Do I need All About Spelling?

[Tiffany]

Our Standford 10 results came back today. My 3rd graders worst score was spelling. 27% percentile and 2.3 grade equivalent. Should I consider AAS? But those tiles seem not so user friendly...Someone please sell me on it or talk me out of it.

Edited May 3, 2017 by EvelynK

[wendyroo]

What do you currently use for spelling?

Does your 3rd grader seem to understand and show improvement with that program?

[Tiffany]

This year it was Abeka. Which was pretty much memorize this list of huge words. No, she did not do well.

[OneStepAtATime]

Then she very well may need something that is more phonics based and breaks things down into something more interactive.  The tiles are to add in a kinesthetic component as well as a visual component and to slow the process down so that the rules are internalized.  They are user friendly if that is how your child learns and you are a patient/flexible enough instructor to use them.  It can be a HUGE help for a lot of kids.  HUGE.  Not everyone works well with this type of system, however.  In fact, for some it is like nails on a chalkboard.

[wendyroo]

I think All About Spelling is a great program.  I use it with my 2nd grader who is not a natural speller, and he is thriving.

 

I love the explicit teaching of spelling rules and the dictation exercises that challenge kids to actually choose between and use all the spelling rules they have learned.  My son certainly doesn't always know right away how to spell an unfamiliar word, but AAS has taught him steps that normally get him pretty close.  Then I can quickly cue him that the word follows the Find Gold rule or that Silent E is doing its second job and that gets him the rest of the way to the correct spelling.

 

We do not use the letter tiles, as those seem like a big pain with not much gain.  Instead, we work on paper or a white board or one of several tile apps (like Word Wizard or Spelling Whiteboard).

 

Wendy

 

[BearWallowSchool]

N/M

Edited May 3, 2017 by BearWallowSchool

[MerryAtHope]

My kids were in 4th and 6th grades when we started, and the tiles were really helpful for them. Kids gradually grow out of them though (especially when they can write faster than they can find the tiles), and we shifted to writing on paper or a whiteboard when they were ready. You can use it without the tiles and write out the demonstrations (when two or more letters combine to form one phonogram, use underlining to show that). 

[sdobis]

My daughter has shown amazing improvement with Apples and Pears. It's so simple. I did not like All About Spelling.

[Seeking Squirrels]

My DD loves AAS and loves using the letter tiles. The tiles are user friendly enough. Much better if you have a space you can leave them up. It would be a bit tedius if you had to set them all out every day. We leave them up. There is still a lot of room in the middle of the whiteboard if we need it for other things. We've never used another spelling program at home, but she does better with AAS than with the system they used at her PS. She loves spelling and is constantly spelling words all day, looking for patterns and favorite arrangements. Her favorite right now is 3 or more consonants in a row. 

[nixpix5]

Did you use Abeka for phonics in your student's earlier years? What I have found is that AAS really does what abeka phonics does (breaks down words, gives spelling rules, special sounds etc) but sometimes the way abeka does it is different from AAS which confused my little guy so we dropped it. Abeka phonics has been his golden answer. If you didn't use Abeka phonics then AAS may be a great option because you get all of the great rules that give kids the foundation to confidently spell from. I really like it but just not both. I REALLY dislike Abeka spelling for the reasons you said. It is just memorize a list, do some worksheets take a test, repeat. Not my favorite way to do spelling.

 

I find AAS to be incredibly user friendly. Don't be overwhelmed by the magnets. They are used in steps depending upon what level you plan to begin with.

 

The spelling I have found the most beneficial for us (and other homeschool moms have mentioned it really improving their kids' test scores) is Spelling You See. I love it so much that I cannot forsee ever not having it in our curriculum in the elementary years. My daughter's spelling wasn't great at the beginning of the year and as soon as she moved to SYS it is amazing. People at her co-op actually comment on how well she spells all of the time. I know it has everything to do with this switch to SYS.

[knitgrl]

AAS has been enormously helpful for my dd who is a terrible speller, although a strong reader. We gave up on the tiles near the start of AAS 2. As pp have said, we just do everything on the white board. She mostly retains what she has learned, even when writing for other subjects. She retained absolutely nothing after getting through Spelling Workout A.

[Tiffany]

She will be using R&S English and math in the fall. I thought I would just use R&S spelling as well. I knew she wasn't a great speller. Then I got her scores back today. :-/ I thought oh no we may need a little more guidance.

[Ellie]

She will be using R&S English and math in the fall. I thought I would just use R&S spelling as well. I knew she wasn't a great speller. Then I got her scores back today. :-/ I thought oh no we may need a little more guidance.

