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time4tea
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| Posted: May 24 2010 at 12:29pm | IP Logged
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Before I jump in and purchase AAS, I just had to ask - if anyone can compare AAS to Andrew Pudewa's Phonetic Zoo, I would be most grateful! I am anxious to make the best decision here that I can, so please share what your experience has been with both or either, good or bad!
Thanks so much in advance!
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: May 24 2010 at 4:41pm | IP Logged
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So glad you asked Tea, 'cause I wanna know too! Actually, I have planned to use AAS for my DS who will be in 4th. He is a very visual learner and struggles terribly with any kind of writing. AAS allows me to teach him the spelling without all the writing AND provides the review he needs.
My DD, on the other hand is an auditory learner. She will be in 6th grade. I'm thinking about getting Phonetic Zoo for her. She used AAS last year and it was okay, but she doesn't need the letter tiles.
I feel like it's a crazy plan, getting two programs but I think that's what my kids require right now.
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Becky
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krygerzoo
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| Posted: March 18 2011 at 3:13pm | IP Logged
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*bumping*
I was just looking at the two programs. We really haven't done a formal spelling program yet. When they write, I just highlight the misspelled words and have them work on those. But now I don't think that was a good idea  I want them to have a more formal approach now. They need a more logical approach. Live & learn!
Anyway, not sure which way to go here... any suggestions??
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: March 18 2011 at 7:39pm | IP Logged
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Well, I'm using them both Katherine! For different kids with different strengths and learning styles. To me, the two programs are like night and day. I only have a minute now, but I will try to come back tomorrow and explain what I mean by that.
A very quick answer would be that AAS is very mom-intensive and Phonetic Zoo involves hardly any involvement from mom. But there is more to it. I think they are both great programs.
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Becky
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time4tea
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| Posted: April 30 2011 at 4:18pm | IP Logged
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Becky,
I would love to hear more about your experience with Phonetic Zoo! I ended up doing AAS this year, and found it to be so time consuming that I do not think I will be able to continue with it. Have you found Phonetic Zoo to be an effective way to teach spelling?
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mamaslearning
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| Posted: May 02 2011 at 9:09am | IP Logged
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I was doing some research, and the Institute For Excellence In Writing recommends AAS as a precursor to Phonectic Zoo.
Their Primary Arts of Language: Writing Program actually includes AAS.
There's an introduction video for the primary K-2 products on this page that was informative about their products. They also have spelling tests to help with placements on the spelling products page.
I have not used either, but was looking at AAS for my second grader next year. I'm glad you bumped this and brought Phonetic Zoo to my attention. Thanks!
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time4tea
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| Posted: May 02 2011 at 9:38am | IP Logged
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Hi Mamaslerning!
I liked AAS, I just don't know how practical it is for a larger family, or at least *my* larger family. I think it is effective and worthwhile, but in our case, it was so time consuming that I began to dread it. I tried various shortcuts to using it, but I found that if I took too many shortcuts, the dc did not retain as much and then I needed to repeat lessons, just making it even more time consuming. Particularly when done in combination with other materials that require lots of parental involvement (we followed MODG syllabi for the most part this past year for 3rd and 5th), it can make for a very long day. I was hoping that maybe Phonetic Zoo might combine some of the elements I liked from AAS in a format that my dc could do on their own, or at least somewhat on their own. If not, I will probably just go back to My Catholic Spellers, which is what we ended up switching to when AAS just got to be too much.
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mommy4ever
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| Posted: May 02 2011 at 9:56am | IP Logged
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I can't speak for Phonetic Zoo, but I LOVE AAS.
It does take mom to do the program. But it doesn't need to take a long time. With something as important and writing and reading, I'd rather be involved to be sure it's being understood. We do one lesson a week, the hands on time now is about 15 minutes. We do the spelling 'test' right afterwards. It is rare she has a mistake, however on lessons that she does have issues, we simply review the lesson in a few days. We are completing book 2.
DD is visual, however the tiles drive me crazy. I find it makes the lesson way too long as she is goofing around with them. We loved them for book 1 however. Now I use colored markers on the whiteboard. Same visual with color differences. Just less fuss overall.
