Woodland Mist Academy Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 (edited) Hello,I'm considering this program and have a question. Is it set up for 5 days a week or does it move from lesson to lesson without an obvious intent for a 5 day week?I've read other posts about the program, but can't find the answer anywhere.Also, how long do you usually spend on this spelling program a day/week?Thanks for your help. Edited May 9, 2014 by Woodland Mist Academy Added another question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Hello,I'm considering this program and have a question. Is it set up for 5 days a week or does it move from lesson to lesson without an obvious intent for a 5 day week? I've read other posts about the program, but can't find the answer anywhere. Also, how long do you usually spend on this spelling program a day/week? Thanks for your help. Laura Hi Laura! It is set up so that you move from lesson to lesson, at whatever pace you deem necessary. For us, most lessons are done in a day - but for younger children, one lesson can be spread out over more days, and reinforced. I would assume you would work on Spelling 5x/week - but maybe you would work a lesson one day, and just practice words the next. For me - with my 10yo and 8yo - we spend about 20 minutes a day on the program. They've moved very quickly - we started with Level 1 in September, and we're almost through Level 3. But because my girls are doing well, I will occasionally skip AAS on a day that's packed. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the info! Do you find your children retain what they're learning? We've tried other programs that don't include review and the retention has been a problem. It's my understanding All About Spelling has review built in. Am I correct? Thanks again! Edited February 10, 2009 by Hilltop Academy punctucation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1bassoon Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Thanks for the info!Do you find your children retain what they're learning? We've tried other programs that don't include review and the retention has been a problem. It's my understanding All About Spelling has review built in. Am I correct? Thanks again! Yes, quite a bit. Every day, you are "supposed" to review their spelling rules and sounds. I put "supposed" to in quotes, b/c I don't get to it ;) But, I'm finding my girls are doing fine as well - but if I were going to review everything as the manual suggests, I'd add another 5-10 minutes onto the daily lesson time. Clear as mud??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcara Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 My girls do AAS 5x per week, about 15-20 minutes per day. In level 2, my oldest could complete a lesson in 2 of these sessions. Now that she's in level 3, with more dictation sentences and the new "Writing Station" activity, she takes about 4 days to get through a lesson. Retention...Yes, my kids are retaining everything very well. There is as much review as you need. This is generally what we do: Day 1 - Review old rules, New teaching on board with tiles Day 2 - Phonogram dictation; practice new and some old words on dry erase board Day 3 - Half of dictation sentences Day 4 - other half of dictation sentences When I used to use a workbook program that was set up to do one lesson per week, I didn't really know what to do if my kids needed more practice. They had done all the workbook pages already, and if I took longer than a week for more review, I felt "behind." I don't have this problem with AAS. My younger daughter had more trouble with her most recent lesson. So, we spent more days reviewing the words on the dry erase board. There's no such thing as being "behind" with AAS. And, I keep any random words, and rule-breaker words, in the review section to be reviewed frequently. I feel like I have lots of tools to help my kids become good spellers now! I know how to teach spelling instead of just giving them a workbook and hoping for the best! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kisa in CA Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 AAS gives you a set number of lessons per level (approx 27). IT also includes a neat chart for the kids to put a sticker on the lesson as the complete it. They are not scheduled. You do one lesson then go on to the next when you think your child understands the principles taught in the lesson. Sometimes we do several lessons in a day and sometimes it takes us 3-4 days to do 1 lesson. Since I very much like scheduled daily curriculum, I thought this woud be a problem for me. But it hasn't been. It would be nice to have Friday tests, but we just test and drill daily. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 I feel like I have lots of tools to help my kids become good spellers now! I know how to teach spelling instead of just giving them a workbook and hoping for the best! This is what I like about AAS compared to our previous method. When we first switched, we spent about 30 minutes a day, at dd's request. She couldn't get enough of it! We finished quickly and are now in level 2. I stop after 15-20 minutes. Like the other posters said, you move through the program at your own pace, and don't feel bound by a weekly plan. We have slowed way down, and dd can't tell, since she doesn't see the book. I will say that my dd does not apply the rules the way I hoped she would. She learns a rule immediately, and routinely gets all of the practice words with 100% accuracy. When doing dictation containing old rules, or writing during free time, she does NOT apply a few of the rules. Maybe this will happen as she works with the rules for a longer period of time. Going slower doesn't help, as she always gets 100% while we are on the lesson. Make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Yes, quite a bit. Every day, you are "supposed" to review their spelling rules and sounds. I put "supposed" to in quotes, b/c I don't get to it ;) But, I'm finding my girls are doing fine as well - but if I were going to review everything as the manual suggests, I'd add another 5-10 minutes onto the daily lesson time. Clear as mud??? Made total sense to me. :-) We'll probably need some review so it's nice to have a ballpark figure of how much time we'll need. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaof2andtwins Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Thanks for the info!Do you find your children retain what they're learning? We've tried other programs that don't include review and the retention has been a problem. It's my understanding All About Spelling has review built in. Am I correct? Thanks again! This is the biggest reason I like AAS so much. My daughters are able to retain this AND apply it to other times when they are spelling words. Jennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 My girls do AAS 5x per week, about 15-20 minutes per day. In level 2, my oldest could complete a lesson in 2 of these sessions. Now that she's in level 3, with more dictation sentences and the new "Writing Station" activity, she takes about 4 days to get through a lesson. Retention...Yes, my kids are retaining everything very well. There is as much review as you need. This is generally what we do: Day 1 - Review old rules, New teaching on board with tiles Day 2 - Phonogram dictation; practice new and some old words on dry erase board Day 3 - Half of dictation sentences Day 4 - other half of dictation sentences When I used to use a workbook program that was set up to do one lesson per week, I didn't really know what to do if my kids needed more practice. They had done all the workbook pages already, and if I took longer than a week for more review, I felt "behind." I don't have this problem with AAS. My younger daughter had more trouble with her most recent lesson. So, we spent more days reviewing the words on the dry erase board. There's no such thing as being "behind" with AAS. And, I keep any random words, and rule-breaker words, in the review section to be reviewed frequently. I feel like I have lots of tools to help my kids become good spellers now! I know how to teach spelling instead of just giving them a workbook and hoping for the best! That's exactly what I want to do--teach spelling and not just give a list of words and hope for the best. We tried that and it didn't work well for us. :-( When you do 5 days what do you do on day 5? You mentioned spelling 5 days a week but I only see 4 days listed. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 I appreciate all the responses! It sounds like it will be a good fit. I like not having a set number of lessons a week so we can speed up or slow down and the review will hopefully help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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