craftymama Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I am looking for a spelling program for my 6 year old who is behind in reading. Yes, he needs a spelling program. I believe it will help him. I've looked around on the board here and two are standing out - How to Teach Spelling and All About Spelling. Can anyone give me some pros and cons of these to help me make a decision? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpence1978 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I would recommend All About Spelling for this. The first two levels also have some readers (which are fabulous) that can go along with. It really does a great job of covering phonics and spelling together. AAS is quite a bit more open and go than How to Teach Spelling. The only thing you would have to do is make sure you review often enough to make things stick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I am not familiar with How to Teach Spelling, so I can't help there, but we use AAS and LOVE it. We also have the AAR Pre-1 and are really liking that as well. Pros - it works! LOL , I find the lessons very well laid out, it's open and go, and my DD8 loves the letter tiles. My only con is the blasted white board that you need. It's huge and we have a small house, but we make it work. I really could go on and on about AAS. I really love it. I also find that the company is excellent to deal with. Not relevant to the actual program, but a nice little bonus! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I also happily throw my support in for All About Spelling. My oldest daughter has been doing wonderfully with it. It amazes me how quickly she learns and retains the rules. She isn't afraid to try tackling spelling large words. I just started my 3.5 year old on All About Reading's Prelevel 1 last week and will post on that soon. It's been phenomenal all around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 We have used all about spelling with great success! Not only do the students learn how to spell, but they are also working on reading at the same time. I really don't think any other program compares! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Sequential Spelling helped my DS who was struggling with reading. However, I think he was closer to 7 or 8 when we started it. I think it would be too much for a younger child. Could you use the phonics and reading words that you are learning as your spelling list? You could use Spelling City, Spelling Time or abcteach to make worksheets and practice online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 How To Teach Spelling has the same Orton-Gillingham phonograms as AAS (and Spalding (WRTR) and SWR and Logic of English) but the spelling words and dictation sentences are advanced. AAS would be more suitable for a 6 year old who is not yet reading. Other alternatives, though not so open-and-go, are the ones I listed above - The Writing Road to Reading, Spell to Write and Read and the Logic of English. The benefit of using these programs, however, is that you get all the levels of spelling words (and in the latter two programs, dictation sentences as well) in one book. With AAS, you have to buy higher levels (and may need to sell earlier levels to fund those purchases). If the letter tiles are what you mainly like about AAS (and can do without the spelling word cards), you can buy just the AAS letter tiles to use with any phonics or spelling program. You can also make your own magnetic or non-magnetic letter tiles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I like AaS and think it would be a great choice. I also have HTTS but it wasn't intuitive for me to use. aAS is open and go and quite fun for the kids. I have them do all of their writing on th whiteboard with colorful expo markers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PookieMama Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 How many children are you teaching? Is your 6yo the only student? I have never used AAS. We used Sequential Spelling last year and though my ds did fine w/ it, I really wanted something that taught spelling rules explicitly (instead of expecting you to notice and figure them out yourself). After researching on here, I came away w/ the idea that AAS taught the rules and was very effective, but also time consuming for the teacher. I was going to try it anyway (I had my shopping cart all loaded up!) when I saw recommendations for HTTS. From what I read, it seemed to teach the same things but in a more independent manner than AAS. I wanted that because I was also going to be teaching a 7yo and a 5yo (very light PreK). It's also cheaper and moves more quickly (again, from what I have read). I put my 9yo 3rd grader in Level 2, and my 7yo 1st grader is now in Level 1 of the HTS workbooks. My 9yo is a pretty good speller anyway, but my 7yo is not so much, I think. I am sooo happy I went w/ HTTS. Both of my dc are doing really well and enjoying it even. I wrote up a pretty thorough review of it on my blog, complete w/ page samples so other people could get a better feel for it (inspired by boscopup). Here is the link: http://dougcarla.