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Hi, my name is Melissa. Pour yourself a cup of tea and stay a while. I'm completely devoted to my Savior, madly in love with my husband, and joyously raising my daughters. I'm so glad you stopped by and I hope you enjoy your time here!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

All About Spelling Review...And GIVEAWAY!!!



When we brought my daughter home mid-year from 1st grade to begin homeschooling one of the areas she seemed to be struggling with was spelling. We realized later that the words she was being taught were high 2nd and 3rd grade level words which explained her struggle, but I didn’t know that at first. So I sought to figure out how to teach spelling. I was a horrible speller because I do not memorize well and that was the strategy I was taught in school. I was given a list of 10 words, tried to memorize them by Friday, only miss two or three, but struggled with retention.

I had seen All About Spelling mentioned on several blogs and websites, so I discussed the situation with a veteran homeschooling mom and asked about the curriculum. She told me a lot of parents she knew used it and that it was very rule oriented. Bingo! I knew it would be perfect from my rule-oriented daughter!

I received the box after just a couple of days and was thrilled to get started! The brightly colored tiles intrigued my daughter and she eagerly asked when we could start. It is suggested that you start at the very beginning in level 1 to make sure their foundation is laid strongly. Because she was already devouring books on a 3rd grade level the beginning seemed too easy, but after having been through half of the second level I am extremely glad I followed the advice to start in Level 1. There are so many things which are built on from that level which seem insignificant at the time but are truly stepping stones to upcoming levels.

We have a beautiful white board hanging on the wall. We also have a young preschooler! Add in brightly colored letter tiles and you have an enormous mess and the possibility of some missing letters! I opted to purchase 2 cookie sheets and 2 small platters from the Dollar Tree. One cookie sheet holds the basic phonemes which I use with both girls. The second sheet holds the letter combinations I use with Rose. we use the small platters for the girls to do their tile work. This has worked really well for us so far. One day we may switch to the white board, but for now this is a better solution!

**Confession**
I didn't buy the box that you can purchase from the website. In hindsight I wished I had! I have one that is working, but it definitely won't continue to hold all the cards!

Because the beginning lessons were basically review I did about 1 lesson a day until we reached something new to her, about lesson 14. To be honest, my daughter was done with the tiles after about a week. So I tweaked. We use the tiles to learn a new concept, but everything else is done on paper. This has worked well for her. Once we reached the “new concept” point we now take about 1 lesson a week.

Although spelling is not her favorite part of the day, it is certainly more enjoyable now that she is learning rules and succeeding.

I have once again started with level 1 with my next daughter. She just started kindergarten, but has completed her phonics program and is reading on a 2nd grade level. I would highly recommend waiting to begin spelling until after finishing a year of phonics. From my experience it seems to work best if done in this order.

Since she was younger at the start I took the whole program slower. She took about 2 weeks to memorize the initial yellow phonograms. She didn’t have any trouble with the consonants and already memorized the basic long and shorts sounds of each vowel, but remembering the new sounds for those was harder for her to remember. She mastered them this past week and was able to quickly review all the sounds. I accidentally included sounds taught later in the book like /th/ and /sh/, but she breezed through those without a second thought! Beth has currently been working on segmenting the words and she really likes sliding the colorful circles!
  
The only portion of the program I have not used as much are the green index cards with words on them. It is a good way to keep track of which rules and words she has mastered, but I think I would prefer a checklist that I could look at easier.

I didn’t quite get the need for so many colored letters, but now that I’m well into the second book I appreciate the various colored tiles for different phonograms. This is a huge bonus for visual learners and my daughter quickly recognizes letter patterns because of them.

**Secret Bonus**
I finally figured out why I wasn’t a good speller…I never learned the rules. Why oh why wasn’t I taught these very clear and helpful rules when I was in school? I had no idea there was actually a rule for when c says /s/ and when it says /k/ or how to know whether to use c, k, or ck to make the /k/ sound. Now that we are learning the rules we are all spelling better! 

