Laura Cook Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 My oldest just finished Step 16 in AAS 2. I am considering a switch to something that he might be able to do a little more independently. He is a natural speller and, though we like AAS, it just feels like overkill. What level in R&S would you suggest we begin with? Do they have placement tests? I'm not seeing them! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I will guesstimate R&S 3. There are no placement tests. I own and have used the entire R&S spelling series, but I don't know much about AAS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 When I made the switch (mid level AAS5 to R&S spelling level 5), I looked at the word lists to determine what my kids would be ready for. Just looked at the R&S samples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Cook Posted July 20, 2013 Author Share Posted July 20, 2013 Okay thanks! I will just go through them and see where he might fit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I would hesitate to place a child solely by word difficulty. Look instead at the exercises the child is expected to do with those words. A good speller could be placed too high and not have the maturity to complete the rest of the book. The strength of the program is in those exercises;the word lists can be deceiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I would hesitate to place a child solely by word difficulty. Look instead at the exercises the child is expected to do with those words. A good speller could be placed too high and not have the maturity to complete the rest of the book. The strength of the program is in those exercises;the word lists can be deceiving. True! Don't place your child too high, at the higher grades it gets more complicated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gratitude Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 When I switched from mid AAS 2 to R&S spelling I started with R&S spelling 2. My oldest is not a natural speller (natural reader instead), and the switch went well. He spells really well at this point; R&S is a great spelling program. I do find that as long as they can read well they can do the lessons independently and then I give them the spelling tests. He could possibly start in 3 since he spells easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted July 20, 2013 Share Posted July 20, 2013 I'd probably guess 3 also, though it wouldn't hurt to zoom through 2 if you wanted to. Level 2 doesn't have as much phonics work as 3 and up. We went from halfway through AAS3 to R&S3, and that was a good transition. We're almost halfway through 4 now, and yes, the exercises get tricky. So I wouldn't go any higher than 3 to start. Take a look at both and see which one looks more appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I would hesitate to place a child solely by word difficulty. Look instead at the exercises the child is expected to do with those words. A good speller could be placed too high and not have the maturity to complete the rest of the book. The strength of the program is in those exercises;the word lists can be deceiving. I agree! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warneral Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Another thing - you may want to reconsider finishing up AAS2. It teaches so many spelling rules that are helpful! Then start with R&S3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Last year my daughter finished up AAS 2, and she was doing wonderful. She was remembering all the rules, and getting 100% spelling all the words on paper. I then switched her to R&S, and she did ok at first, but then started get a LOT wrong on the tests. My 12 year old did good with R&S though, but he has always learned spelling easily. I am planning to probably either go back to AAS for my daughter next year, or try Phonetic Zoo. The better plan would be for her to finish AAS 3 before going to Phonetic Zoo. My experience with independent curriculum's is they are not so great when it is a subject the child struggles in. I wish we hadn't switched last year, and we would be further along with AAS right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 My experience with independent curriculum's is they are not so great when it is a subject the child struggles in. The OP said her child is a natural speller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 The OP said her child is a natural speller. I know...I was saying that referring to why it might have not worked well for my daughter because she is not a natural speller. I also said it worked well for my son who is a natural speller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Cook Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 Thanks for all the responses! I think we are going to finish up AAS 2 and then decide where to go. I will see if we can get through it a little faster. I am also going to take a closer look at the samples of R&S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 We are switching from AAS to R&S this year. We are in the middle of AAS 4 and I am not sure if we will finish it or not but after we are moving onto R&S 4. I plan to go through at least AAS 3 with my ds- I definitely think AAS was worth it for this levels. I am uncertain about 4...I would definitely finish 2. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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