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Color-coded letter tiles are a fantastic way to help your child learn to read and spell! Whether you’re using the Letter Tiles app or the physical letter tiles, letter tiles enable your child to quickly and easily grasp new concepts.
Here’s a short video demonstrating how letter tiles can be used to teach reading and spelling. This particular lesson from All About Spelling teaches when to use K and when to use CK at the end of a word.
Do you see how easy that concept was for our student to understand? Letter tiles are awesome!
7 Benefits of Using Letter Tiles
Whether you use the Letter Tiles app or the physical letter tiles, the benefits to your child are the same.
Letter tiles help you explain reading and spelling concepts very clearly. Concepts and ideas become something your child can see and manipulate.
The different colors help students visualize the different roles that letters have. In the video above, for example, colored tiles helped Oliver distinguish between vowels and consonants.
Your child can try out the rules and see how they work. With letter tiles, concepts are no longer abstract or difficult to understand.
Mistakes are no big deal. It’s much easier to exchange tiles than to erase and rewrite a word.
Letter tiles make it easier to stay on task for longer periods of time… …especially for younger kids who are still developing fine motor skills and for whom writing is more tiresome.
Letter tiles lay the groundwork for the accomplishment of bigger goals. Letter tiles don’t take the place of spelling words with paper and pencil. Instead, they act as a fantastic learning tool that will enable your student to learn to spell more quickly and accurately, helping him get to the real goal: writing.
Color Coding Makes Learning Easier
Color coding makes it easy for students to see the role that each type of letter plays in a word. For example, consonants are blue, vowels are red, and phonograms representing the sound of /er/ (such as ER, IR, and UR) are purple. The chart below shows all our letter tile colors.
Letter Tiles App or Physical Tiles—Which Should I Choose?
You can’t go wrong with either the Letter Tiles app or the physical tiles. They are both great options! Here are some considerations to help you decide:
With the Letter Tiles app:
It’s easy to capitalize words
You can hear the sounds of the phonograms as you teach
No more worries about lost letter tiles
Lessons are easy to teach “on the go”
Need to switch between students? No problem! Simply select your current lesson in All About Reading or All About Spelling and you’re ready to begin.
The Letter Tiles app has been our most requested product of all time, but the physical letter tiles have devoted fans as well.
As you’re deciding between the app and the physical tiles, consider which option would be the most engaging to your child. Which one would your child want to use? Some clues to consider: Does my child prefer colored pencils, or does she like computer games? Is my child used to learning from technology, or is he more comfortable with traditional methods of learning? Does she prefer to read paper books or eBooks?”
And be sure to consider your preferences as well. Do you like the larger format of the magnetic white board? Do you have a place to store the board, or are you attracted to the compact nature of the app?
The bottom line is that teaching and learning will be the same no matter which option you choose. What’s most important is that you have a way to teach the concepts and your child has an enjoyable way to practice and experiment. The physical letter tiles and the Letter Tiles app both provide interactive methods that make spelling and reading concepts more concrete for your child.
Additional Resources for the Letter Tiles App
Video of App Benefits
How to Use the App
The Letter Tiles app is intuitive and easy to use. Here are two videos to show you the basic and advanced features.
Basic Features:
Advanced Features:
Where to Get the Letter Tiles App
Follow these links to purchase the Letter Tile app:
Additional Resources If You Use Physical Letter Tiles
How to Set Up Your Letter Tiles
You can use your letter tiles on a table, but it is much easier to use a magnetic white board. You can get magnetic white boards at stores such as Walmart or Staples. Two feet by three feet is a good size because it will hold all the tiles while still allowing work space in the center of the board.
When you first set up your magnetic white board, you’ll only include the tiles that have already been introduced. You don’t want to clutter up your board with tiles that your student hasn’t learned yet. If you are just starting out in Level 1, then, your set-up will look like this:
By the time you get to the end of All About Reading or All About Spelling, your board will contain all the phonograms:
If You Ever Lose a Tile…
Here at All About Learning Press, we know that even in the most careful households, letter tiles sometimes disappear. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here’s Rachel with all the details!
How about you? Do you use physical letter tiles or our new letter tiles app? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
I purchased the AAR Level 1 for my struggling 2nd grader, but didn’t receive the letter tiles. I didn’t realize they were sold separately. I will order them, because I don’t want to purchase the app. Can I begin the lessons without the letter tiles, while waiting for my order?