To find out more about All About Spelling click on this link!


And NOW for the giveaway! There are a few ways to enter, but nothing too painful! Our giveaway will run until September 24th. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

*I received Level 4 for this review

233 comments:

  1. I think I struggle teaching the sounds of the letters in some words. I just take one step and one letter at a time.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I agree that segmenting the sounds can be difficult. I need to remember to just help my daughters take it slow and a step at a time like you said!

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  2. We love AAS here and now I'm using AAR with my 1st grader and will use AAS for him when we finish AAR 1. I just love EVERYTHING that AALP puts out! It's all so wonderful and I'm learning new things right along with my boys.

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    1. Thanks for coming by! I'm in love with all things All About Learning too :) I LOVE the sounds of AAR, but I purchased a phonics program several years ago for my oldest, so I can't justify getting another one! But I feel like AAS really helps supplement phonics!

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  3. Excited to find your blog and to read about your adventures in homeschooling! Thanks for this awesome giveaway. This is our first year homeschooling and am I super excited. I've heard such great things about AAS/AAR and I'm hoping I'll win this so that I can snag some goodies for our kids. Thanks! :)

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    1. Thanks for joining us! Have fun homeschooling this year :) This is our second year and has been an unexpected, but lovely journey along the way! You'll LOVE AAS. Everything is so well thought out and has taken the burden off of teaching spelling!

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  4. I am enjoying AAS Level 2 also! I'd love a gift certificate to look at their AAR stuff! biggest challenge to teaching spelling is being methodical to make sure there are no gaps, since I naturally spell well myself and don't see where the trouble may come for my kids.

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  5. I'd never heard of this program before, thanks! It could be super helpful for my rules-oriented nine year old.

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    1. Rule oriented kids LOVE this! I can tell you that from my daughter. Spelling suddenly made sense when she had do's and don'ts!

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  6. Just found your blog. Would love to win! Thanks!

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  7. It looks like my comment didn't post last night...I apologize if this is a double post.

    To this point, we haven't had any struggles in teaching spelling since my oldest is doing kindergarten. I have read rave reviews of AAR and AAS, and we intend to begin using AAR 1 when we have completed My Fathers World Kindergarten. I am looking forward to it!

    Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

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    1. Thanks for stopping in and reposting. Don't know what happened :) You'll love this program!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I stopped by your blog :) Your boys are adorable! My girls LOVE their peanut butter too!

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  9. I have such a hard time teaching spelling because my DD is dyslexic. AAS is great for this!

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    1. I have heard good things about using DD with various learning difficulties. I'm glad it's worked for you!

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  10. We're having problems with when to use C vs S as well as J vs G.

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    1. Us too! My girls constantly say S when they mean C, but they do usually write it correctly.

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  11. All 3 of my kids are dyslexic, I've been looking into this. I would LOVE to win it.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I've heard good things about using this with kids who have learning challenges!

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  12. Thanks for hosting! Found you through the HOD Beyond Facebook page!

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    1. Welcome! I LOVE the Facebook pages for the individual guides! We completed Beyond last year, but I didn't want to miss out on any good stuff by not joining the group! We'll be there again next year :)

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  13. I am amazed that M. is reading on third grade level. Thanks so much for doing this giveaway! I know my kids would really benefit from using AAS, since I am NOT a rule-oriented kind of teacher.

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    1. I know :) I was actually referring to E last year when I mentioned the 3rd grade level, but M is up to 2nd grade at least. I haven't evaluated her recently though. I got her up to about 1st grade because of 100 Easy Lessons, but she got herself up higher! She reads EVERYTHING see shes...even all those old signs in Cracker Barrel! So the rest has just been her trying words out and decoding on her own. It's been fun to watch!

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  14. Teaching spelling is challenging for me because I am naturally a speller, and when your child isn't or doesn't seem to be, it can be frustrating for both parent and child. And I was never taught any of the rules, so I do need help with that. Thanks!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I hadn't thought about the difficult of teaching when spelling comes easily! That makes sense and AAS will REALLY help with that!

