Jump to content

Menu

Spelling Power vs. All About Spelling


Recommended Posts

Right now we are using AAS, although I love it, it takes a lot of time and it is very expensive. Does Spelling Power teach the rules of spelling like AAS does? I really want my dc to learn the spelling rules so when they come upon a word the don't know how to spell they can fall back on the rules. How much teacher prep is there for Spelling Power. Please, anyone who has used both programs I'd love to hear your comments! TIA!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never seen AAS. We do use Spelling Power and it does teach rules (which is why I selected it) BUT I don't find the way it teaches rules to be very helpful. As an example, the last group we did (we're in level A) has this rule:

 

"/or/ can be spelled or as in corn, oar as in boar, oor as in door, our as in your, and ar as in dwarf."

 

The word list was:

or

for

your

more

four

glory

door

morning

story

before

 

It doesn't give any rhyme or reason for why you use a particular spelling of /or/ in a particular word. So ds just guesses. It drives me crazy. It must drive him crazy too because he actually asked me for a list of spelling rules he could work on with his other memory work.

 

Friday I picked up a used copy of Grammar of Spellng and we're going to try it. We'll probably use the rules and word lists from it but study them in the Spelling Power way (test, study, test) because ds prefers that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

It doesn't give any rhyme or reason for why you use a particular spelling of /or/ in a particular word. So ds just guesses.
I was under the impression that there is little rhyme or reason (unless you study etymology) as to when and why you use a particular spelling of many phonemes, especially when those phonemes can involve double vowels.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried Spelling Power, but like Laura, I was incredibly frustrated by the supposed "rules." I prefer that AAS teaches individual patterns first, giving rules where there are rules, and then putting it together & seeing if the child can remember one from another.

 

But as for AAS taking a lot of time, how much time are you spending? I set a timer for 15 minutes & just do that. We don't try to finish a whole lesson in one day or anything. Would that help you?

 

Even with Spelling Power it's not independent so you'd spend about that much time with that too. And with Spelling Power there's a 150 page intro to read on how to implement the program (though you can do a 10-page "quick start," to get started. But to really use it to it's fullest you're supposed to read all that.).

 

Merry :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was under the impression that there is little rhyme or reason (unless you study etymology) as to when and why you use a particular spelling of many phonemes, especially when those phonemes can involve double vowels.

 

True in some cases, not true in others. I got the book The ABC's and All Their Tricks a few years ago & was surprised to learn just how many reliable patterns & rules there are. Some patterns show up at the ends of words only, or before a final l or n, while others are used in the middle of words. Anyway, it's a helpful resource I pull out when I'm looking to see if there are clues. Also some patterns are much more common than others, and it can help kids to learn the common ones first and then work in the less common ones one at a time instead of throwing a bunch of different ones in at the same time.

 

Merry :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have used both, and my preference is for AAS.

 

I confess that when we first started using AAS it was time consuming, but that was because I was trying to do one step per day. NOT GOOD.

 

Now, I do one step a week or there abouts. It takes us only about 15 minutes per day or less. I have two children in two different levels of AAS.

 

Typically I approach my planning this way.

 

Monday~Introduce lesson/spell with tiles

Tuesday~Review and spell on paper

Wednesday~Review and spell the "more words" on paper

Thursday~Review and dictate phrases or sentences

Friday~Review or skip

 

Now, some lessons have more "lesson" to them and that might determine what I do on each day. However, that is a general plan. My girls both know and understand the rules because they repeat them regularly in review.

 

Also, dictation is a fantastic tool for teaching spelling, and AAS has it included.

 

Jennie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It doesn't give any rhyme or reason for why you use a particular spelling of /or/ in a particular word. It must drive him crazy too because he actually asked me for a list of spelling rules he could work on with his other memory work.

 

:iagree:

The "rules" are not helpful rules at all. My son was also asking for a list of rules as to why one time "or" was spelled this way and the next time, that way. He has no visual memory, so he could not figure it out. We switched to AAS and he loves it and all the rules!

 

IMO, AAS takes less time that Spelling Power. My son would spend 30 minutes whining while filling out the steps on the worksheet. After three months we never made it off the first page! With AAS we have spent 15 minutes, 3X's a week and have gotten through two books in 1 year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW... We were using Spelling Power and shared the same frustrations as those above. I am now having Blue go through the levels of AAS to LEARN the rules, then I will return to Spelling Power for our long-term spelling plan.

 

For each step, I use the tiles and cards to introduce the new rule. I then have him write the 10 new words (on paper or in his Spelling Power book on the daily test page, where there is room for corrections if needed), have him spell the extra words orally, then write out the 6 sentences (on the same paper or on the sentences page of the Spelling Power book). At a seperate time, I give him a quick oral quiz of 10 words he needs to review. Doing it this way, we can do an entire step in one sitting, and finish in 15-20 minutes tops. He is actually LEARNING the rules now, and I think he will do great when we return to Spelling Power.

Edited by Colleen in SEVA
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...