Do other kids doing AAS hate the tiles?

[amyrobynne]

I'm halfway through AAS1 with my first grader. He's been reading fluently for 2 years and the words are easy for him still. I always figured we'd speed through the first level or two until the concepts became more of a challenge.

 

If it was up to my son, we'd do the whole program orally. He really didn't like using the tiles. I've been skipping the tile spelling and having him write the words on a white board and then doing the dictations on the white board.

 

Does anyone else do this? Will I regret it later?

[msjones]

Some kids just can't stand manipulatives. Some love 'em!

 

The different sized/colored tiles can offer helpful cues for many kids. Also, later on the the tiles are arranged in a way which has been very helpful for my son -- prefixes, suffixes, vowel teams, etc are grouped together. These groupings have really helped my son make sense of the spelling rules.

 

That being said, I suppose your son could just write the words and do fine. If I were you, I think I'd go ahead and set up the board with all the tiles as directed in the lessons. That way, he'll be accustomed to it and could use it as a reference if he finds it helpful in the future.

 

We love AAS here in our house. We're on Level 6! It has been an excellent program for my second son.

[Grover]

we're nearly done with AAS (will finish 6 by the end of the year) and I don't think we've used the tiles since about 4 weeks into level 1

[MadsandLilysMom]

My girls hate the tiles, but they love using this set to build their words.

 

http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/ca|searchResults~~p|JJ518~~.jsp

[KristenR]

My daughter had a short period where she loved the novelty of the tiles. But then she begged just to write them words down and we have pretty much stuck with it that way. I do try to add in the tile work once in awhile though when we are doing the word analysis so things like the suffixes and such stand out more.

[Rivka]

My daughter decided pretty early on that it was easier to spell with a marker, so we started skipping the "spell with tiles" step. Further on in the program, I think you will find activities where the tiles are useful - there's a lot of work with syllabification, for example. The tiles are very helpful for teaching even if the child chooses not to spell with them.

[3peasinapod]

My girls don't like them either. I still have them do it, especially my DD who has troubles with spelling for the tactile learning. Like another said, later on the vowel teams and sounds of er, etc. can really be visualized for the visual learner, as they are together on one tile. Trying to hit all those connections.

 

I don't make them manipulate the tiles all the time, though. They often will spell the word with the tiles and I put the tiles back or they spell it out loud and I'll do the tiles for them. Spelling out loud is a worthwhile endeavor also. It will oftentimes take them a bit longer to spell, as they are visualizing the word in their head before speaking.

[Crimson Wife]

I started AAS with my DS before he could write all his letters and at that point, he loved the tiles. But as soon as he was able to write quickly, he asked to use the whiteboard.

[1GirlTwinBoys]

We don't use the tiles at all. My kids use a lap white board and marker for each lesson we do. The tiles just make it take much longer IMO.:)

[morosophe]

My daughter decided pretty early on that it was easier to spell with a marker, so we started skipping the "spell with tiles" step. Further on in the program, I think you will find activities where the tiles are useful - there's a lot of work with syllabification, for example. The tiles are very helpful for teaching even if the child chooses not to spell with them.

 

I completely agree with this. I always do the lesson with tiles, but use a whiteboard/marker set for the spelling words and dictation. (Yesterday he got a "preliminary" list of words to spell for the lesson, and he used a whiteboard for that, as well.)

 

We're about halfway through Level 2, and the words are still really easy for my son, too. But the syllabification rules are really helping him a lot! And being able to literally pull the word apart and put the labels on is a neat visual for him. Of course, I liked using the tiles for lessons when it was back at the "Should this word start with a 'c' or a 'k'?" step in Level 1.

[Kathryn]

I completely agree with this. I always do the lesson with tiles, but use a whiteboard/marker set for the spelling words and dictation. (Yesterday he got a "preliminary" list of words to spell for the lesson, and he used a whiteboard for that, as well.)

 

We're about halfway through Level 2, and the words are still really easy for my son, too. But the syllabification rules are really helping him a lot! And being able to literally pull the word apart and put the labels on is a neat visual for him. Of course, I liked using the tiles for lessons when it was back at the "Should this word start with a 'c' or a 'k'?" step in Level 1.

 

:iagree: we're almost done with level 2 and it's been very helpful in this level to be able to pull them apart and label them. We only use them on Mondays when introducing the lesson.