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  15. My biggest challenge is consistency. We have been going through some very difficult times medically, financially, and with family and I have not been able to be very consistent.

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    1. Thanks for stopping in! The biggest lesson I learned about homeschooling was to give myself grace, especially when life got hard. I'm so sorry things have been difficult and I know how hard it is to be consistent during the easy times. I just prayed for you that God would give you comfort and knowledge that He has everything under control even when we don't!

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  16. Great blog! We are using All About Spelling with our 5 year old and love it!

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    1. Thank you so much :) I'm REALLY new at this so appreciate the compliment so much! I just started with my 5 year old about a month ago and she loves it!

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  17. It is hard for me to really get the sounding of the vowels..since English is not my first language. My oldest got it right away and reads at 5th grade level..my second child is having a much harder time. This would help me in so many ways. Thanks for the opportunity to learn about this program.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! That must be so very hard! I had a southern accent and had to work hard to pronounce the vowels correctly. I can't even imagine how hard it must be when English is a second language for you! I know AAS has a CD that pronounces the phonemes for you so maybe that would help you out :)

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  18. This looks really cool! Can't wait to try it with my daughter.

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    1. Thanks for coming by! It really is a fun program and my girls see spelling as fun, not a chore!

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  19. I have the first level and will be starting it soon with a couple of my children. I have several that struggle with spelling and I'm hoping this will be a good fit!

    Blessings
    Leslie

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    1. Thanks for coming by! I hope it fits well for you too :) It is always hard to make a particular subject fun when the child already has a frustrated outlook on it. My daughter was that way and it took some time, but now she enjoys spelling!

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  20. I would love to try this out! I have 3 girls and my last 2 are hands on, and fun oriented! I have always had no problem at all spelling from the beginning - which makes teaching spelling tricky... My kids are not natural spellers and this could be the key to some more success!

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    1. Fun oriented :) Love that! This program has been such a blessing for our family! Yay for 3 girls :)

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  21. My biggest challenge is, like you, I wasnt taught the propper rules as a child. This is an awesome giveaway. Im def. going to look into the program!!

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    1. I'm honestly spelling better! I don't know why spelling rules weren't taught in school, but I'm glad I can teach them to my daughter :)

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    2. I would love to win this, either way I cant stop thinking about it and I know I will more than likely be getting this for next year. =)

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    3. Fabulous :) I know you won't regret it! If you go through one of the links on my blog I'll receive a small percentage of the sale. :)

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    4. Okay, great....I will remember this!!

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  22. What a great giveaway! And, I agree, knowing the rules makes spelling soooo much easier. Thanks and God bless!

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    1. Thanks for coming by! I love rules :) Our God is one of order and structure so it only makes sense that our language has it as well!

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  23. I have never used a program like this and it sounds very interesting. We have always just used the spelling/dictation in the HOD guides. I've always wondered if I should be adding in "rules" to spelling in order to help them understand and retain better. I have 3 girls and a boy and would love to try this with them.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I found out recently that some spelling rules are covered in later levels of Rod and Staff, and I really do see the benefit of using dictation to learn spelling. At the same time I like the idea of set rules. I think the balance has made a beautiful blend for us!

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  24. I pulled my son (10) who is dyslexic out of public school in February. AAS has been on our list of most wanted!!! hopefully, the structure and rules will help him when nothing else has!

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    1. I have read raving reviews of how this has helped kids with reversal issues. Part of why I think it works so well is the color patterns. It really helps them visualize the word!

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  25. We haven't started spelling but I would love to add this to help our phonics.

    kuenzifamily at tds dot net

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    1. Oh my yes! The phonics reinforcement is just fabulous! Thanks for stopping by :)

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    2. My biggest challenge to teaching spelling is that I don't know the rules!

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    3. Thanks for coming by Robin! AAS sounds like a perfect fit for you!

