AAR with two kids

[Linz1084]

I have one son who is about 70% through level 1 and his brother who is ready to begin. I know I need the new student pages but I am wondering if I should get a whole separate stack of review cards and the file box. I'd love to find a way to use the one I have but I can't figure out how I would keep the cards in their proper order for two different kids. Does anyone have suggestions? Thanks!

[Melissa in Australia]

I think you can get the file separators. without the review cards. I am thinking that you will possibly be able to shift all the cards that older child is finished with into a different box.

[ExcitedMama]

I definitely don't think you need a separate set of cards. You could just buy a box that is meant to hold 3x5 cards. Does DS1 still need to review cards from the beginning of AAR1? If not just grab the first half of the cards and put in a box for DS2. You can even buy dividers for the card boxes. That will be a lot cheaper than another set from AAR. Or if DS1 is almost done it might make sense to switch his remaining cards to a separate box since DS2 might need the bigger box to start with and DS1 will have less cards left. I know when I did the program just with my DS1 at some point there are too many cards for the first box so I had to figure out what to do. I just used a small plastic box meant for 3x5 cards and rotated through sets of cards. When he finished I just switched them out for another stack.

[MerryAtHope]

It probably depends on the fluency of your older child. If he's already reading the early words fluently, then pull those cards and set up a box for your younger one (I think it's probably easiest to have a separate box--I tried to use one box for both of my kids in spelling, and it was too easy to confuse their stacks, LOL! But you could try sharing a box and see how it goes. Definitely get a separate set of dividers though--that makes organizing your younger ones cards easier. You can get just the dividers or just a box from the Interactive Kit page.

 

If your older one is still reviewing a lot of those easy words though, then you'll want a second set of cards--you really want the review set-up to be as easy as possible to use. If it's too complicated, you'll be less likely to use it daily.

 

Here's a blog post about teaching reading and spelling to multiple children where different moms share how they do things. Have fun!