons.

 

I placed my order today! Can't wait to get started. I ordered levels 1 & 2 to be safe.

 

Your welcome and she really does love AAS! :D We are just starting Level 2 now because the end of Level 1 got more challenging but the first several lessons of Level 1 are fairly easy.

[happyhappyjoyjoy]

We started AAS1 in June. DS flew through that doing two steps a day at times. I also combined some of the steps. Level 2 and 3 have each taken four months. I usually take 2 or 3 days per step. My son doesn't need much more than that. This is typical of Level 3:

 

Day one:

yellow cards

blue cards

10 green word cards

I have him use 4 of the green words in a sentence that he creates.

Lesson for that step

Write the 10 new words.

Do the writing station activity

 

Day Two:

Red cards

blue cards

10 green word cards

I have him use 4 of the green words in a sentence that he creates.

Write the 12 dictated sentences

 

Sometimes when we haven't done as much spelling as I'd like to be dong we will do day two above and the lesson for the next step. My son can handle doing a lot on one day and not doing spelling for 2 days. I'm so glad, because that is how we're doing everything right now.

Edited March 22, 2011 by happyhappyjoyjoy