I’m so sorry I’m delayed in getting to this question, Becci.
If you have not received the letter tiles yet, then you can go ahead and begin All About Reading Level 1 while you wait. Just take little pieces of paper and write the letters on them. Be sure to add red for the vowels and blue for the consonants, however. It’s an important visual distinction for learners.
We use the old school tiles. They work great for us! I can see the benefit of the app because you don’t have to constantly reorganize the tiles yourself. However, with no iPad it’s not an option for us so we love what we have!
I’m glad the physical letter tiles are working well for you, Amy. However, just so you know, the Letter Tile app is available for Amazon and Android tablets as well as iPads. Our team is also working toward it being compatible with Chromebook devices as well.
There are pros and cons for both options, Theresa. However, it doesn’t have to be a one or the other choice. Many families use both, sometimes working with the tiles and sometimes working with the app.
I am soon to purchase my first All About Reading program, just trying to work out level placement, and I have a great tip for parents trying to decide between the Letter Tiles App or the Physical Letter Tiles. Allowing my child to use the free phonogram sounds app on my iPhone while reading challenging words was a good trial for us to see if the digital route would enhance the learning experience or hinder it. It happened to be enhancing in our case, but I can easily see how technology could become distracting for children (even as an adult, I’m sometimes distracted by my phone lol). I’m looking forward to starting this new journey with my child with the help of All About Learning Press!
Thank you for this great tip, Michelle! Yes, using the free Phonogram Sounds app would be a great test to see if the Letter Tiles app would help or distract a child. What a great idea!
If you need help with placement or have questions, please let me know. I’m happy to help!
As I’ve been learning about your curriculum, I think it would benefit my kids currently struggling with spelling. I’m not loving the way spelling is being done in our current curriculum.
We love the letter tiles! Our daughter is a very kinesthetic/tactile learner so the physical letter tiles have made all the difference in our reading instruction!
We sometimes use the tile blocks on our whiteboard and sometimes we use the app. We’ve found that one of our children likes to physically write everything out in a notebook instead.
We’re definitely hands on with our letter tiles. :) Our large magnetic white board with our letter tiles has been a fixture in our home for many years. I’m schooling my last child now, and I’m going to miss having the letter tiles around once he wraps up the program.
What an awesome tool. I’m looking to switch from our current curriculum to AAR and AAS. Seeing such great resources is making that decision a lot easier.
My kids do really well with tactile tiles. Instead of a magnetic white board I used a magnetic black chalk board. My son is similar to me in his learning and dyslexia. For me, shiny white pages are the worst. I don’t know if it impacts my son yet, but having a black background works for both of us.
Becci
says:I purchased the AAR Level 1 for my struggling 2nd grader, but didn’t receive the letter tiles. I didn’t realize they were sold separately. I will order them, because I don’t want to purchase the app. Can I begin the lessons without the letter tiles, while waiting for my order?
Robin
says: Customer ServiceI’m so sorry I’m delayed in getting to this question, Becci.
If you have not received the letter tiles yet, then you can go ahead and begin All About Reading Level 1 while you wait. Just take little pieces of paper and write the letters on them. Be sure to add red for the vowels and blue for the consonants, however. It’s an important visual distinction for learners.
Amy
says:We use the old school tiles. They work great for us! I can see the benefit of the app because you don’t have to constantly reorganize the tiles yourself. However, with no iPad it’s not an option for us so we love what we have!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad the physical letter tiles are working well for you, Amy. However, just so you know, the Letter Tile app is available for Amazon and Android tablets as well as iPads. Our team is also working toward it being compatible with Chromebook devices as well.
Nicole
says:My son prefers the app because moving the physical tiles slows him down. Such a great resource!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceYes, great point, Nicole. The app can be a lot faster for some students.
Liz Wooten
says:My son loves the letter tiles in level 1 and 2! He is a great reader because of All About Reading!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceWonderful to hear, Liz! Keep up the great reading!
Theresa
says:I’m so on the fence about the tile app. I love the less clutter but always having a tablet ready to go sounds daunting!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThere are pros and cons for both options, Theresa. However, it doesn’t have to be a one or the other choice. Many families use both, sometimes working with the tiles and sometimes working with the app.
Rebecca
says:Great info, thank you!
Rebecca
says:I’m so excited to try out the letter tiles with AAR!
Kalley Sherman
says:We love the letter tiles! They are so helpful .we haven’t tried the tile app yet, but I’m sure it’s awesome and convenient.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Kalley!