 

1. I can't get worked up over an 8yo's spelling scores on one standardized test. :-) If she still scores low *next* year, then I might think about it.

 

2. Spelling by Sound and Structure is an excellent traditional spelling series. IMHO, it is more comprehensive than any other traditional spelling.

 

3. If you still think you need something beefy, then Spalding.

[Tiffany]

1. I can't get worked up over an 8yo's spelling scores on one standardized test. :-) If she still scores low *next* year, then I might think about it.

 

2. Spelling by Sound and Structure is an excellent traditional spelling series. IMHO, it is more comprehensive than any other traditional spelling.

 

3. If you still think you need something beefy, then Spalding.

 

She's nine. 3rd grader with November birthday. Does that make a difference? I would rather just do R&S and reevaluate later, if that wouldn't kill her! ;-)

Edited May 3, 2017 by EvelynK

[ikslo]

For what it's worth, my DS's lowest test score last year for 3rd was also in spelling. We use AAS. Some kids are just poor spellers.

 

ETA: AAS has been a good program for him.  I shudder to think what his scores would have been if we hadn't been using AAS.

Edited May 4, 2017 by ikslo

[Ausmumof3]

I'm weighing it up and we have apples and pears. I think it's frustrating me because it seems so slow. And even after the lessons she is still skipping things.

 

How is your dds reading? Once my oldest started reading for pleasure his spelling skills jumped massively! Also I guess we did quite a lot of copy work which probably helped.

[Mom27kidz]

Where do you buy apples and pears??

I keep pulling up a uk site.

[Ellie]

She's nine. 3rd grader with November birthday. Does that make a difference? I would rather just do R&S and reevaluate later, if that wouldn't kill her! ;-)

 

Her "grade" doesn't really matter. :-)

 

You could have her do the 4th grade Spelling by Sound and Structure and see how it goes. It's never too late to do Spalding, if you don't see much improvement on her next standardized test scores.

[Meadowlark]

I agree that you don't have to use the cards, tiles and whole shebang. Depending on what you're studying, you may have to use the tiles because it just makes sense to show them that the two letters go together to make a certain sound. But the word wizard app can get you by until then. I think AAS is great to just teach from the beginning. It is teacher intensive though, so you have to go into it with that mentality. That's kind of why I had to let it go. But I"m not seeing my 3rd graders spelling improving (ITBS still out) so I may go back to it next year, although I'd love to do R & S or something independent. We'll see.

[sdobis]

Where do you buy apples and pears??

I keep pulling up a uk site.

http://www.soundfoundations.co.uk/en_US/

 

It is a British company with a few British words (torch/flashlight​, rubber/eraser) but they have a US spelling version.

[Runningmom80]

My kids are pretty good spellers and we do AAS. I keep thinking we should drop it but they love it.

[goldenecho]

I only mainly use the tiles during initial instruction.  I don't find them un-user friendly--I just find that I prefer my son to get more practice writing the words so we skip the letter tile practice and go right to writing most times.  They are helpful initially in teaching because of the color coding,, which re-enforces some key concepts.  This is a really easy curriculum to use.  Very simple open and go, and very logically organized.   My son is a struggling learner but does wonderfully with this. 

Edited May 4, 2017 by goldenecho

[goldenecho]

This year it was Abeka. Which was pretty much memorize this list of huge words. No, she did not do well.

 

What lead me initially to AAS was that is was not just a huge list of words...I like that it's organized around spelling concepts, not random word lists.  I've even learned some concepts from it I didn't know...and we're pretty early into it.   It makes spelling make so much more sense!  There's probably other programs that also teach by spelling concept...even if you don't do AAS I'd look for something like that, not brute force rote memorization.

[EKT]

We have been using AAS for two years now. (Tried Spelling Workout in the beginning and it didn't do anything for us.) 

 

Pros:

-AAS is actually working! My children's spelling has definitely improved as a result of the program. 

-It is very open-and-go. Once the tiles are set up, I don't have to plan or think about anything, I just do the next thing. 

-It is colorful and I think the materials are very high-quality. 

-Concepts are presented in a very logical order. 

-I use the tiles on a magnetic white board (as recommended) and I think that makes all the difference. (Getting them out every day would be a huge pain!) But sometimes, when we're trying to get through a little more quickly, we'll just write with red and blue dry erase markers and that works great, too. So you don't necessarily always have to use the tiles. (But, like I said, they are good quality, so I find them useful and pretty to look at all set up on my white board.) 

 

Cons:

-Sometimes I think the program tells me more than I ever wanted to know about spelling, lol. (But, you can't deny that knowing all the rules helps you understand why things are the spelled the way they are.)

