No more AAS....spelling recommendations

[jackson'smama]

As much as I'd love to love it, AAS isn't working for us. Not that it isn't great, I just don't think my kids need all the letter tile and card stuff. I desperately need a solid straightforward program. I have a k, 3rd, and 5th grader.

Fwiw, we are on level 3... I started later with my oldest and I combine the oldest two.

Help!

[Ethel Mertz]

We left AAS for much the same reason and are now using Spelling Workout. 

[FO4UR]

I wouldn't do any spelling with the K kiddo.

 

I use this with my 9yo.  I refomatted the old Essentials of Spelling to make it.  I have Grade 3 done too.  (Grade 4 is coming soon...we are trial running it now.)

 

You can use the review word sections as a placement test to see where they need to start.  Use what you've learned from AAS to teach these words. The bolded words are the new words, and there are about 2 new words a day. You can put the old original on a kindle and just do lessons in a spiral notebook and have spelling done for 17 cents.  I added to the lessons in the books I reformatted, combining cursive handwriting with spelling lessons.  That may or may not work for you.

 

Either way, I love the way the words are broken into short lists with several sentence dictations for review as you go along.

 

 

 

[sunshineslp]

 

4blessingmom,

 

I can't seem to get the link of samples to work. How long do the spelling lessons take daily? Are they built around spelling rules? Easy to use with multiple kids/larger family? Thank you for sharing this info, it seems like it might be wonderful for us.

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

Edited January 26, 2016 by sunshineslp

[Um_2_4]

Sequential Spelling! Bonus you can get the dvd and they can type OR write the words.

Spelling workout did not work for us (even with adding in Spelling City website with custom lists) as it seemed too much like busy work, whereas SS (Sequential Spelling) JUST focuses on the word patterns/spellings.

I have seen marked improvement in spelling OUTSIDE of spelling, iykwim.

Although my kids are not always fans of the sentences they use with the words (neither am I really). :lol:

[ElizabethB]

Spelling Plus, k-6 in one book. Has an optional Spelling Dictation book with sentences. By Susan C. Anthony. Word lists with rules, arranged by rule and similar patterns, teaches most common 1,000 words.

[lacell]

Have you looked at Apples and Pears?

[FO4UR]

4blessingmom,

 

I can't seem to get the link of samples to work. How long do the spelling lessons take daily? Are they built around spelling rules? Easy to use with multiple kids/larger family? Thank you for sharing this info, it seems like it might be wonderful for us.

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

 

The lessons are 15-20min. Each lesson requires teacher attention, but no planning. So it's easy in the sense that it's all there, open & go, 15min and it's done.

 

They are not built around the spelling rules like AAS or Spalding.  

 

Grade 2 focuses on 3 main things; cursive, visualization techniques vital for successful spelling, and logically using the phonograms.  The phonogram work is isolated purposefully to help the student decide which phonogram makes what sound.  Ex. I avoid having a 2nd grader choose between 'ou' and 'ow' in the word lists where they spell independently.  Knowing which phonogram is used for the /ow/ sound is a skill for visual memory. When spelling independently, they might choose between ee, er, ai and ay.  They can learn that ai and ay say the same sound, but ay is found at the end of the word and ai is in the middle.  

 

So there are rules in there from the start, but the rules are not the focus.

 

Grade 3 focuses on learning to break words up into sounds (phonograms) and morphemes (bits of meaning). We keep cursive fresh, but it isn't the focus.  Visualization is still a main focus.  Reviewing past words through sentence dictation is half of the lesson.  Grade 3 stretches the ability to write a sentence from dictation. Grade 3 takes the supplementary words given throughout the original grade 2 & 3 to use as practice for alphabetizing.  Homophones are thrown into the mix on alphabetizing days, and used for sentence composing. I think that's the best way to learn bare from bear and flower from flour, etc...and we are stretching kids to compose a sentence, but with given words to make the creative bit less daunting.

 

Grade 4 will shift again, and this time we are building a spelling notebook complete with an appendix for rules and patterns. I've been using this and tweaking at home recently.  I want to keep this stage a bit more open-ended as far as word lists go.  We'll keep the "essential" words, but add space for words from the child's other work to use as needed.  I expect to have a complete Grade 4 up this summer.

 

 

The links at the bottom of this blog post work.  You have to type 0 in for the price to "purchase" the samples. hth.

[Momto6inIN]

I don't use the cards or tiles for AAS either and my DD's are both doing fine (older one is on level 7 and younger one is on level 2). We just skip those parts and do them orally or on paper or just by looking at the teacher's manual together. Just in case you don't want to buy another program and want to modify what you have. :)

[kalusignan]

A lot of people move from AAS3 to Phonetic Zoo.