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/how-to-teach-spelling-review/ I don't think you could go wrong w/ either program. Carla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momsuz123 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 We use AAS and love it. I love that it is open and go. Both of my kids really like it, and really don't complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 That's a great review, pookie... I'm considering moving to HTTS next year after doing levels 1-4 of AAS which has been time consuming for us but only because I was doing catch-up this year. 4 levels in 1 year probably would be frowned upon but I have fairly natural spellers who just needed these rules to help them understand why we spell the way we do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PookieMama Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 That's a great review, pookie... I'm considering moving to HTTS next year after doing levels 1-4 of AAS which has been time consuming for us but only because I was doing catch-up this year. 4 levels in 1 year probably would be frowned upon but I have fairly natural spellers who just needed these rules to help them understand why we spell the way we do. :lol: Sorry, I just got quite a chuckle from you calling me Pookie. That's what dh and I call each other, so it's just weird to "hear" someone else call me that. Thanks for the compliment. I have way too much fun (and spend way too much time) typing up curriculum reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicMom Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I love AAS, too. It's SO easy to use since the pages are un-cluttered, easy to follow, no daily prep is involved (boy do I hate prep, lol), VERY organized, it uses a "multi-sensory approach" so it's not just spelling on paper ALL the time (great for boys who aren't a fan of writing a lot), and lessons can be as long or short as you need and you still are progressing. It's also very "tweakable" (if ds doesn't like the tiles, skip em, so what. Still a great program.) I'm using AAReading now, too, and it's just as awesome! woo hoo! I joke that if Marie Rippel puts out All About Science I'll probably buy that, too. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 My son has made wonderful progress with Apples and Pears. He has dyslexia, and something about this program really clicks with him. I highly recommend A&P, it has helped not only with his spelling but with his reading too. I couldn't be happier. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 All About Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftymama Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 My 6 year old is the only one being taught officially, but there are two other little people that need attention. I should also point out, and I don't know if it will make a difference, but the big reason he's behind is because we lived overseas for most of his life. We made the decision to wait until we came back to really start down the reading road so he could get as much of the European culture and language (German) as possible before we came back. He was fluent (for a child). Off to check out the blog post on HTTS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ednkirstin Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Our family uses AAS and we LOVE it! I haven't had struggling readers, but I have had one child who has struggled immensely with spelling. AAS helped her spelling improve dramatically when nothing else did. I now use AAS as my phonics/spelling program immediately after Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Oh, and my 5 yo is almost through with Level 1, so I wouldn't worry age. I can't recommend it enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess4879 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I joke that if Marie Rippel puts out All About Science I'll probably buy that, too. :lol: ME TOO! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 :lol:Sorry, I just got quite a chuckle from you calling me Pookie. That's what dh and I call each other, so it's just weird to "hear" someone else call me that. Thanks for the compliment. I have way too much fun (and spend way too much time) typing up curriculum reviews. Mwah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 AAS would be perfect in your situation. We love it here and IT WORKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfknitter.# Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 How many children are you teaching? Is your 6yo the only student? I have never used AAS. We used Sequential Spelling last year and though my ds did fine w/ it, I really wanted something that taught spelling rules explicitly (instead of expecting you to notice and figure them out yourself). After researching on here, I came away w/ the idea that AAS taught the rules and was very effective, but also time consuming for the teacher. I was going to try it anyway (I had my shopping cart all loaded up!) when I saw recommendations for HTTS. From what I read, it seemed to teach the same things but in a more independent manner than AAS. I wanted that because I was also going to be teaching a 7yo and a 5yo (very light PreK). It's also cheaper and moves more quickly (again, from what I have read). I put my 9yo 3rd grader in Level 2, and my 7yo 1st grader is now in Level 1 of the HTS workbooks. My 9yo is a pretty good speller anyway, but my 7yo is not so much, I think. I am sooo happy I went w/ HTTS. Both of my dc are doing really well and enjoying it even. I wrote up a pretty thorough review of it on my blog, complete w/ page samples so other people could get a better feel for it (inspired by boscopup). Here is the link: http://dougcarla.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/how-to-teach-spelling-review/ I don't think you could go wrong w/ either program. Carla Thank you for mentioning HTTS. I bought it last year, tried it with dd and it wasn't a bust but I don't think we were ready for it. I've just pulled my copy off the shelf and I'm feeling inspired to try it again. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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