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  26. I love AAS. We are almost through with level one and would love to win level 2!

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    1. I love level 2 :) Level one seemed a bit tedious although now that I'm using it with my second daughter it doesn't seem that way. I think the age level made a huge difference!

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  27. My biggest challenge with teaching spelling is explaining the rules so my children understand them. We currently use Spelling Power, which works great for my oldest who was public schooled until 6th grade, but my now 5th grader & K4 daughters have a hard time. I've heard awesome things about AAS & think this would be a good fit for my girls. :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! It is so hard to teach things on a "kid-level" sometimes. My background is in Junior High English, so I've had to learn how to talk to my young girls in a different way than I am used to teaching. AAS is really helpful with that!

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  28. I have only taught spelling in a public school classroom so I'm not really sure how to teach it to my little home learners! :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I was also a school teacher and the switch to homeschool mode was intimidating for me too!

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  29. So far we haven't had much challenge, but I'm feeling like we are missing something along those lines. Maybe I need to try and find a program I like.

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    1. I honestly didn't get the HOD way of dictation at first, but I see the benefit to it now! At the same time I feel like it is missing the structure I like about AAS. It honestly feels like we have a complete program now with both aspects.

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  30. this would be a great addition to our homeschool.

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  31. We started homeschooling last year and began with AAS as well. Our biggest challenge with it in the beginning was the tiles...all three of my children hate them, too. We still keep them on the board but we don't use them. My children just didn't like how the tiles fall off and all figured out they could write them much faster than using the tiles! BUT, with all that said, they are learning so much and I am very thankful for AAS and AAR! My biggest challenge now is teaching three different levels...but that's only challenging to me, not the kids!

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    1. It is a little challenging for multiple levels! I only have 2 using it now, but once the littlest is old enough...oh boy! I'm expecting my daughter to be finished with level 3 this year, so maybe she'll be done by the time the youngest gets into it! Thanks for stopping by!

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  32. The biggest challenge to teaching spelling I've encountered is the words that are not spelled phonetically. For example, flute sounds like floot. lol

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    1. Oh my yes! That's why my daughter loves the rule breaker cards :) She LOVES putting them in jail and the spellings really do stick out in her mind better!

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  33. I love AAS! I used level 1 and 2 with my youngest. I brought my oldest home this year (4th grade) and realized he hadn't learned any phonograms. We are working through them. He was already a natural speller, but the rules we are learning has helped him improve even more. I'm like you in that I am learning as well too! Thank you for for hosting the giveaway :)

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    1. It really shocked me to realize there was SO much I had not learned! Thanks for entering :)

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  34. I struggle with the sounds of some of the vowels.

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    1. The short and long sounds are easy, but doing those odd ones are hard... especially if you have a southern accent like me!

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  35. Remembering all the rules for teaching spelling like phonograms and phonetic blends, rulebreakers, etc. .... I've had to "refresh" just to teach the kids! AAS would make it a lot easier to teach them from what I see on this review.

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    1. I definitely have to refresh even from lesson to lesson!

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  36. We are still working on phonics now but I would love to use this when we start spelling.

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    1. I have found this to be an excellent follow up for phonics!

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  37. Biggest challenge is finding the time!

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    1. No kidding! I've learned to plan ahead on how to break up the lessons in AAS so I can do about one a week, but I don't sweat it if we get behind. We just pick up where we left off!

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  38. We are using All About Reading 1 with my special needs 7 yr old. Amazing! We plan on continuing the AAR and then starting AAS. Can't wait!

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  39. I too had never learned the rules. I was taught by memorization. Now my 1st grader is struggling with spelling and at times I feel helpless because I don't know how to teach her properly. Thank you for this giveaway!

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    1. I felt the same way and thankfully that helpless feeling went away almost immediately! The scripted lessons REALLY make a difference! (By the way I think your name is just lovely!)

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  40. We are slowly easing our way into this with 10, 8 & 6 year olds (as well as preschooler and toddler around).

