AAS questions

[joysworld]

I started AAS 1 last week. I'm loving it, but sort of confused. Is each step suppose to be completed in one sitting? We are on step 6, and we didn't finish the step, because ds just doesn't have that long of an attention span. By the time he dictates all the sounds, puts the tiles in place, segment with the tokens, go over the key cards, he's just done. He spelled the 10 words that I dictated. He can do that very easily, but it was like pulling teeth to get him to do all ten, simply because he had reached his limit. He'll have no problem writing the spelling words, or reading the word list on the 'more words' list. Or reading the short story for reinforcement. He has no issue with any three letter words.

 

So, do I finish out step 6? And if we do, do we have to start all over with the review? And do I have to do the review with each step, if what we are reviewing he has completely mastered?

[Mesa]

That depends on your own child.. I just started last week as well. I think one of the first pages states that older kids may take only 1 day per step... while others may take a week per step.

 

It depends on the step.. and the kid. We breezed through steps 1-3 last week... with my 9 year old. My 6 year old only did 1 step... and we arent even done with it. It will be a few weeks for him to complete step one.

[Ohmomjacquie]

If he is done just stop and pick up the next day. If it was a Friday I often start it over on Monday. For daily review it is just the cards not mastered yet. There will be a bigger review in step 10 or 11 I think. Some steps are 1day for us. Others like right now on step 13 we may be here all week. It is a mastery idea. Once they get it you move on to the next step. Hth!

[joysworld]

I know intellectually ds could do all the steps we've done in one day, but emotionally he can't. He just can't sit and focus through every single thing. So the only reason we haven't finished a step in a day, is not because he didn't grasp it, but because he was tapped out.

[TracyR]

Yeah, in the manual it will tell you to spend about 15 or so on a lesson. Some days we spend a little more than that, some days a little less depending on my daughter's attention span.

In the beginning we were doing 1 step a day. But once we hit I think lesson 11. I began to split it up a little bit when it began using the dictation.

I would do the cards and then work on the new words with the spelling tiles. Then day 2 I do the cards and we would work on a few dictation words , and practice writing the new spelling words on the dry erase board. Then day three we finish up the dictation words, and then spell the words on paper and this seems to work for us now. Everyone has their own groove and you'll find yours too.

[Rivka]

Pick an amount of time that you think your child can focus on spelling, and set a timer. We started with 15 minutes and have worked up to 20. When the timer goes off, end the lesson for the day and pick up exactly where you left off the next day. The card reviews only happen at the beginning of a "step," not at the beginning of each day's lesson.

 

Is lining up the tiles each day taking a long time? You could have him do that earlier in the day, and then come back to do the actual lesson. After a certain point, we just left the tiles up permanently.

[joysworld]

Thank you so much. That's a huge relief. Can't believe I didn't think of it myself:)

[SnMomof7]

We normally do 1 step over 3 sessions :).

[Jeeves]

I do the same thing as Rivka--set a timer for however long you think your child can focus and then come back to the material the next day. Sometimes I review the cards again the next day and sometimes I don't--it depends on how much I want to get through and how much extra practice I think my child needs!