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Spelling can be a challenge for some kids. But whether you’re a homeschool veteran or just starting out, you’re probably here because you want to do whatever it takes to help your child master this critical subject.
In an ideal world, you could teach spelling and it would just “click” for your child. But alas, that often isn’t the case.
Maybe you started with a spelling program that just didn’t teach in the way your child could understand. Or maybe your child says he “hates spelling” or is having trouble progressing beyond a certain level.
So it’s time to enter problem-solving mode. Maybe you’re curious about All About Spelling, but you have one important question: is AAS right for my child?
You’ve read the product descriptions and reviews, but what you’d really like to know is if the program will be a good match for your child’s unique situation and skills. And that’s why I’ve compiled seven common spelling-related scenarios that are based on situations that parents and educators face every day.
Do any of these situations remind you of your child? Click on a heading to see more!
These are just seven possible scenarios. They represent the most common issues, but definitely not all! So if you ever run into a problem—or just want someone to brainstorm with—contact us. Our lifetime support policy means you’re never on your own!
Which of the above scenarios describes your child best?
Photo credit: Rachel Neumann
Lura
says:I am so happy that dysgraphia is addressed here. I had severe dyagraphia as a left handed child. I could do many other things, like knit, type and sew. But writing was a huge struggle. Also, I had learned to read so quickly I skipped knowing phonics. Which also made spelling extremely hard until I learned the 72 phonograms. I wish I had AAS as a child.
I’m so happy to use AAS with my daughter. At age 5 she was a gifted reader and new her phonograms. But writing with a pencil at age 5 was a struggle. We were able to set aside penmanship for awhile as we learned to spell using the tiles app. She completed AAS with great enthusiasm and is now enjoying writing her letters separately to work on penmanship. She feels confident about her spelling because as recommended here, we separated penmanship from spelling.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceLura,
Thank you for sharing about your child and how All About Spelling has helped her succeed with spelling. It sounds like she is doing so amazingly well!
Susan Diamond
says:Looking forward to an email. Thank you
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceDid you have a question or need help with anything, Susan?
Abigail Holder
says:I know that it is recommended not to start AAS 1 until at least AAR 2, but for a severely struggling reader is it better to wait for AAS until further along in AAR? Or until AAR is completed? Is doing AAR 2, AAR 3, or even AAR 4 along with AAS of any level too much for a struggling reader at once? I know part of it is knowing your own child, but since we have only worked with AAR and not AAS yet, I’m not sure when I should introduce it to my struggling (and often frustrated) reader.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceI’m sorry for the delay in getting to this question, Abigail.
All About Spelling can help and support reading. When a child is struggling with All About Reading level 1, we often recommend starting All About Spelling a little earlier, say about halfway through the level, rather than waiting until finishing AAR 1.
Spelling is the opposite sort of skills than reading and for many struggling readers, spelling is actually easier than reading at first. This helps give them confidence. The concepts covered in All About Spelling will provide review as well, which struggling learners need more of. And, since they should read each word they spell to ensure they spelled it correctly, working in All About Spelling each day will provide additional reading practice that doesn’t seem like reading practice.
We recommend spending just 20 minutes a day on reading instruction 5 days a week. Then we recommend another 15 to 20 minutes a day on spelling, also 5 days a week. Most find it helpful to separate the two times with something completely different, like music practice, snack time, or crafts. However, this blog post Real Moms, Real Kids: Teaching Active Children shows how one mom did both All About Reading and All About Spelling in one 35 minute block and how it worked well for her boys.
In short, we strongly recommend going ahead and starting All About Spelling with your student when you finish All About Reading level 1, or maybe even a little sooner. I know starting spelling with my two children that struggled greatly with reading helped them. Both had leaps in their reading abilities after starting.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have additional questions or need anything else.
Marija
says:I can’t say enough praise to your programs :) I wish I started earlier…
I’m using AAR2 and AAS1 for my 2nd grader, and AAS2 for my 4th grader, and I LOVE it!