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    1. That must be hard having an older student. Even my daughter felt like it was "too young" when we first started and she was 6! Sounds like your household is one filled with lots of laughter and love!

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  41. I'm REALLY new at this so appreciate the compliment so much!

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  42. I was always a natural speller and never really needed to be taught. So it's been difficult for me to break down spelling into rules that I just kind of "knew" for my daughter, who is definitely NOT a natural speller.

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    1. I find it so hard when my girls struggle in areas I found easy! I'm glad that they find math easy because I sure did struggle there!

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  43. Teaching spelling is hard b/c there are so many different sounds one letter can make... Would LOVE to win this. This is exactly what we need. I have heard so many wonderful things about it from friends who use it.

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    1. I had NO idea how many different sounds the letters made until this! I guess I knew, but I just didn't think about it :)

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  44. Thank you for posting on your blog. Sharing info is very helpful!

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  45. I think I should encourage my husband to be our AAS instructor and learn alongside with our daugther!:-)

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    1. Ha! That is a FABULOUS idea! My husband is a pastor and makes his own power point slides for his messages. His creative spelling has caused quite a few chuckles!

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  46. I just started trying to teach my son to read a couple of weeks ago. There is a lot I don't know also, and therefore can't explain. This would be really helpful.

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    1. This is such a fabulous follow up for reading instruction!

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  47. Love this! I am currently waiting until we are done with All About Reading 1 to start All About Spelling 1. AAR is wonderful and I have heard only good things about AAS. I can't wait to get started, both for my little boy and for me!

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    1. I've never tried AAR but I have heard SUCH good things about it!

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  48. We love AAS! I started with this program with my youngest daughter and wished it had been around when I first started homeschooling my oldest because she is the world's worst speller. Now I'm going over it with her while she's in the same room because level 1 is a bit easy for her and at age 14 it seems a bit young for her. But once we get to level 2 (which will be pretty soon), I'll have her join in.

    Anyways our toughest challenge is getting them to listen to the difference of E and I. I'm not sure if its a regional thing for us but for some reason they can't seem to discern between the two. Even when I stop and slowly say it. LOL I'm sure they'll get it , but for now its still our challenge. I would so totally love to win this so I can get level 3.

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    1. We have trouble with that. I didn't realize how much my southern accent affected my vowel sounds! The short e and i have been harder for my girls too...probably because of me!

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  49. We just started using AAS level 1 with my 8 year old. Our biggest struggle is to get her to sit down and focus on learning. She is too busy exploring and learning on her own! I expect to use AAS with my younger two as well, after they have a solid reading foundation.

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    1. I try to have a balance between the focused learning and exploration learning. It's hard, but I think it's a good model to set for the future because both are necessary ways of learning!

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  50. My oldest is a self-taught reader. He's great at spelling, but I worry that because he's self-taught, he's missing some basics. I'm not too great at remembering the rules, either! I've been eyeing All About Spelling (and Reading!) for all 3 of my kiddos. I've heard nothing but praise for it!

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    1. My middle girl taught herself math and I'm going through a K-5 math book with her for kindergarten even though she has figured out how to add double digits already! Like you I want to make sure nothing was missed. So far she pretty much knows it all except for place value. I had to teach that to her, so I'm glad I did the book!

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  51. My biggest challenge is that I'm not a good speller, myself. But, it's never too late to learn.

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  52. We are LOVING AAS!! I too never learned the "rules" and was a poor speller, now my kids and I are learning to spell together, and loving it! Thank you for offering the giveaway!

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  53. My biggest challenge is, like you, I wasn't taught the proper rules as a child. This is an awesome giveaway. I'm definitely going to look into the program!!

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    1. This would be perfect and you will find yourself saying, "Why didn't anyone tell me these things before?!?!?!"

