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What do you O-G fans think of ABC the Key?


alisoncooks
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I continue to be slightly curious about the Orton-Gillingham approach to reading instruction .... but admittedly NOT enough to dive in whole-hog. I am currently using R&S phonics 1 with DD, and we like it and are seeing progress.

 

SO.... I know that ABC the Key uses an O-G approach. I am thinking of letting both girls work through the online lessons. Do you O-G people think the lessons are any good? Would it be confusing to do 2 TYPES of phonics instruction (traditional syllabary with me/R&S, O-G with Miss Joness/ABC the Key)?

 

Thanks for your feedback. :) :)

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I don't know much about O-G; I only know Spalding, which I suppose is O-G, but that's irrelevant to me. :)

 

I went to the ABC the Key site and watched the 20-minute video...or as much of it as I could bear, lol. Not sure what part of O-G it uses :confused: but I wasn't impressed, not on any level. It put me off right away by saying that "a" has four sounds instead of three :glare: but I will give it points for teaching two sounds of "c" right off the bat, although I didn't see where it teaches why and when "c" says /s/. Perhaps that would have come up if I'd watched the whole video, or somewhere in the plethora of extra games or worksheets...

 

I doubt that it actually conflicts with R&S's phonics instructions, so it couldn't hurt to do it, but I just couldn't define it as O-G approach, although, as I said, I'm not that familiar with O-G.

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I don't know much about O-G; I only know Spalding, which I suppose is O-G, but that's irrelevant to me. :)

 

I'm not familiar with O-G, Spalding or any of it, but here's what the site says:

ABC The Key is patterned after the scientifically proven methodology generally known

as an Orton-based Method. Through extensive research, Miss Jones adopted the principles

found in one particular version of the Orton Method called The Spalding Writing

Road to Reading. She uses the Orton-Gillingham phonogram system.

Miss Jones’ personal phonics tutor and mentor was a student of Ramalda Spalding.

In addition to these scientifically proven methods Miss Jones uses her own adaptations

which she has developed through the years.

 

Maybe she's made lots of "adaptations" over those years. :p

I am not interested in any of their games, worksheets, etc. Those look like they are developed for a group setting, anyway. I was more interested in the video/teaching portions...

 

Has anyone here used this program?

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Through extensive research, Miss Jones adopted the principles

found in one particular version of the Orton Method called The Spalding Writing Road to Reading. She uses the Orton-Gillingham phonogram system. Miss Jones’ personal phonics tutor and mentor was a student of Ramalda Spalding. In addition to these scientifically proven methods Miss Jones uses her own adaptations which she has developed through the years.

:001_huh: Well, if that's a direct quote (I couldn't find it/didn't see it on the site), she got the name of the Method wrong (it's the Spalding Method; WRTR is the manual), and she misspelled Mrs. Spalding's name, lol. And yes, she sure did make her own adaptations. :)

 

FTR, it would probably be more accurate to say that ABC the Key is an adaptation of Spalding, rather than an O-G method, KWIM?

 

You know, it's free. I don't see any reason *not* to try it. If your dc like it, that's great; if not, that's great, too. It couldn't hurt to give them more information about reading. :)

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my kids LOVE it. Even my 3yo begs for it. We really only do the questions (my 7yo asks for them) and the video. And they have learned plenty. We don't use it alone,just as a fun add on to our phonics.

 

What is the problem with "a" having 4 sounds? There is a song about when the "c" says \s\ in the lesson.

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The fourth sound is "uh" as in America.

 

Oh, yes. I see. Thanks.

 

She also adds the short /u/ sound 'uh', as in when you read "a cat" and "a dog". I guess that is the schwa sound???

 

Hmmm...must be on another card that I didn't get to yet. And, I'm too tired to look through the stack to find it. :001_smile:

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If it's teaching all the sounds of a letter right off the bat, it's not OG based. Incremental is one of the key principles of Orton-Gillingham methodology; information must be taught one concept at a time and mastered before the next concept is taught. Dyslexic students are overwhelmed when too much information is taught one time.