Sharon
says:We really love the program. It helps with spelling rules I was not taught in school that make complete sense and help new spellers to go beyond the word list! Thank you All About Spelling!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceYou’re welcome, Sharon. It’s great to hear that All About Spelling is helping you help your students succeed with spelling!
Angela
says:I have one using pre-reading and one using AAR level 1. I’ve been curious about the AAS. We may start that next year
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceLet me know if you have any questions or need more information about All About Spelling, Angela.
Allison Mobley
says:Before we started using All About Spelling my children and I dreaded spelling. We’ve been using AAS for three years now and look forward to the spelling lessons every day. AAS is not only fun, but it has taught both my children and me how to become better spellers.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceWonderful, Allison! Thank you for sharing just how well All About Spelling has worked for your family and how much you are enjoying it. ?
Jennifer
says:I am using AAS for my 11 and 8 year old daughters. We started at Level 1 like recommended. My girls have improved their spelling so much already and we are still in Level 1. Spelling has become their favorite subject.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGreat to hear, Jennifer! Sometimes people are unsure that starting with level 1 is the right thing for their older student, but it really makes a difference. Thank you for sharing this!
Sarah
says:This program has been wonderful for three of my children. Highly recommend! Open and go takes the stress out of it.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Sarah! I’m pleased to hear the program has been working so well for you.
Maria Clayton
says:My 4th grade son has almost finished AAS 1. it has made such a huge difference. He really likes knowing and understanding the rules. He was in speech therapy until recently, which I think impacted his spelling. (Is there an article on that?) Thank you!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceMarie,
No, we don’t have an article or blog post on how speech difficulties might impact spelling. Interesting idea. I’ll pass it along.
Will G
says:I always loved spelling bees.
Melanie Shea
says:Excited to begin this fall!
Molly
says:We aren’t ready for spelling yet but I look forward using AAS when we are ready.
Floriana
says:My child has severe dyslexia and doesn’t like reading at all, would this program help her enjoy reading? She is 6.5 years old.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceFloriana,
Yes! Both All About Reading and All About Spelling are Orton-Gillingham based, which is a proven approach for helping students with dyslexia and other learning disabilities. It’s also the approach that the International Dyslexia Association recommends. The author of AAR and AAS, Marie Rippel, is a member of the International Dyslexia Association and has instructed graduate-level courses in Orton-Gillingham Literacy Training offered through Nicolet College in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. She is also a member of Pro Literacy, has previously served on the Board of Directors of the Literacy Task Force in Wisconsin, and tutored students for more than 20 years. If you haven’t had a chance to watch their story about her son’s struggles, you may want to check that out (they were told he would never read). It’s quite amazing!
You might like to visit our Dyslexia Resources Page.
Here are some ways that All About Reading can help kids with dyslexia and other learning difficulties:
– Each lesson time is simple and explicit and will include 3 simple steps: review of what was learned the day before, simple new teaching, and a short practice of that new teaching.
– Incremental lessons. AAR breaks every teaching down into its most basic steps and then teaches the lessons in a logical order, carrying the students from one concept or skill to the next. Each step builds on the one the student has already mastered.
– AAR is multisensory. Research has shown that when a child is taught through all three pathways at the same time, a method known as simultaneous multisensory instruction, he will learn significantly more than when taught only through his strongest pathway.
– AAR uses specially color-coded letter tiles or letter tile app. Working with the All About Reading letter tiles can make the difference between understanding or not understanding a concept.
– AAR is scripted, so you can concentrate on your child. The script is very clear, without excess verbiage.
– AAR has built-in review in every lesson. Children with learning difficulties generally need lots of review in order to retain concepts. With AAR, your child will have a Reading Review Box so you can customize the review. This way, you can concentrate on just the things that your child needs help with, with no time wasted on reviewing things that your child already knows.
– AAR has lots of fluency practice. One of the things that Marie noticed when she was researching reading programs is that few programs have enough review built in for kids who struggle to gain fluency. AAR has fluency practice sheets or a story to be read with every lesson, so children can practice reading smoothly with expression and confidence.