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  54. We use AAS with my kindergartner to help with reading - in addition to writing and spelling! It's worked great - we're currently on level 1, step 15. I'd love to win this to fund more level purchases and even the preschooler pack for my younger son! =)

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    1. It is a wonderful way to work on phonics as well!

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  55. My biggest challenge was spelling tests with my son. But this year we are using AAS and so far, no challenges!

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    1. Spelling tests...oh the dread that conjures up!

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  56. So far, I haven't had much need for teaching spelling, as my oldest seems to be a natural speller, but knowing how great the All About Spelling program is, I purchased their All About Reading program for my four year old. I figure that eventually, I'll need a spelling program for someday, and I'll already have a lot of the tools I need. My challenge right now is waiting for the next level of All About Reading to be available! (Very soon!)

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    1. Some kids are just "natural". Others need more instruction. I'm glad my kids are young enough that I can just jump in with this so I don't have to try and figure out how to fix something that they missed!

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  57. would love to win this our hardest is putting the sound of the letters together to make words would love this to help out with our homeschooling

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    1. Blending are really tough for some kids. My oldest had a hard time with that although my second doesn't. My oldest is doing much better though!

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  58. There can be a lot of strange rules that are hard to explain.

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  59. I am SO impressed by this curriculum! I am buying this for my 13 year old who still cannot spell to save his life. He just returned back to public school, but we will be still homeschooling with All About Spelling in the evenings!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! This is a poor speller's answer to prayer!

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  60. We started using this program last year and I need to order the next level but don't have the money. Would love to win this giveaway. We love it and it is working well for us.

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    1. I know how hard finances can be. When you're called to teach your kids there are so many sacrifices you make along the way. I just prayed that God would provide the finances for your family to get what you need for this year!

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  61. Haven't attempted teaching spelling yet as my oldest is just starting K4, but I would like to try All About Spelling.

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    1. I'm so glad I found this early so it's just "normal" for my kids! Spelling intimidated me so very much, but AAS took that away!

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  62. Thank you for sharing. I am really anxious to try both AAS and AAR. It looks like a fantastic program. It will be fun to learn things myself along the way.

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  63. I really want to try this program!

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  64. My five-year-old is a great reader, but he has learned a ton from the second half of All About Spelling Level 1. I am looking forward to starting level 2 with him soon!

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    1. I know! My girls were reading early and both have just taken off! My 7-year-old is reading on about a 5th grade level and my 5-year-old about a 2nd grade level. But, like you said, they have learned SO much from AAS!

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  65. The biggest challenge I face is that my daughter tends to go to her daddy for spelling help when writing... Sadly, my dear hubby is not the best speller in the world. Maybe I could get him to sit in on spelling if it were All About Spelling... Hmmm... =)

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    1. Ha! I tried to convince my husband how great it had been for me and would for him too. He rolled his eyes and said, "That's what the squiggly red line is for!"

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  66. Spelling always came easy to me, so it turns out that teaching it is challenging! I guess it's because I don't understand what's so difficult! LOL! I'm learning patience in any case. :-)

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    1. I love those days when you look at your child and tell them something as simple and they look at you like you're speaking a foreign language :)

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  67. Remembering the rules. My daughter has a lot of trouble spelling words with y as well. She's very hands on, so this looks great! Thanks for the chance!
    jkddemeyere@yahoo.com

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    1. My daughter remembers the rules so well now! She was reading from her history book today and was having trouble with a reading a word that had both the hard c and soft c sound. Then she said, "Oh yeah! I forgot there is a rule for that!" It's great to see her crossing her knowledge over into another area!

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  68. I brought home my 3rd grader home to school mid-year and realized that something just wasn't clicking in the spelling area. Now in 4th grade we are going through the levels of AAS trying to find whatever it is that she missed and we love it! I really want to get All About Reading for my 5 year old. Their programs are amazing! Thanks for your review!

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    1. Thanks for coming by! It's always hard bringing your child home and trying to fill in the gaps. I'm glad we were blessed to do it while she was in 1st grade!