-It takes longer than I would like to spend on spelling, but I'm not sure there's another way around this, honestly. (If I want my kids to learn spelling, I think I simply have to put in the time, you know?) That said, we only do it twice per week, about 15-20 minutes per session. I find that just when it's about to feel tedious, a new element or activity is introduced. 

 

So, I wish there was a way to make it magically faster, but AAS is the best program I've found. I'm happy with it! It's incredibly well-ordered and well-organized, the materials are of high quality, and I can't imagine it not working if you actually follow the program and do all the work. We definitely plan to continue with it. Hope that helps!

 

Edited May 4, 2017 by EKT

[Tiffany]

Thanks for all the responses. I'm still weighing my options. :)

[AdventuresinHomeschooling]

My second grader is using Spelling workout, and he's not showing himself to be a natural speller. But it just seems so time intensive when I will be homeschooling three next year. My oldest is a spelling whiz so I never had to put much effort into it.

[knitgrl]

My second grader is using Spelling workout, and he's not showing himself to be a natural speller. But it just seems so time intensive when I will be homeschooling three next year. My oldest is a spelling whiz so I never had to put much effort into it.

 

Ultimately, I suppose it depends on how much of a priority spelling is for you. We skip the tiles. So far we are almost finished with Level 2, which dd, like a lot of kids, has been flying through. What I do right now is present the initial lesson to her, along with the spelling list. That takes about 15 minutes. The next day, I dictate the list to her, along with two phrases and one sentence. That *might* take ten minutes. If she spells the list perfectly two days in a row, we move on to the next lesson. Generally, I think AAS lessons are just the right length.

 

Edited May 5, 2017 by knitgrl

[mamaofgirls]

Did you use Abeka for phonics in your student's earlier years? What I have found is that AAS really does what abeka phonics does (breaks down words, gives spelling rules, special sounds etc) but sometimes the way abeka does it is different from AAS which confused my little guy so we dropped it. Abeka phonics has been his golden answer. If you didn't use Abeka phonics then AAS may be a great option because you get all of the great rules that give kids the foundation to confidently spell from. I really like it but just not both. I REALLY dislike Abeka spelling for the reasons you said. It is just memorize a list, do some worksheets take a test, repeat. Not my favorite way to do spelling.

 

I find AAS to be incredibly user friendly. Don't be overwhelmed by the magnets. They are used in steps depending upon what level you plan to begin with.

 

The spelling I have found the most beneficial for us (and other homeschool moms have mentioned it really improving their kids' test scores) is Spelling You See. I love it so much that I cannot forsee ever not having it in our curriculum in the elementary years. My daughter's spelling wasn't great at the beginning of the year and as soon as she moved to SYS it is amazing. People at her co-op actually comment on how well she spells all of the time. I know it has everything to do with this switch to SYS.

 

This is interesting! We are using Abeka phonics, it is all I know and understand but I was hoping to start AAS next year instead of doing Abeka phonics 2. We tried AAR in Kindergarten after a couple months of Abeka but it was just too slow and overwhelming for both dd and I. I do agree though that they break down words and have the similar special sounds - which is why I thought the transition would be easy for us!

 

Could you give me some examples of ways it was different in teaching before I purchase AAS - I have been watching ebay for it!! I noticed in the TM samples their terms are different for special sounds -I was hopping it would be a smooth transition, just an adjustment for me.

[BearWallowSchool]

.

Edited May 5, 2017 by BearWallowSchool

[Tiffany]

I have to decided to try AAS over the summer. It will give me a chance to get use to it while we don't have much going on. If we don't like it, she will use R&S in the fall.

Edited May 5, 2017 by EvelynK

[nixpix5]

This is interesting! We are using Abeka phonics, it is all I know and understand but I was hoping to start AAS next year instead of doing Abeka phonics 2. We tried AAR in Kindergarten after a couple months of Abeka but it was just too slow and overwhelming for both dd and I. I do agree though that they break down words and have the similar special sounds - which is why I thought the transition would be easy for us!

 

Could you give me some examples of ways it was different in teaching before I purchase AAS - I have been watching ebay for it!! I noticed in the TM samples their terms are different for special sounds -I was hopping it would be a smooth transition, just an adjustment for me.