[Jackie]

How To Teach Spelling is almost the exact same rules-based setup, but in a completely no frills way. One book, available on Amazon for around $35, for all the rules.

[craftymama]

We use How To Teach Spelling.  No cards and what not.  I have the workbooks too, but they really aren't necessary.  I just copy the pages so I will use the same workbooks for all the kiddos.  

[abba12]

Rod and staff, spelling by sound and structure is a good, phonetic, get it done curriculum

[sunshineslp]

I'm looking at the How To Teach Spelling and it looks great! I can't find info on grade levels. Is level 1 first, and so on? Can a kid start at level 2 or 3 or do they need to start from the beginning?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[mommymonster]

We use AAS without tiles or cards. Just pencil, paper and done...

[Susan in TX]

I really like Soaring with Spelling. It can be done by the student independently, takes 15-20 minutes a day, and gets the job done.

 

Susan in TX

[WahM]

We use AAS and so far I really like it. It's almost exactly what I'm looking for. I also have HTTS and like it for extra practice, hold us over till we get another level, etc. I like AAS better and it can be used without all the extra parts. HTTS doesn't have as "kid friendly/fun" explanations that I enjoy as do my kids.

[chilliepepper]

Yeah...I was about ready to ditch AAS for the same reasons, then poked around on here and discovered that some folks do it without the tiles and cards. So I ditched the tiles and cards, and it's been going a lot better.

[Kristie in Florida]

(How do you do AAS without the tiles and the cards? I can't wrap my brain around it.)

 

I second Rod and Staff. We needed something that wasn't teacher intensive.

[chilliepepper]

(How do you do AAS without the tiles and the cards? I can't wrap my brain around it.)

 

I second Rod and Staff. We needed something that wasn't teacher intensive.

 

DS and I sit across the table from each other. He has a small whiteboard in front of him, and whenever the guide says to build a word with tiles, I just write it on the whiteboard. He is amused by the fact that I can write upside down...but if I couldn't, I could sit beside him or write it right side up and then turn it around for him. The only reason I don't sit beside him is that I don't want him to peek at the guide, lol!

 

If it says to have the student build a word with tiles, he writes it on the whiteboard. Added advantage: he enjoys wiping the board clean after writing. :)

 

When it has a list of words/phrases/sentences to write, he writes them on paper. And I require good penmanship for this. Not necessarily for other things, but for this.

 

I do pull out the cards when it says to read or review a key card (is that what they are called?) or may use them when new phonograms are introduced, but the cards don't bother me as much as the tiles. I hated the tiles and so did my kid!

 

I agree though about the teacher-intensiveness of it. That I do not like, but it seems to be working ok so I'm sticking with it at least for now.

[Kristie in Florida]

DS and I sit across the table from each other. He has a small whiteboard in front of him, and whenever the guide says to build a word with tiles, I just write it on the whiteboard. He is amused by the fact that I can write upside down...but if I couldn't, I could sit beside him or write it right side up and then turn it around for him. The only reason I don't sit beside him is that I don't want him to peek at the guide, lol!

 

If it says to have the student build a word with tiles, he writes it on the whiteboard. Added advantage: he enjoys wiping the board clean after writing. :)

 

When it has a list of words/phrases/sentences to write, he writes them on paper. And I require good penmanship for this. Not necessarily for other things, but for this.

 

I do pull out the cards when it says to read or review a key card (is that what they are called?) or may use them when new phonograms are introduced, but the cards don't bother me as much as the tiles. I hated the tiles and so did my kid!

 

I agree though about the teacher-intensiveness of it. That I do not like, but it seems to be working ok so I'm sticking with it at least for now.

Thanks! My toddler was obsessed with the tiles, so spelling didn't get done frequently enough.

[Momto6inIN]

(How do you do AAS without the tiles and the cards? I can't wrap my brain around it.)

 

I second Rod and Staff. We needed something that wasn't teacher intensive.

 

We just use paper and pencil. Sometimes I have them look at the teacher's guide with me to illustrate a concept with the tiles. We do use the cards with my youngest in level 2, but just for a few minutes of daily review. And never in any of the levels have I used the green word cards, just the yellow phonogram and red sound and blue key cards.

 

[kolamum]

We use Sequential Spelling. It's quick, to the point, & works well for my VPD/SSS kids.

We used AAS for a while, & the rules are great, but my eldest VPD boy said he needed more words for practice so I ended up, for a while, combining some rules of AAS with SS lessons..

 

Now we just do SS straight up. 

[Murrayshire]

I have created workbook pages to go with our AAS Steps. You can see them here.... http://www.murrayshire.blogspot.com/p/all-about-spelling-workbooks.html

 

They helped change things up a bit for my ds. We don't use our tiles much either, but do still use our cards.