fourcatmom Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I ordered Level 4 and Level 5 of AAS several months ago and it has been sitting in my "to do" area waiting for summer break so that I could dive into it. Now that I have the time to go over with it, I am a bit confused on some things. I have a 4th going into 5th who is not a good speller at all, thus why I ordered the program. I thought Level 4 would be a good place to start but there is so much review that is talked about in the book that now I am not sure if I should just jump in at Level 4 or order all the back cards. I want to take the most advantage of this expensive program and give her a solid foundation in spelling. I am hoping she will move this program rather quickly. Is it necessary to start at Level 1 or does it work just as well at a higher Level? Any advice on AAS that you can pass my way would be great! :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 I think you would need to back up to level 2. Some posters have said you can skip level 1, but the whole program doesn't have grade levels. The spelling rules are spread throughout all the levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 That's kind of what I was fearing as I was gearing up to teach this. It just seems like I am missing information. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkermamaof4 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 we started with level 1. did that level quickly. but the rules taught in it are important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malbanese Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 The spelling rules are spread throughout all the books. The first book mainly teaches the phonograms. You may be able to skip it and go on to Level 2. This link below should help you. I started my 2nd grade son at level 1 this year even though he knew all the phonograms. It went very quickly. We are on level 4 now. Check out the AAS FAQs and they also have a nice forum where you can ask questions. http://www.all-about-spelling.com/spellingprogramfaq.html#student-placement Michelle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Yes, it's an incremental, building-block type program, not a grade-level oriented program. I started my kids at the end of 3rd & 5th grades, and they needed a lot of the concepts in level 1, even though they already knew the words. So, it didn't take us long but it was important, foundational material. This article on whether to start in 1 or 2 will help you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I really recommend you start with the first level. I am remediating DH and we are starting at level one because there are important skills and basic rules even in that level that he's missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Thank you very much for the help. I guess I will have to table this for a few months until I can buy the rest. It was quite expensive just for the two levels that I bought. I am planning to do MCT grammar island/town next year as well so I guess we will be doing these together. I had really wanted to move through this over the summer but it sounds like we will need to pace it out more to cover all the info that is necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbabe Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 How long have you had it? Have you used any of it yet? If not I'd try to return it and exchange for the earlier levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 I bought it a few months ago but I have separated everything and organized it already, I just hadn't dived into the teaching of it yet as I was waiting for summer break. Oh well....I also learned about sequential spelling on these boards, I don't know if anyone has experience with that program. I am tempted to just go with that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 I bought it a few months ago but I have separated everything and organized it already, I just hadn't dived into the teaching of it yet as I was waiting for summer break. Oh well....I also learned about sequential spelling on these boards, I don't know if anyone has experience with that program. I am tempted to just go with that one. Sequential Spelling is VERY different. I tried that before AAS, and it's basically a list of words in a certain order so that your child is led to the correct spelling of various words, but it has no info on why the word is spelled that way. It's just patterns. If your child learns well by patterns and doesn't care why they're spelled that way, it's a good choice. My son learns fine by patterns, but he wanted to know why they were spelled like that. For example, the first week, we were doing things like pin, sin, spin, pinning, sinning, spinning. He wanted to know why you double the 'n'. It didn't even explain that much. I was able to explain that, but most of the why questions he was going to ask in the future, I would not be able to explain. ;) If you like the idea of AAS but don't want to spend the money on levels 1-3, you might check out HTTS (How to Teach Spelling). It's kind of like AAS in methodology. It's cheap - about $27ish for the TM, and then there are 4 levels of workbook (How to Spell 1-4) that most people use (some just use the TM). The workbooks are less than $10 each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Do you have a website for that, lots of other stuff comes up when I search by that title. Thanks for the suggestions. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 Do you have a website for that, lots of other stuff comes up when I search by that title. Thanks for the suggestions. :001_smile: It's an old looking book. Here's the link to it on CBD. They have some samples, but they aren't great. :glare: 8FilltheHeart gave some examples of words and dictation sentences used over in the AAS thread in the Accelerated Forum. I have yet to see really good samples of the workbooks. The ones they show (they're called How to Spell, books 1-4) have samples like filling out name and address information. :confused: It'd be really cool if someone with one of the workbooks would post good samples on their blog. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted June 3, 2011 Author Share Posted June 3, 2011 I am sorry but I have another question about AAS. If I order the back levels of 1, 2 and 3 (since I have 4 and 5) will I need teacher books to go along with each section or is this a program that once you understand how it works you can do it without one? Thanks Again:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I am sorry but I have another question about AAS. If I order the back levels of 1, 2 and 3 (since I have 4 and 5) will I need teacher books to go along with each section or is this a program that once you understand how it works you can do it without one? Thanks Again:001_smile: The TMs are the heart of the program, they have scripted lessons, I really don't know how you'd know what to do without them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnMomof7 Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I agree with Kel. The teacher's manuals ARE the program, the student packs don't have ANY instruction/rules in them at all, they are only the flashcards and other student materials (varies by level). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted June 3, 2011 Author Share Posted June 3, 2011 Thank you. It was so much more reasonable without them so it was worth asking. Off to spend more money:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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