Grace Lantz
says:I love using the letter tile to teach! My son thinks it’s a game!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceGreat to hear, Grace! It’s wonderful that learning can be so fun that it is play for him!
AngelaM
says:We love the letter tiles app! Makes switching from AAS2 with my son and AAR1 with my daughter so easy!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceGreat point, Angela!
Amanda
says:Letter tiles app is great for both programs!
Laura
says:I like how the tiles are color coded and we love the app!
Michelle
says:I am soon to purchase my first All About Reading program, just trying to work out level placement, and I have a great tip for parents trying to decide between the Letter Tiles App or the Physical Letter Tiles. Allowing my child to use the free phonogram sounds app on my iPhone while reading challenging words was a good trial for us to see if the digital route would enhance the learning experience or hinder it. It happened to be enhancing in our case, but I can easily see how technology could become distracting for children (even as an adult, I’m sometimes distracted by my phone lol). I’m looking forward to starting this new journey with my child with the help of All About Learning Press!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThank you for this great tip, Michelle! Yes, using the free Phonogram Sounds app would be a great test to see if the Letter Tiles app would help or distract a child. What a great idea!
If you need help with placement or have questions, please let me know. I’m happy to help!
Brittany
says:As I’ve been learning about your curriculum, I think it would benefit my kids currently struggling with spelling. I’m not loving the way spelling is being done in our current curriculum.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceLet me know if you would like help with placement or have questions, Brittany. I’m happy to help with whatever you need.
Janet Szilagyi
says:We love the letter tiles! Our daughter is a very kinesthetic/tactile learner so the physical letter tiles have made all the difference in our reading instruction!
Kristina
says:We sometimes use the tile blocks on our whiteboard and sometimes we use the app. We’ve found that one of our children likes to physically write everything out in a notebook instead.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceIt sounds like you have worked out a lot of options to meet your children’s needs, Kristina! Great work!
Lisa
says:We’re definitely hands on with our letter tiles. :) Our large magnetic white board with our letter tiles has been a fixture in our home for many years. I’m schooling my last child now, and I’m going to miss having the letter tiles around once he wraps up the program.
Suzanne
says:My 7yr old is very tactile and using letter tiles helps keep her engaged.
Roxanna
says:Letter Tiles are a fantastic tool!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Roxanna!
jess
says:We love this program
Robin
says: Customer ServiceAwww, thank you, Jess!
Gabriela
says:I’m excited to use these this multisensory approach with my 3rd grader and Kindergartner!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceWonderful, Gabriela!
Kristin
says:The tiles and this method has been a game-changer for my son!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceI’m so excited to hear that this has been helpful for your son, Kristin! Thank you!
Kalee Gwarjanski
says:My daughter groaned at first when using the tiles, but they really add to her learning!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThank you for sharing this, Kalee!
Michele
says:What an awesome tool. I’m looking to switch from our current curriculum to AAR and AAS. Seeing such great resources is making that decision a lot easier.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceSounds great, Michele! Let me know if you have questions or need help with placement or anything else. I’m happy to help!
Julie K Chacon
says:My kids do really well with tactile tiles. Instead of a magnetic white board I used a magnetic black chalk board. My son is similar to me in his learning and dyslexia. For me, shiny white pages are the worst. I don’t know if it impacts my son yet, but having a black background works for both of us.
Robin
says: Customer ServiceJulie,
I used a magnetic chalkboard for tiles in my homeschool! You can see it in the A Typical Day with All About Reading blog post.
EVELYN
says:I would love to enter the giveaway! I am a homeschool mom to three girls and one is a struggling reader. This would help me so much! Thank you!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceEvelyn,
I’m sorry to hear one of your girls is struggling with reading. Have you seen our 10 Tips for Reaching Your Struggling Learner and Signs of a Reading Problem blog posts? They may be helpful for you.
Shelby Cleland
says:These videos are an awesome tool so glad I just found them!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad you found them too, Shelby, and glad they are helpful! Thank you.
Natasha
says:This article and the comment sections answered so many questions
Robin
says: Customer ServiceI’m glad this article and the comments were helpful to you, Natasha! And if you have additional questions, please let me know. I’m happy to help!
Bonnie Reynolds
says:Awesome idea!
Robin
says: Customer ServiceThank you, Bonnie!
Rink Farms and Produce Reynolds
says:Sounds great !