I will continue straight through to the end of this. She outspells her older sibling :) Who didn't use a spelling program(Catholic School)
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time4tea
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| Posted: May 02 2011 at 10:31am | IP Logged
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Speaking only from my own experience here, it was not my goal to be completing only one lesson per week with my 5th and 3rd grader. If I was working with beginning reader/younger student, one lesson per week would be a realistic pace, but for an almost 9 and 11 year old, both of whom are reading well, only one lesson per week would not work here at our house 
There are a variety of ways to approach the conundrum of teaching spelling and phonics, and the wide majority of these methods are effective. I do think AAS is a solid, well put together program, but I don't think it is for everyone.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: May 02 2011 at 1:22pm | IP Logged
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Sorry, I meant to get back here sooner but I got side tracked.
My boys who are in 4th and 1st grades are using AAS. My dd in 6th is using Phonetic Zoo. This is working for us because my kids have very different learning styles, and since Phonetic Zoo is mostly indpendent, it's not too much work for me.
That's really the main difference - AAS requires more mom-time. It's very thorough though. Good for visual and hands on learners. It was great for my ds that struggles with writing because he could use the letter tiles. Now, he's tired of using the tiles, so we work at a white board with colored markers or better yet, we do spelling at the computer. I just pick a large font and let him sit at the keyboard, typing in the letters to build the word. He highlights all the vowels, blends, etc. in different colors. He really enjoys doing it that way.
All that being said, since I will be adding another child to the "learning table" next year, I'm really not sure I can keep up with AAS for both boys. I might have my son who will be in 5th go on to something more independent. I'm looking at the CHC spellers because I will be using CHC for some other subjects. I'm mostly sure that Phonetic Zoo would not work well for him though.
I would say phonetic zoo is more difficult. The words are more challenging. It works well for my dd because she is an auditory learner and likes to be independent. The drawback is that I don't always see how the little jingles or rhymes help the child to learn the spelling rule. Maybe it's because it doesn't fit my learning style. She is doing well with it though.
I can answer specific questions if you still have any.
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Becky Parker
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| Posted: May 02 2011 at 1:32pm | IP Logged
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time4tea wrote:
Hi Mamaslerning!
I liked AAS, I just don't know how practical it is for a larger family, or at least *my* larger family. I think it is effective and worthwhile, but in our case, it was so time consuming that I began to dread it. I tried various shortcuts to using it, but I found that if I took too many shortcuts, the dc did not retain as much and then I needed to repeat lessons, just making it even more time consuming. Particularly when done in combination with other materials that require lots of parental involvement (we followed MODG syllabi for the most part this past year for 3rd and 5th), it can make for a very long day. |
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I went back to read your post after writing my reply and I have to say this is us to a "T". We are also doing MODG and while I feel it's excellent, I can't imagine what it will be like to add another child next year. It's very mom intensive. I'm looking at making some changes for my younger kids next year, going with CHC for a lot of their subjects instead.
Just wanting to say that I agree AAS is hard when there are more than a couple of students to work with, especially if the rest of the curricula requires a lot of mom time.
I was surprised to read that IEW recommends AAS as a precurser to Phonetic Zoo. They seem so different to me. I mentioned Phonetic Zoo is more difficult, but if the program assumes the dc will go through AAS first, I can see that they expect many of the spelling rules to already be learned. My dd who did not use AAS is doing fine with it, but she does have to put some time into it.
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LLMom
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| Posted: May 03 2011 at 12:30pm | IP Logged
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This is our second year using AAS. We too have used MODG this past year. I have 6 students this year, 3 using AAS. we work 15 minutes on AAS and then on their own, they play games with the words on spelling city or practice the phonogram CD. It was doable for my family. You really can do it at your pace because the books are not graded. I have only done through level 5. My children move into MODG spelling in 7th grade with Wordly wise.
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Erin
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| Posted: Sept 21 2011 at 1:43am | IP Logged
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Just wanted to share I've just bought AAS and I am soo excited, looks very promising. Actually I was pretty sold after I read this post. I actually have Linda (adnil) staying with me and she sells both ASS and Phonetic Zoo. I never even got as far as looking at Phonetic Zoo as ASS looks exactly what I've been looking for.
I'll share more when I've put it into practice.
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: All About Spelling vs. Phonetic Zoo?