If you are moving from abeka to AAS you should he fine. My problem was I was trying to do both at the same time. Their terms are different as are their descriptions of vowels, syllables etc (open door, closed door etc). The way they segment words is neat but again, after having alot of lessons in abeka 1 on the rules of where to segment words based on double consonants, vowels, suffixes/prefixes and the like my kids were frustrated. I much prefer abeka ' s way of handling the rules for using C and K as well as ck at the end of words. AAS treats "ng" as a special sound as opposed to abeka teaching in a chunk with the vowel (same with nk). Compound words get taught at the end of AAS 1 and as you know, compounds are taught early in abeka 1. AAS treats adding "es" at the end as a syllable as opposed to abeka 1 introducing suffixes and hammering them home early. Abeka 1 really covers all of AAS 1 and pretty much AAS 2 as well. Step 7 in AAS 2 introduces silent e if that gives you any indication of what I mean. The special sounds er, ar, or and ou are not taught until step 12 of AAS 2. Abeka 1 teaches those early and combines ou and ow in the teaching like they do with oi and oy. Soft "G" is taught at the end of AAS 2. What I have found is if you follow the abeka 1 lessons and do all of the main teaching points, the workbook pages and the dictation words at the end of each lesson then you are doing the first two AAS books. I feel abeka 1 does a solid job inadvertently teaching spelling. If your child had a hard time retaining those lessons then AAS will reinforce those lessons but you may need to explain the new terminology. This is just a few examples and I don't have AAS 3 to see what it introduces and when. I do plan on using AAS 2 with one of my kids when they are finished with abeka 1. He just needs more repetition than my other kids. My other kids do/will do abeka 2 because they think AAS is too slow and grueling.

 

Sorry for this wordy response! I was flipping through my AAS books as I typed so hopefully this made sense!

[mamaofgirls]

If you are moving from abeka to AAS you should he fine. My problem was I was trying to do both at the same time. Their terms are different as are their descriptions of vowels, syllables etc (open door, closed door etc). The way they segment words is neat but again, after having alot of lessons in abeka 1 on the rules of where to segment words based on double consonants, vowels, suffixes/prefixes and the like my kids were frustrated. I much prefer abeka ' s way of handling the rules for using C and K as well as ck at the end of words. AAS treats "ng" as a special sound as opposed to abeka teaching in a chunk with the vowel (same with nk). Compound words get taught at the end of AAS 1 and as you know, compounds are taught early in abeka 1. AAS treats adding "es" at the end as a syllable as opposed to abeka 1 introducing suffixes and hammering them home early. Abeka 1 really covers all of AAS 1 and pretty much AAS 2 as well. Step 7 in AAS 2 introduces silent e if that gives you any indication of what I mean. The special sounds er, ar, or and ou are not taught until step 12 of AAS 2. Abeka 1 teaches those early and combines ou and ow in the teaching like they do with oi and oy. Soft "G" is taught at the end of AAS 2. What I have found is if you follow the abeka 1 lessons and do all of the main teaching points, the workbook pages and the dictation words at the end of each lesson then you are doing the first two AAS books. I feel abeka 1 does a solid job inadvertently teaching spelling. If your child had a hard time retaining those lessons then AAS will reinforce those lessons but you may need to explain the new terminology. This is just a few examples and I don't have AAS 3 to see what it introduces and when. I do plan on using AAS 2 with one of my kids when they are finished with abeka 1. He just needs more repetition than my other kids. My other kids do/will do abeka 2 because they think AAS is too slow and grueling.

 

Sorry for this wordy response! I was flipping through my AAS books as I typed so hopefully this made sense!

Thank you so much for this!! It honestly do not feel we will even attempt AAS anymore, I think it will be to confusing for both my daughter and I ;-)  I like how Abeka introduces "ng" with a vowel and how they start early introducing special sounds like er, ar, or, ou a, oy, io in Kindergarten. I will probably continue on the phonics 2 and will start with Abeka spelling - if its working why change it?! Your post was so helpful!!!

[nixpix5]

Thank you so much for this!! It honestly do not feel we will even attempt AAS anymore, I think it will be to confusing for both my daughter and I ;-) I like how Abeka introduces "ng" with a vowel and how they start early introducing special sounds like er, ar, or, ou a, oy, io in Kindergarten. I will probably continue on the phonics 2 and will start with Abeka spelling - if its working why change it?! Your post was so helpful!!!

A word of caution about abeka language 2 if you haven't looked at it. The teaching manual feels really different and it takes some getting used to. Also, there is a ton of repetition in the first 12 weeks from abeka 1. Good for those who need it and not so much for those who don't. I plan to move quickly through the review for my daughter and go a bit slower for my DS2. If you have a way of looking at AAS 3 it might actually be a good next step. I didn't want to deter you ;) I think AAS is great! Partly because I think Abeka 1 is amazing. I love phonics/spelling programs that teach in this way. I did stumble across Reading Lessons Through Literature and actually thinking about making it my next step after Abeka.

Edited May 5, 2017 by nixpix5