[BatmansWife]

My dd liked them at first, but then got really tired and annoyed by having to pull each tile down....and then worse yet, to drag the tiles back up after each word. Finally she began just touching the tile to spell the word. She liked that because when she'd touch the tile (like at the bottom of the tile) it would tilt slightly because of the magnet and make a tiny click on the board. So, we just ended up doing touch spelling. This might not be the ideal way...because you aren't actually seeing the full word put together in front of you. But, there were other parts of the lesson when she would see the full word, like in writing the word.....so I figured it was fine.

[EKS]

I would spell with the tiles as a demonstration of the rule. Sometimes, if it was a tricky rule, I'd have my son do it once or twice, but then he just used the marker.

[MerryAtHope]

I'm halfway through AAS1 with my first grader. He's been reading fluently for 2 years and the words are easy for him still. I always figured we'd speed through the first level or two until the concepts became more of a challenge.

 

If it was up to my son, we'd do the whole program orally. He really didn't like using the tiles. I've been skipping the tile spelling and having him write the words on a white board and then doing the dictations on the white board.

 

Does anyone else do this? Will I regret it later?

 

I do demonstrations with tiles and let my kids use their preferred method. Once they are faster at writing than at using the tiles, a lot of kids will choose just to write.

 

BTW, if the words are still easy, I'd fast track a bit more for your son's sake. Teach the new concept and have him teach it back on a few words. You can either choose just a few dictations or skip those until you start to hit words that are new for him. As long as he's mastering the concepts and can demonstrate how they work, you can fast track through when a child already has the words memorized. Slow down when you hit a harder concept or when there are some new words. HTH! Merry :-)

[Sharilynn29]

My dyslexic dd loves AAS. This crazy VSL child loves to use tiles, write the words, mix tiles and marker, scribble with markers and then wipe away the letters, draw pictures to match the word with a picture, etc. I wish she would just write the words so we could move on, but this is how her brain works!

[amyrobynne]

BTW, if the words are still easy, I'd fast track a bit more for your son's sake. Teach the new concept and have him teach it back on a few words. You can either choose just a few dictations or skip those until you start to hit words that are new for him. As long as he's mastering the concepts and can demonstrate how they work, you can fast track through when a child already has the words memorized. Slow down when you hit a harder concept or when there are some new words. HTH! Merry :-)

 

Since the dictations started, my approach has been to do the initial activity, if there's some segmenting or whatnot, for a few words. Then when we hit the new words/dictations, I use dictations of the new words in phrases and call it done. He's mastered everything in the previously learned areas. This way there isn't too much writing per day and we're going through a step per day. I think a few things toward the end of level 1 might be tricky enough to slow down and do everything listed in the step more fully. I initially considered starting at level 2, but I figured I'd find any gaps this way. I've never studied phonics although he did last year, so if nothing else watching him will help me figure out how to teach my toddler when he's ready for it.

 

Thanks to all for the thoughts and ideas!

[ScoutTN]

We are in early level 3 and DD does not really like the tiles.

BUT, they are useful and helpful so we use them once a week, usually the first day of a Step.

 

I do not always make her spell all the words with tiles. She'd rather write.

[boscopup]

You're doing it the exact way we did it, and it worked fine for us. I eventually switched away from AAS, but we did levels 1-3 that way, and he learned well. We zipped through level 1 in about 4 weeks, then did level 2 in 8 weeks. Level 3 would have been 4 months if we'd finished it. DS was also an early reader, and he just needs a brief intro to a phonics topic to understand and apply it.

[liamtaylorsmom]

When introducing the lesson, I do have him use the tiles even though he would prefer not to. The following days that we are working on the same concept, I do let him use the whiteboard as long as he's doing all right. If he's struggling, we go back to the tiles as they do help him see things better.

[Marie131]

The tiles didn't work for us either. They slowed the lesson waaayyy down and were a huge distraction. I quit using the tiles and we're getting through level 1 much faster. We are moving on to a different program once we complete it. I think AAS is a great program, but it's just not for us.

[mommymilkies]

My 11 yo doesn't like using them.

[Perogi]

We don't much like the tiles around here either and aren't using them in Levels 2 and 5. That said, at times I think it would really enhance the learning, particularly when working with words that use tiles that have more than one letter on them, like the vowel teams, sounds of Sh, etc. I am anxiously awaiting the app that is supposed to be in development!

[Esse Quam Videri]

We are new to AAS, but it seems the tiles are a huge part of the success of the program... not just for the tactile approach, but in order to solidify the letter teams and sounds for the student. When my child is sounding out a new word, I want her to visualize the vowel or consanant teams that make up each sound, and the tiles reinforce that type of visualization. In my opinion, if you take out the tiles and segmenting, you have basically any other spelling program.

 

I think most students would prefer writing, but I would at least incorporate the tiles some of the time.