Getting frustrated - AAS 1, step 21

[Tawlas]

Gad. I'm ready to stab a fork in my eye. This is week two of the flipping lesson and my ds6 is still convinced that sank is sounded out as Frrrrr-aaaaaang-k. Sank is ssssss-aaang-k. Tank is tttttt-aaaaang-k. We do it over and over with chips, we practice writing them out, I do it with chips and guesses the word just like when they first introduced beginning and ending consonant blends. The sound of 'a' does seem to change in these words when we say them but for the life of me I can't convince him to pronounce the word for spelling. And as a result, without fail, these words get spelled Frak, Frac, or Frack. Sak, sac or sack. Etc.

 

Skip it and come back another time? Keep plugging on? He can do the 'ink' words, the 'unk' words etc. It's just the combination of 'a' with 'nk' that's getting him.

[jmc1970]

My little guy keeps getting stuck on the ck vs. k lesson too :) We stayed on it for a couple extra weeks by just giving him "review words" from the earlier steps, then sneak in those pesky ck, k words (which of course he would continue to misspell). He would write the ones he got wrong 3x each. Then write them on the white board 1x. He did this for 2-3 weeks (yes, on that 1 step!), then he got it. Needless to say, as we went on to the next steps, I would continue giving "review words" at the end of the step and once in awhile he still misses those ck/k words, but it's getting less and less. I think if I waited for total mastery before moving on, we'd still be on that step. I think as long as you continue revisiting those words, it gets better and better and you don't feel so behind and he/she doesn't feel so frustrated. 

[Tawlas]

Thanks. That's probably what I'll do, it makes sense. Glad to know he's not the only one with a glitch!

[arcara]

My dd still struggles with "ink" and "ing" thinking they are supposed to be spelled with and "e" instead of an "i" and she's halfway through Level 2. We just keep reviewing a few of these words each week. I know she will get it sooner or later. I would say that two weeks is good enough and move on with regular review of these words that your ds struggles with.

[MerryAtHope]

One thing that can help with this is to have him read *exactly* what he wrote. If he says "sank" when he wrote "sack," then say, "Actually, this says 'sack.' We want 'sank.' Do you know how to change it to sank?" 

 

You could also play with the tiles--show him how to change "sack" into "sank," and then bank and then back, and so on. Then let him try--say a word, have him make it and read it, then change it again--tack, tank, flank,  flack, rack, rank, crank, crack, clack, clank...do a few tile words as a game each day so that he can really see and hear the differences. 

 

HTH some! Merry :-)

[Kerileanne99]

My dd still struggles with "ink" and "ing" thinking they are supposed to be spelled with and "e" instead of an "i" and she's halfway through Level 2. We just keep reviewing a few of these words each week. I know she will get it sooner or later. I would say that two weeks is good enough and move on with regular review of these words that your ds struggles with.

My dd made up a little rhyme and ran around singing 'no -nk and no -ng for poor letter e!!!' At the top of her lungs for at least a week:)

[Tanikit]

I found with my DD6 that reading back what she has written helps with ALL spelling - even words that phonetically sound the same as she just knows it "looks wrong." This is the method that should be used anyway when reaching words that have more than one spelling option so it is a good idea to start it when the word actually says something different (sank vs sang vs sack). It is a very good habit to read back what you have written for writing purposes and editing too.