{"id":1099,"date":"2023-09-08T09:00:43","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T14:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.allaboutlearningpress.com\/?p=1099"},"modified":"2023-09-08T15:46:17","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T20:46:17","slug":"all-about-spelling-in-action-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.allaboutlearningpress.com\/all-about-spelling-in-action-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Real Moms, Real Kids: A Typical Week with All About Spelling<\/cite>"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Mother\r\n\r\n

Have you ever wondered what\u2019s involved in a typical week with AAS<\/cite>?<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Cassandra Ginter and Merry Marinello are real moms who use All About Reading<\/a><\/cite> and All About Spelling<\/a><\/cite> with their own kids. They are both also part of our Customer Care team, where their hands-on experience puts them in a great position to help other parents unlock the power of AAR<\/cite> and AAS<\/cite>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

We asked Cassandra and Merry to share their routines for using AAS<\/cite> in their homes, and they even provided some fantastic tips for added enjoyment, ease, and effectiveness. Join Cassandra as she takes us through a week with her eight-year-old student, currently using the Level 2 Color Edition, and then read about a typical week for Merry and her teen student as they progress through Level 6.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Here's Cassandra...<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

We have been committed All About Reading<\/cite> and All About Spelling<\/cite> fans in our home from the beginning of our homeschooling journey, and now I have the absolute joy of working for AALP and helping other families! We were incredibly excited for the color edition of AAS<\/cite> since first hearing about it, and now that it\u2019s been released, it has not disappointed us!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\"Boy\r\n\r\n

My eight-year-old son is on Lesson 10 of All About Spelling<\/cite> Level 2 Color Edition. We actually began Level 2 with the black-and-white edition and then made the switch to color when it was released. The transition was completely seamless!<\/p>\r\n\r\n

My son has always been a struggling speller (suspected dyslexia), and while spelling is still not his favorite subject, he has made consistent forward progress. Because of his dyslexia, we\u2019re moving through spelling at a slower pace than some kiddos might. Each lesson takes about a week\u2014sometimes more\u2014to complete, and we build in extra review days pretty frequently (kiddos with dyslexia tend to need a lot more repetition and review).<\/p>

Here\u2019s what our week typically looks like with AAS<\/cite>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Lesson Structure<\/h2>\r\n\r\n

Daily Review<\/h3>\r\n\r\n

We always begin and end our lessons with a few minutes of review. We review the Phonogram and Sound Cards first, and then we do a quick review of the Rule Cards (formerly Key Cards) before starting the lesson\u2019s new teaching or practice portion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\"Rule\r\n\r\n

New Content<\/h3>\r\n\r\n

After we review for a few minutes, we begin the lesson.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Mondays: New Teaching<\/h3>\r\n\r\n

I follow the script in the Teacher\u2019s Manual, so there\u2019s no guesswork about how to explain a rule or concept to my son. I introduce the new concept, demonstrate it with the Letter Tiles, and then have my son teach it back to me and practice what I just taught. On Mondays, we typically don\u2019t do any writing as all of our practice is with the tiles.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays: Practice and Dictation<\/h3>\r\n\r\n

On Tuesdays my son begins writing in his dictation notebook (we use the printable Dictation Sheets<\/a> for AAS<\/cite> Level 2 Color Edition, and I bound them into a spiral notebook for him). This continues on Wednesdays and Thursdays as well. We often use the Letter Tiles app<\/a> to practice a lot of the reinforcement words to avoid the fatigue he gets from writing. However, he always handwrites the phrases and sentences in his notebook.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\"Child\r\n\r\n

Honestly, this is probably the hardest part of AAS for my son, as writing really wears him out. That\u2019s one reason I\u2019m so thankful for the gentle way the dictation exercises start with just a few words and gradually increase, allowing him to build his stamina.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Fridays: Review and Activity Day!<\/h3>\r\n\r\n

On Fridays we finish up any remaining words and\/or sentences that my son didn\u2019t get done throughout the week. Then we do the activity that goes along with the lesson. This has by far been his favorite thing about AAS<\/cite>! It makes the review a lot of fun and ends our week with spelling on a high note.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\"Child\r\n\r\n

Note: This is slightly out of order from how the Teacher\u2019s Manual lays out the lessons. In the TM, the activities are slated to come before dictating the phrases and sentences. However, we decided to move the activities to Fridays so that we could use them as a fun cumulative review at the end of each week.<\/cite><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Daily Review<\/h3>\r\n\r\n

Once we\u2019ve finished the teaching\/practice portion of the lesson, we spend the last few minutes each day reviewing any Word Cards that are still behind the \u201creview\u201d tab in his review box. I usually mix in a couple of cards from his \u201cmastered\u201d tab, too, just to make sure it\u2019s still truly mastered! We do all of this review using the Letter Tiles, again, to reduce fatigue and keep him engaged in the review (except on Fridays, when this is part of the activity).<\/p>\r\n\r\n

And that\u2019s our week with the new Color Edition of AAS<\/cite>!<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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A Few Tips for Using the Color Edition of AAS<\/cite><\/h2>\r\n\r\n