All About Reading has a one-year guarantee. You can try it, and if for any reason you feel that it isn’t the right match for your child, return it for a full refund.
I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Miranda
says:would love to use this program with my kids!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGreat, Miranda! Do you have any questions, need help with placement, or anything else? Just let me know.
Julie
says:I look forward to trying the program when it becomes available again! The website explains everything so clearly, and I was able to get a good understanding of the program. In this post, I was really happy to read the “questions” above, as it really helped me to connect why the program might work for us. Thank you for taking the time to set this up in such a helpful way! :-)
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceJulie,
I am very helpful to hear that our website and this blog post specifically has been helpful for you in determining whether our program will be a good fit!
Julie
says:Thank you Robin! ?
Keri
says:I think this would work well for my child
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceDo you have any questions or need more information, Keri? Just let me know!
holly wells
says:We LOVE all about!!
Tara
says:Seems like a good option
Christina Corona
says:I hope to start with my kindergartener this month!
Margaret
says:AAS is awesome!!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Margaret! ?
Stacey
says:We love all about spelling! It’s really helped my daughter have a grasp on how to spell right from the start.
Becki
says:I would love to see some info about teaching reading and spelling to kiddos with apraxia. My older kids are doing well with AAR and AAS, but I am wondering about the process with my two younger boys, both with apraxia. The older one is almost 5 and we will be starting pre-reading. He struggles with dropping initial sounds to words, such as pider (spider) or switching sounds, such as pantake (pancake). It takes a lot of repetition to fix one word. He does have a lot of words though. I don’t know all of his younger brother’s struggles as he is just barely 3 and has very few words. I know there are a lot of parents in the apraxia community that are curious about this too.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceBecki,
When we had an inquiry a few years ago about using our pre-reading program with a child who has apraxia, this is what Marie (the author) had to say:
We have had reports since then that All About Reading has been helpful for their students with apraxia. Because All About Reading is a mastery-based program, there is no predetermined speed to move through the program. This allows the freedom to take as much time as needed for each child to succeed.
I am going to speak with our team about considering a blog post about apraxia and All About Reading and All About Spelling. Thank you for the suggestion. If you have any other questions, please let us know.
Graeme
says:I have taught the Word Study course for UVA and I love how AAS fits perfectly with the developmental approach to spelling instruction. This easy to follow program has been a wonderful tool for teaching students with dyslexia and my own son who struggles with spelling. This program teaches spelling in a systematic and sequential format.
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceGraeme,
Thank you for this review of All About Spelling.
Amanda
says:Hi Marie, my son is in 1st and we are in the 2nd year of AAS and he’s struggling! The letter tiles/whiteboard seem to be a distraction more than anything (but love the concept ans am sure it works well for many!). The main issue: blends. He can’t seem to hear them or spell them. Also drops letters. In a word like ‘stamp’ he will spell it ‘samp’ or especially now that we are doing phrases, he will miss some letters/words. Often reverses ‘is’ to be ‘si’ and spells ‘magnet’ like ‘magit.’ I am a little overwhelemed bc he has a spelling test every Mon at school (part-time homeschool) and is making 50’s. How can I work with him to improve? We’ve tried re-writing the misspelled words/phrases right after the test, but then Inwill immediately re-test him and he misses the same words again. My gut is that he is better at seeing a word and ‘remembering’ what it is spelled like rather than sounding it out, but that probably won’t scale??? Thoughts? And btw – we love your AAR and AAS over all!!!
Robin E.
says: Customer ServiceAmanda,
It sounds like your son is in AAS 2 now, is that correct? How did he do with the blends and compound words in AAS 1 (Steps 13-15, and Step 22)? Did he master those words (to the point where they are easy for him and he doesn’t have to stop and think or self-correct when he spells them), or are they still a challenge? The words in those level 1 Steps work on the same concepts that he is struggling with now, but at an easier level. So if they are challenging, I recommend backing up before moving on again.
The types of errors you describe suggest that he has not mastered how to hear each sound in a word in order. He knows that the word “is” has an i and an s, but he seems to not be sure which order the two letters should go. If he was spelling by sound, he would hear that the i has to come first and the s has to come last.