 

Spalding is only partially based on OG methods. Ms. Spalding wanted to make the OG approach available for neurotypical students. NT students don't need the same level of incremental and explicit teaching that dyslexic students need, and the Spalding method reflects that difference.

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still waiting to hear why it's bad that "a" has 4 sounds

 

Well, because the 'uh' sound is not a real vowel sound. It is just a lazy/mushed-up pronunciation. Spalding teaches the authentic vowel sounds, disregarding regional accents and lazy pronunciations.

 

If you hear a word with the 'uh' sound, which vowel are you going to use? Whereas, if you learn to spell using the correct sounds, you will have memorized the right vowel to use when spelling the word.

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Well, because the 'uh' sound is not a real vowel sound. It is just a lazy/mushed-up pronunciation. Spalding teaches the authentic vowel sounds, disregarding regional accents and lazy pronunciations.

 

If you hear a word with the 'uh' sound, which vowel are you going to use? Whereas, if you learn to spell using the correct sounds, you will have memorized the right vowel to use when spelling the word.

 

so how are you supposed to say america, another, again, a, etc?

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so how are you supposed to say america, another, again, a, etc?

Remember that Spalding and its spin-offs/look-alikes teach children to read by teaching them to spell.

 

During the spelling lesson, children divide words like America and again into syllables, with the "a" being in a syllable by itself. They are taught to pronounce it with the second sound of "a," which is its "long" sound (Rule 4: a, e, o, and u usually say their second sounds at the end of a short word or syllable, or in a syllable by itself.). That helps them spell the words properly. The teacher explains that we often pronounce words differently in general conversation, and she has the children pronounce the words both ways: once for spelling, where the vowel says its second sound, and once for speaking. Children don't have problems with this concept, and they learn to spell the words with the correct vowels.

 

"Another" is divided into "an" and "other." The "a" is not a syllable by itself.

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I don't know much about O-G; I only know Spalding, which I suppose is O-G, but that's irrelevant to me. :)

 

I went to the ABC the Key site and watched the 20-minute video...or as much of it as I could bear, lol. Not sure what part of O-G it uses :confused: but I wasn't impressed, not on any level. It put me off right away by saying that "a" has four sounds instead of three :glare: but I will give it points for teaching two sounds of "c" right off the bat, although I didn't see where it teaches why and when "c" says /s/. Perhaps that would have come up if I'd watched the whole video, or somewhere in the plethora of extra games or worksheets...

 

I doubt that it actually conflicts with R&S's phonics instructions, so it couldn't hurt to do it, but I just couldn't define it as O-G approach, although, as I said, I'm not that familiar with O-G.

 

First of all... "a" DOES have 4 sounds and my older children used to ask about that. I appreciate that this program addresses it rather than ignoring it. You also need go watch the WHOLE video. It does a fabulous...awesome....job of teaching when c says the s sound. I am thoroughly impressed! Give it another look, Ellie :-)

 

I have appreciated you and your advice for many years now and have you to thank for steering us toward rod and staff math and English. However, we had more success with the younger kiddos with other programs. Our oldest two are now in college doing very well. In fact, our oldest son entered college as a sophomore :-) We also have a 14 yr. old and our youngest two adopted struggling learners... the two i am looking to use this program with.

 

BLESSINGS to you and your family. :)

 

editing!LOL!"I" should have read all of the posts on this topic too! Hmmm. Now i see the spelling connection. I dont think the ABC the key lets us see the lesson on the letter a. Maybe it is taught that way...the proper way for the spelling aspect of it?? Maybe someone else who actually uses itcould "weigh in"? i also need to apologize as i am out of town and trying to get used to my new tablet. Grrrr....technology.....must be getting OLD! LOL! Will spend more time rsearching this when i get home.

Edited by Neesy
New info. :-)
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