AAR 1 and Blending

[Marie131]

I`m wondering if I`m moving too fast w/ this program for my Ker. We have been using it now for several weeks but we are only on lesson 6. He knows his letter sounds fine, but he needs to sound out each and every letter for every word before blending them together which makes reading the stories veerrryyy slow going. He is just not getting the blending part. I am not sure what to do, as he seems to understand all the lessons fine, but the blending is just not happening. Advice?

[Marie131]

Anyone? I don`t know if I`m doing something wrong or if this is pretty typical. My older DS just picked up a book and was reading so I never went through this with him (but I also started him older).

[Mommie_Jen]

We worked for MONTHS on just learning to blend sounds. There were days I wanted to bang my head on the wall, for sure. It was also maddening for him because by the time he got to the end of a sentence he would have no clue what it said. We aren't using AAR, but I startd with OPGTR then changed to ETC. I am not an expert at all, but I say just keep working on basic blending over and over and over and over. Eventually it will click. My DS is pretty good at it now, but still needs help sometimes.

[KristenR]

For some reason a hands-on tactile game seemed to get the process of blending to click with my daughter. I created this and for some reason, it did the trick.

[ByGrace3]

I had a similar issue with OPGTR. After we did Lesson 29 6 times in a row, I knew we needed a break. and a change. I am going through AAR pre level with him now and doing some oral blending as well as some other phonemic awareness activities. It has taken the pressure off. I know we will fly through AAR pre level, but ds was just not ready for the blending of AAR Level 1. I think sometimes it just takes time. I got tired of doing the same things, so this is working for now and then in a month or so we will pick up AAR level 1 and try that.

 

I would give it some time, change it up, do some oral blending and some phonics games. There are a ton of phonics games on Pinterest. I have a few we have tried or are planning to on one of my boards.

[Syllieann]

Before we started AAR1 I did some work on blending with ds. What really got it to click was using "stretchy" consonants at the beginning of cvc words. I used short a for all the words and for the beginning consonant I used; f, s, m, n, and r sinc those are the easiest to draw out. Then we focused on not leaving any gaps between the sounds so he continued with the first sound right into the vowel. The final consonant isn't so critical since it's the end of the word. We placed the letters far apart to start and would draw the first and second letter out a long way. We moved them closer together bit by bit until they were finally touching. This method was very effective for us and we are flying through level 1 now.

[FromA2Z]

I wouldn't suggest this unless you had kids following but since you do... I would invest in AAR-Pre-1 and go through the language exercises with him. These exercises will gradually and gently introduce blending orally by blending compound words, syllables, and beginning and ending sounds. The exercises also have kids isolate beginning, middle, and end sounds. These skills progressively get harder moving blending words to individual sounds it may ease your ds into the skill w/out frustrating him. Ziggy is also super helpful with this. Then you can use the full program with your youngers.

[lexi]

We used PreLevel last year and I think it was a great introduction to the skills needed to blend and start reading.

We are now in Level 1 and moving VERY SLOWLY! But it is slowly starting to click sometimes. My son needs lots of help and repetition but we're getting there.

 

When I was working with my daughter it took us MONTHS and MONTHS to start blending. It was a huge struggle and was tear-inducing for both of us. I so wish I had had AAR then but it wasn't out yet.

 

After tons of work on blending it finally clicked with my dd and she took off in reading ability. I'm planning to get Level 2 for her just to reinforce the skills.

 

All that being said, I think it's pretty normal that it can take a long time. My kids still need tons of help and we just keep working on it. One day I know it will get easier for them. But we are right there with you, moving very slowly, and doing the same things over and over and over again.

[Marie131]

Thank you so much for your feedback, he is slowly starting to get the blending (ever so slowly). Your game ideas are great and I think we will incorporate some games into our lessons just to change it up. We're still on lesson 6 and I think we may camp out here for another little while yet. I knew level 1 would be a bit of a stretch for him, but we can take our time and go through it slowly :)

[swainsonshawk]

I also wanted to add that this drawn out blending thing is normal for beginning readers. It can be very painful to read with them because every time they come across "in" for example, they have to sound it out. Again and again. Patience is a virtue. Reread what they just read to help with comprehension. There is no brain space left for comprehension when they are still struggling to decode. Don't worry! Play games, take a break, go slow--what ever helps!

[Katydid]

I, too, am at the beginning stages of AAR1 (lesson 8) with my 1st grader. And she is also still sounding out every. single. word. It's been a whole different experience with her than with my Ds, who taught himself to read when he was 4. But she is making steady progress with every lesson and AAR has enough fun/different activities that it doesn't become too monotonous. We both love this program!