This skill is introduced near the beginning of All About Spelling 1 and is called segmenting. It is an essential skill for being able to hear each sound in a word in order. This blog post discusses the importance of segmenting and breaks down how to do it, complete with a video example.
For the words he misses, here is what I would do:
You said, “In a word like ‘stamp’ he will spell it ‘samp’.”
Have him re-read *exactly* what he wrote. Many kids will see their error right away when they do this, and then correct the word. However, if he reads it as “stamp,” then say, “Actually, this says ‘/s/-/a/-/m/-/p/, samp,’ but we want ‘stamp.’ Do you know what to add to make this say stamp?”
You can do the same when he spells is as si. Have him sound it out exactly as he wrote it. Model the segmenting as he spells every day with him until it becomes natural for him.
You wrote that he “spells ‘magnet’ like ‘magit’.”
I would work through this one in two steps. The missing n is the easiest part; it’s easy to hear that sound is missing when the word is read exactly as written. Segmenting will help with that.
The i instead of an e is a bit trickier. You may have noticed in Step 4 of AAS 2, there’s a note in a gray text box about the schwa sound and the need to pronounce words for spelling. Here’s how you can take it a step further:
First, tell him that when we say words fast in our normal speech, some of the sounds get muffled; we don’t hear them correctly. We need to say them slowly. Then, when you introduce a word, say, “We normally say this word, magnit. I’m going to pronounce this one for spelling. You repeat the pronunciation and then write it. mag-NET.” Make sure he repeats the pronunciation for spelling. When he says the sounds correctly, then have him practice spelling it with the tiles or on paper.
When you get to the point where you are doing the review cards, tell him, “I’m going to say these words how we normally say them. I want you to pronounce them for spelling, and then write them.” If he struggles with the pronunciation, give that to him, have him repeat it, and then write the spelling. Keep the card in review. When he can both pronounce it AND spell it correctly without hesitation, then move the card to mastered.
You can work through his spelling test words the same way, not just rewriting them but helping him to read the misspelled word as it is written and then writing it correctly sound by sound. However, you may need to just focus on All About Spelling for a while and try not to worry about his school spelling tests until he is further along. Once he has a firmer foundation in spelling, his spelling tests will naturally improve.
When he does the dictations, make sure he repeats it back to you correctly before you have him try to write it. That will help him not to miss words. If he still misses a word, have him re-read his dictation to see if he notices the missing word. If not, say the correct dictation for him again, and then see if he can fix his dictation. This blog post explains how to do dictation in detail.
Many kids do try to rely mainly on visual spelling strategies, and this does lead to mixing up letter order or forgetting some letters. These students need help learning how to apply other spelling strategies like segmenting, which is a part of the phonetic strategy. Using two or more strategies together is what will help your son improve in spelling.
How often do you work with him with All About Spelling? Children that struggle with spelling do much better with short daily lessons, and continuous review. We recommend working on spelling 20 minutes a day 5 days a week. If he isn’t up to a full 20 minute lesson on days he attends school (which I completely understand), at least consider a shorter review only lesson. It will help.
I hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any further questions, and please let us know how things progress. We very much want to help you help your son succeed with spelling.
Carrie
says:I have one son who is a great speller and another who has a lot of trouble spelling. After researching AAS, for what feels like forever, I decided it would be good to try it with both of my sons. We are starting from the ground at level 1, even though my oldest is in fourth grade (the great speller). And I am already finding the strengths and the weaknesses in both of my kids. I feel AAS will strengthen my great speller and turn my not so great speller into a great one. So glad I decided to give AAS a try.
Amanda
says:AAS has helped my struggling learner build confidence in spelling.
Katie
says:We use it because my oldest is a great reader but like me a terrible speller. I love it because I a! Learning the rules.
Lori
says:Looking forward to trying the program.
Maria P.
says:Would love to try all about spelling. Looking for a good, fun, engaging curriculum for my 5th, 2nd and kindergarten.