LisaD Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I liked the idea if AAS and seriously considered it. But after looking at a friend's materials I decided against it. The phonics approach, the phonograms used and the rules all coordinated with the phonics program we used (teach America to read and spell) however, I didn't feel like the spelling lists were comprehensive enough. Instead, we began using Spell to Write and read this year (my son is 1st gr) and I love it. It's two books and a few little supplemental things (journal, binder, etc). My son (likes rules, early fluent reader, somewhat visual memory), also loves it. I also tested him mid year and moved him ahead based in performance. A mentor mom to me who used it with her kids usually used the program thru around 6th grade which is when her kids progressed to the end of the lists. I like the layout and the increasing difficulty of the words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetzmama Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 We just finished level 4. It IS parent intensive. But this is my youngest, so I have a bit more time with him while the others are more independent. I've seen great strides in this dyslexic ds's spelling. And if it ain't broke... That said, despite the writing practice during spelling lessons, ds still finds it very difficult to integrate spelling while doing the hard work of composition. There has been much improvement, and because of the dx, this may always be the case (and really sense it would be the case even with another program.... we've tried several). We will not change, because I love the program, the lightly scripted lessons that allow me to jump back in when I get on a rabbit trail, and I see lots of progress. But, it would be nice to not be so parent intensive and to make it transfer more thoroughly to writing when not specifically doing spelling (but again, in our case, *that* program may not exist). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 We just finished level 4. It IS parent intensive. But this is my youngest, so I have a bit more time with him while the others are more independent. I've seen great strides in this dyslexic ds's spelling. And if it ain't broke... That said, despite the writing practice during spelling lessons, ds still finds it very difficult to integrate spelling while doing the hard work of composition. There has been much improvement, and because of the dx, this may always be the case (and really sense it would be the case even with another program.... we've tried several). We will not change, because I love the program, the lightly scripted lessons that allow me to jump back in when I get on a rabbit trail, and I see lots of progress. But, it would be nice to not be so parent intensive and to make it transfer more thoroughly to writing when not specifically doing spelling (but again, in our case, *that* program may not exist). Yeah, I think that needs to be taught as you work on editing, but you can incorporate all of the strategies they learn through AAS, or sometimes work it back into AAS lessons. Here's a blog article that discusses this more. My oldest, especially, needed to be walked through this "next step" of spelling in his writing. It didn't come naturally, but AAS gave us the base to build on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommy5 Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 It took a long time for our family. I was hoping to combine kids but as it turns out, my daughter is a "natural speller". She reads well and the words just sort of get in her head with know curriculum at all. She likes writing and spending that much time memorizing rules was not working. My son has dyslexia and for some reason memorizing the rules wasn't good for him, either. He didn't need the tiles - it felt like overkill. He is an auditory learner and has done best with phonetic zoo. I would consider again with another child but I didn't love that the tiles could easily get lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staceyshoe Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I used it with my oldest and have started it with my youngest. I may switch for him. Memorization is very difficult for him because he has some learning issues. So far it's fine, but at some point he will have an incredibly difficult time memorizing all the spelling rules in the program. We may switch to a program where he can recognize common spelling patterns but doesn't have to recite "why" words are spelled the way they are. Love AAS for most kids though. I learned a lot from doing it and love the hands-on aspect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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