ByGrace3 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 So after a shaky phonics start with ds, I think think AAR might be the next step. But I cannot decide which level. I am leaning towards pre-level but would love some input. ds is 5.4 knows all letters and sounds (lowercase and capital) but cannot blend. hardly at all. He can say /b/ /a/ /t/ but then just repeats that over and over, rarely getting to /bat/. Other than confusing b and d, he doesn't struggle at all recognizing the letters or quickly producing sounds. He rhymes well (though his words are usually nonsensical), can easily identify beginning letter sounds of a word, he struggles with ending sounds. He has some speech issues, just recently got the /f/ and /v/ sounds but has trouble distinguishing those in a word. He struggles with a few sounds /r/ /l/ /th/ being the main ones. Thoughts? The thought of another big purchase this year is kind of killing me, so looking to buy pre level and level 1 is a tough though...but we do what we need to do... :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromA2Z Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I would lean more to level 1. I'm currently using Pre-1 w/ my 4 yr old. Most of the language exercises focus on rhyming and beginning sounds. There are others that do work on ending sounds and segmenting. There isn't blending of words in Pre-1 that would be in level 1. There are exercises that have the child blend compound words together. You say foot Ball. They say football. This might be a good place to start on your own. That being said, since you have another one following, it certainly wouldn't hurt to invest in Pre-1. If funds are tight, you might just get the TM for Pre-1 for the exercises and all of Level 1. You might be able to get the Pre-1 teachers manual used... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I would lean more to level 1. I'm currently using Pre-1 w/ my 4 yr old. Most of the language exercises focus on rhyming and beginning sounds. There are others that do work on ending sounds and segmenting. There isn't blending of words in Pre-1 that would be in level 1. There are exercises that have the child blend compound words together. You say foot Ball. They say football. This might be a good place to start on your own. Well, I posted in the other thread, so you already know my opinion :lol:, but I disagree. I would go with Pre-Level 1. There IS blending in Pre-Level, it is just done orally, which it sounds like the OP needs. The fluency lists in AAR 1 are massive lists of CVC words, and if he can't blend, it would be an exercise in frustration. I really think people in general underestimate how important the pre-reading skills like those taught in Pre-Level are precisely because they are so simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracyP Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I don't know the difference between the AAR levels, but you sound like you are also looking for general advice. Sorry if that is not the case. I would not be concerned that a 5 yo boy is not blending yet. In ps he would be starting his first day of K any day now, right? If that was the case, he would probably be ahead of at least a portion of his class because of what he has already mastered. I know, ps isn't our benchmark.;) I just want to put what you are saying in perspective. *I* would give it until the new year and then reevaluate. In the meantime, you could look at 100EZL. A lot of people seem to have a love/hate relationship with it, but it teaches blending really well, IMO. You could just check it out from the library and try some of the methods w/o ever even showing him the book. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromA2Z Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Well, I posted in the other thread, so you already know my opinion :lol:, but I disagree. I would go with Pre-Level 1. There IS blending in Pre-Level, it is just done orally, which it sounds like the OP needs. The fluency lists in AAR 1 are massive lists of CVC words, and if he can't blend, it would be an exercise in frustration. I really think people in general underestimate how important the pre-reading skills like those taught in Pre-Level are precisely because they are so simple. I stand corrected there is blending of beginning and ending sounds of words together...no blending of individual letter sounds. I think the blending of the compound words and beginning and ending sounds, and syllables is a lot easier for kids to do and would help in transitioning to blending individual sounds. Really I would have recommended getting Pre-1 if money weren't an issue. As it stands I would get the TM for Pre-1. I really do think the Pre-reading skills are important, I invested in it even though both my boys were solid in their letters and sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromA2Z Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Really, I don't know where my brain is. If you go w/ Pre-1, you will need the cards to do some of the exercises. The cards are used for rhyming, beginning and ending sound games. I don't *believe* they are used for any blending exercises. That said if you are planning to use it for your younger maybe piecemealing like this, you'd be better off getting the whole kit. I've probably got your head spinning. Sorry, I'll shut up now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 Thanks everyone. I am leaning towards pre level 1. Even though he knows his letters and sounds, he could stand to work on them more since he says /bu/ instead of /b/ and /gu/ instead of /g/. I think Prelevel will help us clean this up and take the pressure off. I am going to look around today and try to find it used. I know we may get through it quickly and have to get level 1 this year as well, but I would rather have peace of mind right now and not have him or me stressing. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 A child will very seldom learn to blend by themselves - I also liked the 100EZL method of blending - I did not like its method of teaching reading, but the blending exercises are great. And AAR uses similar methods - foot ball = football, however the most important thing is to do it for your child before expecting them to do it for themselves. So no matter how or where you start you need to say the entire thing for the child whether it is spi-der spider, b-a-t bat or foot-ball football, you musn't expect your child to join the sounds/words/syllables til you have shown him how and like with anything repetition of the correct way to do things is what leads to results. Once he's heard you do it endlessly he will do it himself. So I would probably start with level 1 of AAR and before it arrives work on blending without formal lessons - basically just blend any noun you happen to use around him even if the phonics is not simple - look there is a cupboard (cup-board, cupboard), let's make a sand-wich, sandwich, look at that b-u-s bus and so on - just make it part of your speech. If he knows his letters, he'll get the idea when you link the speech to letters later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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