Explain how to use All About Spelling without the tiles

[SamanthaCarter]

I think some of you on the forums use AAS without the tiles. I want to love this program (even I've learned from it!), but I really hate the tiles and my kids hate them, are indifferent to them, or just use them to disrupt the lesson. 

 

Talk to me please. In detail. Thank you!

[MerryAtHope]

Sure, you can either use them just for demonstrations that you do, or you can not use them at all. When my oldest outgrew the tiles, we just wrote on paper or a white board, and underlined to show when two or more letters were working together as one phonogram--it doesn't have to be hard at all. We used a long slash to divide syllables, and just said verbally what each syllable type was when labeling syllable types. Here's what it says on the AAS FAQ about this. HTH!

[Farrar]

Seconding what Merry said. For awhile, we kept a few of the tiles - like the syllable types, but just used them on what we wrote on the white board. And I would sometimes pull out a tile or two (and later, just make one on a card) if they were having trouble spelling in that pattern so it was more like choosing.

 

I loathed the tiles. They were so annoying. The idea behind them is great but the design is cruddy.

[Milknhoney]

A whiteboard and dry erase markers in multiple colors - one for you and one for student.

[MeaganS]

We use a tile app. I only use it for the actual teaching of the lesson. The tiles didn't make it past lesson 8 in level 1 because a toddler got into them and lost several. It would be fairly easy to do it without. You would just write down words, like pp said. You could even use different color markers to show their sound types.

[Momto6inIN]

I don't even use a white board. I just point out the applicable illustrations in the teacher's manual to my DD as we go along to show what the tiles would show and she writes in a notebook when it directs her to use the tiles.

[dragonflyer]

We also did not like the tiles.

I started with a personal-sized whiteboard and would put the syllable labels on top of the words.  Now we just use lined paper.

[Eagle]

We used an iPad app called Word Wizard for the first three or four levels. Now Ds just writes everything in his notebook and doesn't need tiles.

[Jess4879]

We use a Boogie Board and I draw a "tile" when we introduce a new concept and underline the combos after that.  I really hope that they come out with an app specific to AAS/AAR.  I would buy that in a heartbeat. :)

[EKT]

I hated the tiles until I bought an actual magnetic white board. (I had kept them in a baggie and it was maddening to get them out each time!) But now that we have a real 2' x 3' whiteboard like the program recommends, the alphabet just stays up all the time along the top of the board and the special tiles stay along the sides. My girls love it. 

 

That said, if you've tried the white board method and you still hate the tiles, then I recommend getting a white board anyway and using red and blue dry erase markers with it. (Sometimes, if we need to get through a lesson quickly, we'll just use a blue marker for the consonants and a red marker for the vowels and we are good.) 

[TheAttachedMama]

We also use a spelling app called "Spelling Whiteboard".   However, it is not perfect because it doesn't have *all* of the letter tiles.   (Example:  Only one "ar" tile and it is under the er sounds folder...so we have to pretend it is the other color.   NOT ideal!)   

 

I hate to hijack this thread, but if you also use an app, can you tell me the name of it?    I am going to compare them to the one I am already using.  

 

Merry, if you are listening, I would LOVE it if AAS would design an app for spelling words.   Something that had all of the letter tiles and even the syllable tags.   I think people would pay big bucks for this.    It could even expand upon the existing app.   

 

 

[fourisenough]

I use a piece of white card stock inside of a page protector. I keep this right inside of my AAS book to use as a whiteboard and it doubles as our bookmark. When I want to do a lesson with DD, I can grab a whiteboard marker, the book, and we're ready to go. I write whatever we would usually build with tiles.

[wendyroo]

Probably not much help, but I had DH create a draggable tile program specific to AAS. It has all the right tiles in the right colors for each level. Without it I would have had to ditch AAS because my son simply could not cope with physical tiles or too much handwriting.

 

Wendy

[MerryAtHope]

Merry, if you are listening, I would LOVE it if AAS would design an app for spelling words.   Something that had all of the letter tiles and even the syllable tags.   I think people would pay big bucks for this.    It could even expand upon the existing app.   

 

Hopefully they will have one at some point! In the meantime, you can look into Whizzimo. Through the settings you can change the tile colors to match the AAS tiles. It’s not an exact match, but all the basics are the same. HTH some!

[Stratford]

We used an iPad app called Word Wizard for the first three or four levels. Now Ds just writes everything in his notebook and doesn't need tiles.

 

We use this, too, for both AAS and AAR.  Works well for us so far.  

[Kat w]

I wonder though, why does she hate the tiles?

 

I know merry knows her stuff about it and we do the whiteboard too, but after the tiles with each word or phonogram.

 

My son doesn't like the tiles either. But, and a big but, he doesn't like it BC it's hard for him. He is a struggling reader, as in, you'll think he's got it down only to find out, he doesn't.

 

If he's commiting it to long term memory then, that's a different thing and wouldn't worry about it.

 

If your finding yourself doing more review than you'd like, maybe he's not committing it to long term memory .

 

That's the while point of a program like this. Touch , feel, see, write, say.

 

Even tho mylil guy doesn't care for this part. I let him know, it's a non negotiable .

 

Just something to think about and be looking for .

 

I trust that type of program. But then, I have a struggling reader.

That may not be the case for you.