New Readers, Level 6, All About Reading!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Merry on March 4, 2010 at 11:43pm

You have come to the right place with questions, LOL!

All About Reading--there will be one manual per level, and as many levels as AAS. There will usually be 2 accompanying readers per level. Level 1 is for kids ready to learn to read--there is not a grade level attached to it. The word topics/sequence of AAS Level 1 will be followed, but the word lists will be expanded.

Preparation for Reading and Spelling will be one volume for young pre-readers, to get them ready for reading and spelling. It will be done before starting AAS and AAR for younger kids (not for remedial learners).

HTH! Merry :-)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl in SoCal on March 5, 2010 at 12:01am

Thanks! Is level 6 the final level of AAS? Any idea how often AAR levels will be released? I'm thinking they will not be released quickly enough for my 6 year old to use them but can always hope ;-)

What will AAR be like in the upper levels? Will it continue to review phonics/reading so they won't forget it and/or continue to introduce new material, and how much is phonics? I'm just trying to think how it would work compared to most phonics/reading programs that are finished in around 2 years, wondering if it spreads phonics out over a longer period of time or if it also expands on what most phonics/reading programs teach. I'm really excited about the possibilities because I think my ds's problems with spelling is because being "done" with phonics in 2 years let him forget a lot.

I hope that makes sense, I'm pretty tired, LOL.

Cheryl :-)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Merry on March 5, 2010 at 9:55am

Level 6 was going to be the last level, but it grew so big that Marie has made it into two books--so now Level 7 will be the last level. That will tentatively be coming out next January.

I think that AAR will work so that a student can go as quickly or as slowly through it as they need to. Like AAS, a student can do more than one level in a year. By the way, AAS is a complete phonics program, so it will get to all of the phonics that your son is struggling to remember. Some people have even used it to teach reading, while others want something specifically scripted for reading. The first year my kids did AAS, their reading level went up two grade levels! I was surprised because we were not working at their reading level phonics-wise, but I think it just made everything faster and easier for them, plus I think the segmenting and syllable work really helped.

As to how quickly levels of AAR will be released, I don't have information on that yet, sorry!

Merry :-)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cheryl in SoCal on March 6, 2010 at 1:32pm

Thanks, that helps :-) I will be interested to see some sample pages when AAR is released, especially the latter levels. Since AAS covers all phonics and I don't really need something scripted for teaching reading it may be what works best for us. I guess only time, and the publisher, will tell ;-)

It's interesting that you mention the segmenting because that did NOT come naturally to my son when I introduced it! That is the one thing (that I've come upon so far in AAS) that we've never done (our phonics program was very thorough but ended after 1st grade). It's been very interesting to see the deficits we are discovering already, especially since he is an excellent reader.

Cheryl

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Penny G on March 4, 2010 at 11:59pm

I was getting ready to ask when Level 6 will be released, and I am so happy to see that it will be soon! How exciting!
-Penny G

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Paige on March 15, 2010 at 2:16pm

Merry,

Thanks for this information. I'm excited because my 3 year old (turns 4 on the 12th of next month) will probably be ready for AAR Level 1 about that time. He would be an older 4 at that time. Would you say that AAR Level 1 could be used with a slightly advanced 4 or normal 5 year old?

In the mean time what do you suggest I be teaching him while we are waiting on AAR L1? I have ACE Kindergarten paces that do introduce the letters with their sounds but it is more like preschool than kindy. Do you think that would work since Preparation for Reading and Spelling is not out yet?


Thanks so much,
Paige
p.s. There are many prereading activities in the ACE material. I've been very pleased with their approach to phonics but it's VERY expensive and I don't know if I can continue with it. I also LOVE AAS so much I would much rather go this route :o)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Merry on March 15, 2010 at 7:33pm

Hi Paige,

I think you'd be fine to go ahead with the ACE K while you wait. If you have the phonogram CD-ROM from AAS, you could let him use that on the computer for learning sounds too. You could make a game of playing with the beginning lessons in AAS too, to work on segmenting skills etc... My kids used to like it when I would pull 3 letters--like T, C, and A, and say, "I want to make cat. What's the first sound? Do you know what letter stands for the first sound?" and things like that. Not sure your son knows his sounds well enough for that yet, but maybe in the fall.

We also used to play grocery store or zoo--I'm thinking of an animal that begins with /p/. What is it? (Say the sound, not the letter name). Then the child guesses animals etc... They like to do it the reverse way too where they think of it & you guess.

We also did oral segmenting games where I would say a word & they would tell me the first sound, or the last sound, or all 3 sounds if they were ready for it. (Words like "kite" only have 3 sounds & can work for this game). Then play it backwards--say 3 sounds & see if they can blend them to make the word. Oral blending & segmenting are good skills that lead into reading and spelling. My dd liked to say sounds & have me try to make them into a word, oh we would laugh so much about the nonsense words, LOL!

Have fun!

Merry :-)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Renee on March 15, 2010 at 3:16pm

Looks like my son age 4 will be ready for AAR. Yea! I can't wait to see it!

Will I need a new magnetic board for AAR? The thought of taking down the AAS tiles and putting up AAR tiles seems like it would be time consuming. I do have one board hung vertical-thanks to Merry's brainstorming! I might be able to squeeze in another one vertical!!!!!
Renee

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Julie Sanchez on March 15, 2010 at 6:09pm

I have a 4 year old son I'm hoping to use it with as well. My 5 year old daughter may join in, too. We'll have to see where she is with AAS.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Merry on March 15, 2010 at 7:36pm

I don't think so. If you have a lot of tiles up for your older girls that your son won't know yet, maybe you could put some magnets on a piece of cardstock, and just cover up the vowel & consonant teams during his lesson so he's not distracted by them. That would be faster than taking down any extra tiles. I did that for awhile with my kids. (Actually I just covered up the extras with our jail, which I have magnetized, LOL!).

Merry :-)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Hilary on March 18, 2010 at 8:56am

Hi Merry,

Will Level 6 be available as planned (April 8-10)? And, do you know when we'll be able to order it?

Can you tell we're excited about this? :) One of my sons is on the last lesson of Level 5, so we're ready!

Thanks! Hilary

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Merry on March 21, 2010 at 1:24pm

Hi Hilary,

It looks like everything is still on schedule! They're hoping it will be available the first week in April. (Dates are always tentative because printing schedules are not in the author's control, but so far so good!).

Merry :-)

▶ Reply to This

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• …
• 7
• Next ›
• Page