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  69. I'm using AAS level 1 and so want AAR for my dyslexic son.

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    1. I have heard SUCH good things about using this with kids who have learning difficulties!

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  70. The hardest thing about teaching spelling is that *I* don't know all the rules. I need a program that lays it all out sequentially.

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    1. Humbling isn't it? At the same time I fault whatever powers in charge decided NOT to tell us kids in gradeschool that there were rules to follow besides the "i before e" bit!

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  71. We have a spelling program, but the rules aren't taught as clearly as in AAS. I would love to get this and try it out instead.

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    1. I looked at several other programs that had been around longer and NOTHING I found compared to the easily laid out style and constant practice of using the previous rules as AAS!

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  72. My biggest challenge in teaching spelling is that it comes naturally to me so it is difficult to remember how to teach the rules to my purely phonetic speller.

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    1. Phonetic spelling can be frustrating to a child. My daughter has picked up on some of the southern accent she hears and she's forever saying "fer" instead of "for" and things like that. It took some time to teach her she was pronouncing it incorrectly and that was why she was having trouble spelling it!

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  73. We just started kindergarten this fall, but i am wanting to start AAS with my daughter this spring. I would love to get this!

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    1. She will love it! My little girl BEGS to do the spelling lessons. I never thought I'd have a child beg to do spelling!

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  74. Working with the teacher to work on words that are appropriate for the child.

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    1. Oh boy have we been there! I couldn't believe it when I found out my daughter's first list of spelling words in 1st grade had come from a 2nd/3rd grade list!

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  75. I find my biggest challenge like you is that I am a poor speller and I want my girls to learn better. I too was never taught the rules just the list to memorize each week that really taught very little about spelling except how to rush through the practice lessons by writing letters as quick as possible.

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    1. I told my daughters that I wasn't taught these rules. My oldest said, "How can you spell anything?" It's a wonder, isn't it?

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  76. I keep putting off buying AAS because I'm waiting for my son to get a bit further with his reading, but I am definitely looking forward to using it and learning the rules myself! I, too, am a horrible speller.

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    1. Once he is learning the basic phonemes for reading I'm sure you can start this, just go slowly. It is SUCH great reinforcement for phonics!

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  77. we've been having a problem with the huge white board and I really like the idea of smaller cookie sheets! i started level 1 with my 3rd grade daughter, but it seems way too easy. I've been skipping parts a bit, but maybe I should do the entire lesson! She is a struggling reader, but I'm hoping that understanding some spelling rules will help with her reading.

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    1. The cookie sheets are wonderful! Even though she is older I wouldn't skip anything. I didn't realize until level 2 how much is built upon those "easy" lessons. I didn't skip anything, but I was tempted to for that reason. The only time I skipped was if she really got the concept and there were a TON of words left. I just did 1 lesson a day until we hit the point where she was learning something new. It kept us at a quick pace so she didn't get bored!

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  78. The English rules that do not make sense to a young child (much less even an adult). So excited to have found your blog and to follow now.

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    1. I'm glad you stopped by! English is such a crazy language!

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  79. Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by! I'm so thankful I don't have to study at all to teach AAS and that I'm learning alongside my daughter!

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  80. We LOVE AAS and have been using it for years with our 3rd and 1st graders. They love the methods and I love the way the program is organized- perfect! My biggest struggle is remembering and being disciplined to take the time to review at the beginning of every lesson.

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    1. I'm SOOOO bad about that too! Good to know I'm not the only one! What level is your 3rd grader on? My daughter is moving at a much faster pace than I expected for a 2nd grader. I'm just wondering if we start young how long it will take to go through the entire program.

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  81. My biggest challenge is/will be teaching 2 children we hope to adopt from Latvia. They will likely be 9 and 10 by the time their adoption is finalized and won't know much English

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    1. Oh my! What a blessing! I'm sure it will be challenging, but what a blessing to have you already thinking about their education even before they arrive in your home. :)

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  82. Spelling is always the subject that gets out aside if we're short on time. We're working on fixing that this year.

