Using AAR for reading but not using AAS for spelling, anyone?

[Tenaj]

My 8yods is almost done with AAR Level 2.  Last year, when he finished AAR Level 1, we slowly started working through AAS, Level 1.  We didn't make much progress at all.  There are stickers on his chart showing that he made it to Lesson 17 but there was a lot of grace given on my part to let him place most of those stickers up there :)   

 

He doesn't seem to be able to hear the sounds or have any memory of letter order from the presentation of the lesson in AAS.  We do it exactly as written, spelling with the magnetic tiles first and then doing it on paper.  He especially has difficulty on hearing the difference between the short vowels and will just randomly place vowels in the words in order to get done, even after working on the same words for weeks and weeks.

 

I'm wondering if AAS just isn't a good fit for him even though AAR is helping him with improve his reading by leaps and bounds.

 

 What I'm thinking is that he needs more visual practice with the words before trying to spell them by just hearing them.  Thinking of trying a more traditional spelling program with him but wondering if that is defeating the purpose of using AAR in the first place.

 

[ItoLina]

My son uses AAR and we switched to Apples and Pears spelling. I LOVE AAR. It has helped him to become a great reader. AAS just wasn't working for him. His spelling has dramatically improved with Apples and Pears. He still struggles and I don't think spelling g will ever be something that comes easy to him, but at least now I feel like we are making tangible progress. IMHO they are two separate skills that your kid may learn better in different way and there is nothing wrong with choosing two separate programs.

 

 

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[Kiara.I]

I'm curious. Could you try the Barton pre-screen with him? It sounds like he might be missing some of the phonemic awareness that AAS expects.

 

I can get you the link in a couple of minutes.

 

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[Kiara.I]

Okay, here's the pre-screen.  https://bartonreading.com/students/#ss

[MerryAtHope]

You can use a different program.

 

However, it sounds to me like he may have some auditory processing struggles. I would check out this article on Auditory Processing for information and tips you can use. 

 

Also, it's not uncommon for kids to struggle with short vowel sounds, especially short E and short I. If those are the main ones he struggles with, check out this article on the pin-pen merger. There's also a short video here.