Jamauk Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 I've decided to use AAS to teach my youngest how to read (and spell). I know the readers for AAR 1 go right along with this program, but I do not relish the idea of spending another $60 on these books. Has anyone found any other early readers that would be available at our library that compliments AAS nicely? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigger Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 I have the AAS readers and have to say they're a great addition to the program, especially if you're using it to help with reading. That said, I also used a variety of phonetically controlled readers too, and just looked in each to see what words were included and added them to the reading routine as needed. My DS has recently leaped from the phonetically controlled readers to leveled readers, so it's now a bit easier to do reading each day since he picks from the pile that I have that should be around his reading level (I have little tabs on each book with the lexile on it so I know when to use it), but we're still doing the simpler AAS readers as noted in the AAS book since DS really likes them and I think they definitely reinforce what's been learned in the AAS lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcolemanfamily Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 We LOVE the AAS books and I am so glad I purchased them! The illustrations are beautiful and simple and the stories go along with what they are learning! Love them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 If your library has Bob books, you could try those. I worked out a correlation awhile back: Set 1: Covers all consonants except Q. Sight words: a, the, zoo, O.K., to. Teach quote marks. 1-2: after Level 1, Step 6. New sight word: O.K. 3-7: after Level 1, Step 8. New sight words: a, the, to. Teach Quote marks for book 5. 8-9: after Level 1, Step 9. 10-12: after Level 1, Step 10. (Book 10 has nk, see AAS step 21 if your child needs instruction). New sight word: zoo If your child has read all of these before you reach step 15, you can use the dictations that start in step 11 for reading practice. For a fun project, you could have your child make his or her own book by putting one phrase on each page and letting your child draw a picture to go with it. Set 2 would be a harder fit--while it's still mostly short vowel words, some of the books have a LOT of "sight" words that are introduced in AAS Level 2. For a child who is picking up on reading naturally, they might not be a big deal. For a struggling reader, they might be. Set 2: This set conveniently lists all words used in each story in the back. 1-2: after Level 1, Step 10. Reviews all short vowels. New sight words: was, uh-oh. Teach apostrophe for book 2. 3: This book includes several “sight words†that follow phonetic patterns that will be introduced in Level 2: car, now, saw, do. It also includes a compound word: into. Compound words are introduced in Level 1, Step 22, but AAS does not introduce the third sound of O (as in do and into) until Level 2. You can teach these as sight words or skip this book. 4: after Level 1, Step 12. New sight words: bow, wow 5-6: after Level 1, Step 11. 7: after Level 1, Step 11. New sight words: of, out, saw, to. (see note on book 3). 8: after Level 1, Step 11. New sight words: put 10: after Level 1, Step 11. New sight word: for 11: after Level 1, Step 11. New sight word: no 12: after Level 1, Step 11. New sight words: too, zero, hi, lolly-pop. (see note on book 3). There are some really neat qualities about the AAS readers that would have helped my kids--things like the line breaks follow phrasing (rather than when they run out of room for words on the page) to enhance comprehension, and light tracking lines that help young readers, non-glare paper, and so on. There's a video about the features--scroll down to the second video on this blog entry. (It's labeled Beehive Reader which was the original name of the series, the book shown is now called Cobweb the Cat & is the third Level 1 reader, but all of the level 1 readers have these features). I looked and looked at our library for good early phonics readers, and used whatever I could find--which wasn't much. I had better luck borrowing from friends & shopping used sales, but even then it's hard to find enough readers. The first book or two of the Christian Liberty Press Readers might be usable with AAS 1--I remember borrowing those from a friend. DK has a fun set of early readers where the first letter of a word keeps changing--I forget the name of the set, but I remember Mig the Pig, Jen the Hen, Zug the Bug--they had a reader for each vowel letter. If you can find Sonlight's Fun Tales anywhere, those could work too. Hope you find some good choices! Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamauk Posted September 17, 2011 Author Share Posted September 17, 2011 *sigh* I just got rid of our Bob books. I had all three sets:willy_nilly: Oh well, my younger son really did not like them ~ even the few he could read. I think I'm going to go ahead and buy the readers from AAR. I'll simply sell them next year in our used curriculum sale. Thanks for all of the replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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