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    1. My let-it-go-if-we-have-to subjects are science and art. I'm REALLY trying hard not to neglect those things, but some days you have to let something go!

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  83. My biggest challenge is making the time for spelling.

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    1. I think we all have those subjects it's harder to make time for. We only do AAS twice a week and study dictation on the other two days. It helps to only schedule it a couple times a week!

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  84. I love AAS as it has really helped in our house. Sanna

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    1. That's so great to hear! Thanks for stopping by!

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  85. It is very difficult to teach them all the sounds that sound the same but spelled differently. Thanks for the giveaway.

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    1. You are so right! We've just gotten to that point with r-controlled vowel sounds that are alike. I so appreciate the rules that help my daughter see how to know!

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  86. I have started my struggling learner with Level 1 and now I need to add the All About Reading and get Level 2. I guess because I have always been an avid reader, spelling just comes naturally to me; my biggest struggle is being able to simplify it to teach my kids. I can tell if it "looks" right, they need to know the why's.

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    1. I've heard avid readers are great spellers, but I was, and am, an avid reader as is my oldest and we both struggled. Knowing the why has helped us both! It's great you recognize that so you can help your kiddo out!

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  87. We started AAS half-way through our PAL curriculum. I've been really happy with it! I agree - I never learned the rules as a kid, but I think being an avid reader helped me pick some up along the way! :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I've never heard of PAL before. I'm always interested in knowing about other curriculum!

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  88. My biggest struggle with teaching spelling is that I am a natural speller, and have trouble when my kids don't get it. That and the time it takes to teach spelling at each individual kid's level. With 6 kids I am schooling right now, it's overwhelming!

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    1. WOW! My days feel crazy with only 3 :) I'm sure that it must be overwhelming with so many levels in just this one subject!

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  89. My biggest challange teaching spelling is surely my lack of knowledge when it comes to spelling! I have always been a horrible speller, and I frequently use google to type in the word I am trying to spell to get the correct spelling! If there was a crash course in spelling for parents, I'd be the first one to sign up!

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    1. Consider AAS your crash course :) I actually find myself thinking about the rules now! I'm also an avid user of the Google spell check method! Especially for necessary...is that one c and two s's? or two c's and 1 s? or two c's and 2 s's?

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  90. I have long forgotten the rules that make learning spelling so much easier. It would be great to have my 5 year old understand why we spell the way we spell!

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    1. I was basically taught there was no why. You just have to memorize every word in the English language. I was also taught to look words up in a dictionary if I didn't know how to spell them. Now does that make any sense at all? How in the world am I supposed to know where to look if I don't know how to spell it? I got REALLY good at using synonyms!

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  91. We haven't started spelling yet, but teaching my child to read is going to be a challenge, so I'm sure that spelling will be too! I have't learned the rules myself, so it will be a learning curve for all of us!

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    1. I felt that way about teaching my daughter's to read too, but I used a scripted curriculum and didn't have any problems! You'll do fine :)

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  92. My biggest challenge is remembering the rules for teaching spelling. It comes easy for me, but I forget why certain words are spelled certain ways. The rules in AAS have been a super help! Look forward to both my child and I to continue learning with the program!

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    1. I'm glad to hear it has gone so well for you so far!

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  93. I think my biggest challenge right now is the rules also.. I was not taught the rules. So ow that I am teaching spelling it is still hard for me to think about them and remember not to have my daughter just memorize. I really want to start this program, so praying I can win it. Thank you for such a great post.
    Kristi

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    1. I have a hard time not feeling inadequate since I didn't know the rules either! AAS really helped me get over feeling like I wasn't going to be able to teach my girls spelling!

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  94. My challenge right now is trying to get my 6 year old to distinguish between the short e and short i sounds. :(

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    1. That is really hard! I have a hard time because of my southern accent and the fact that my daughter have started picking it up as well!

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  95. I just liked your new fb page :)

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