Murrayshire Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I'm a little confused on the teaching of lesson 48.....The ending blend NK. So, the words bank, rink, honk, junk. The lesson shows that the a, i, o, u is a short vowel sound in front of NK...this would be true for vowels o and u but for a and i wouldn't be considered a long vowel sound....you wouldn't say bank or sank using a short vowel sound?! You wouldn't say sink or wink using a short i vowel sound either? This was a bit confusing to my ds since we haven't started long vowel sounds yet in OPGTR. Has anyone else stumbled upon this as well and are there more confusing lessons as this one to come? Can anyone give me a little advice on starting AAS level one instead of using OPGTR? I understand AAS is a spelling program but would it be considered a reading program if you added the supplemental books to go along with each step? I don't want to overload my ds with all these different programs....he is using OPGTR & ETC & Fun Tales & Bob Books right now....just thinking ahead to 1st grade.... I know I want to use FFL 1, ETC, AAS, and finish OPGTR, WWW, readers....this all seems sooo much. Can anyone elaborate on what they use for LA, including reading, for their 1st graders. Like I said before, I don't want a heavy load but I want the job of reading, comprehending, and writing accomplished! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicagoshannon Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I agree with the a sound but we say sink with the short I sound. I was concerned at first doing some of those lessons but my daughter managed to figure out the right way to pronounce them. For 1st we'll be using FLL, WWE, Spelling Workout, and readers. We're ditching ETC because we'll be done with phonics. I thought I read to wait with spelling until you're done with phonics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in the UP of MI Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) I know that many use phonics programs to teach their kids to read, but I've used AAS and it has worked well. My oldest jumped into reading partway through level 1. My ds has been word building (essentially what is done in AAS but less formal) since September and just started AAS. He isn't reading yet. I just use spelling and some simple reading games to teach reading. My ds will be in first grade next year. For language arts he'll be doing: finish AAS 1, possibly start level 2 copywork, narration, and some simple grammar concepts pulled out of stories that we are reading (Bible stories, fairy tales, and tall tales) HWT 1 (probably, if I think he needs more practice with letter formation, otherwise handwriting will be reinforced with copywork) reading books at his level Edited February 1, 2012 by Lisa in the UP of MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raceNzanesmom Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I prefer AAS to OPG. .02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggie Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I always changed the rules to fit our pronunciation. I say bank and sank with a long a and sink and brink with a long e. I have no idea about teaching reading with AAS. Why not use AAR? Anyway, I didn't always focus on the rules in OPG (especially if I changed them and I had no qualms about changing them), but Pigby had a hard time with those particular words, so we spent several days going over those with flashcards. Even if you learn to read by using phonics, most words are going to be read as sight words when the child becomes fluent. So for me, phonics lessons help for when children get stuck. They just need lots and lots of practice to become fluent readers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I think you will find that WWW & ETC will overlap too much to want to do both, so you can probably pick one or the other there. FLL is only 2-3 times a week, and only a few minutes at a time so it is really not so bad. IMHO, I would not start AAS until at least halfway through OPGTR, and when writing is solidified. I know others disagree with me, but there are a lot of posts on the board from people who end up shelving AAS after starting early because their dc couldn't do the writing. Again IMO, you really aren't getting the full benefit of AAS if you don't do the writing (and it ramps up pretty quickly in subsequent levels). If you want something similar to teach reading, I would second the recommendation to look into AAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 Thanks to all you ladies for helping out....You have given me some helpful and smart ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 I always changed the rules to fit our pronunciation. I say bank and sank with a long a and sink and brink with a long e. I have no idea about teaching reading with AAS. Why not use AAR? Anyway, I didn't always focus on the rules in OPG (especially if I changed them and I had no qualms about changing them), but Pigby had a hard time with those particular words, so we spent several days going over those with flashcards. Even if you learn to read by using phonics, most words are going to be read as sight words when the child becomes fluent. So for me, phonics lessons help for when children get stuck. They just need lots and lots of practice to become fluent readers I agree....Long a and lone e way is said here..... You said you use flashcards...do you make flashcards of the words you use throughout each OPGTR lesson? We are reviewing More than two before moving on to new...is this enough you think to keep retention? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daybreaking Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 you wouldn't say bank or sank using a short vowel sound?! You wouldn't say sink or wink using a short i vowel sound either? It must be a regional thing, because yes, around here (upstate NY), we do say ank and ink with the short vowels sounds. On the other hand, with her southern accent, my mother would use long a with ank. Having said that, OPGTR didn't work here. I think AAS is a great program. I wish it had been out when I started homeschooling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meggie Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I agree....Long a and lone e way is said here..... You said you use flashcards...do you make flashcards of the words you use throughout each OPGTR lesson? We are reviewing More than two before moving on to new...is this enough you think to keep retention? I only used flashcards for the words he struggled with. For the ink, ank, onk words, I cut a bunch of 3x5's in half and wrote "ink", "ank", and "onk on the left sides of the cards. Then I wrote in all the beginning letters from that lesson but on the right side of the card. So then we would go through them all and practice. For regular words he struggled with, I just wrote them on cards and had him practice them instead of doing a new lesson. Since he was 3 and 4 when we did it, I found that a break for a day or two would help more than pushing through and trying to force him to retain it. I define "words he struggled with" as words that he still didn't remember after the reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 I only used flashcards for the words he struggled with. For the ink, ank, onk words, I cut a bunch of 3x5's in half and wrote "ink", "ank", and "onk on the left sides of the cards. Then I wrote in all the beginning letters from that lesson but on the right side of the card. So then we would go through them all and practice. For regular words he struggled with, I just wrote them on cards and had him practice them instead of doing a new lesson. Since he was 3 and 4 when we did it, I found that a break for a day or two would help more than pushing through and trying to force him to retain it. I define "words he struggled with" as words that he still didn't remember after the reviews. I will have to get busy making those flashcards for him......he has been using magnetic letter tiles on his white board and magnetic scrabble pieces for the fridge, and he's been writing the words and making up a sentence with one of them in the lesson on paper....he gets board of that if done everyday. So, this might change things up a bit! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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