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Alcat
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| Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 7:09am | IP Logged
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We used SRW (similar to WRR) last year, and I liked it. I'm finding that I'm not getting to spelling often enough right now, and ds9 needs it. I also have a struggling-to-read 2nd grader who I think will do well with spelling to read.
I wanted something less mommy intensive for spelling this year... unless we make spelling a priority with something like AVKO...
I don't quite understand how the program works. How much time does it take. Are there workbook type lessons, or is it more like SRW where I teach the lesson? If it is time intensive is it worth it? Is there something else you would recommend?
How have you liked AVKO?
Thanks!!
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mom to ds15, dd13 ,ds11, dd8, dd6, ds4, & dd18mos
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missionfamily
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| Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 10:48am | IP Logged
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We are using AVKO this year, and while I do have to do it with ds9, we find it goes very quickly and is good at teaching basic spelling concepts. It takes about ten-fifteen minutes...I call out the words on the list, he writes them in the book provided, then immediately spells them out load to me. If he has made a mistake, we correct it immediately (the concept of immediate self-correction is the cornerstone of the program). You can test every eight days or so, but we do not. I have found thus far that ds does not make the same mistake the next day that we corrected the day before and that the spelling concepts are really being reinforced quite well with this simple method.
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Colleen
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mom to Quinn,Gabriel, Brendan,Evan, Kolbe, and sweet St. Bryce
Footprints on the Fridge
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ALmom
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| Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 3:28pm | IP Logged
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The biggest difference between AVKO and the WRR versions of spelling that I could glean after calling AVKO and asking about their system was that AVKO groups like words together. Words such as bake, take, make, etc. would all be together and are called word families. They build methodically at each level so you may want to know what words they would be using with your dc. We found that with our son, he'd have felt like we were putting him backwards as he is challenged by the harder words and it keeps his interest and confidence while he still works on some other things. The WRR approach relies a lot on phonograms, spelling rules and recognizing root words and actually does not care for the word family designation. My esperience is that sometimes word families does not help with knowing when to spell one way or another - it is relying more on a visual memory skill. Now my actual experience with AVKO is limited as I have not actually used it for my dc - my info is all from my discussion with the AVKO rep. I have much more extensive familiarity with WRR spelling program. However, had I still had doubts after speaking with the AVKO rep., I would have gone on-line and tried their free program for a bit just to see.
My son's success and his general learning style is very, very logical. He has huge visual memory difficulties. In looking at this, I don't think AVKO is right for him - and the wonderful lady at AVKO who spent over an hour talking to me and explaining the program seemed to agree in our case. I will say, the program is quite intriguing and has had a great deal of success with a number of children. Just because it doesn't seem to fit us, I know it would work quite well with many, many children. One thing that might be nice to know is that you can go to their web and use a certain number of their lessons for free to see if it is for you. They were very, very generous in offering help.
I spoke to AVKO for the very reason you mentioned. The WRR version was working very well for my dc WHEN I got around to doing it. It was mom intensive and time consuming and I have 6 children. I was hoping for an easier way to accomplish the same thing. I did ask about word groupings because I have an older child whose spelling mistakes are outside the usual - ie he actually spells some very complicated words correctly. In speaking with AVKO, it didn't appear that this program would work all that well for us - but not because it isn't a well thought out program. It just would have my son doing too much backtracking and not really address his unique needs. Obviously only you will be able to determine which approach is best for your child.
Since WRR versions do work, we decided to stick with it but are really going lite on the extras in the program. If we don't use it, it won't work so we had to find a way that got the essentials across and was doable in our environment. I don't know if this will help or not but this is how we use the WRR spelling program we have:
I have son do all the phonogram studying himself and just focus on the few he doesn't remember - the ones that have bookoodles of sounds to them. I laminated examples of words on the back of the cards so that he can self check. This is done in a more self-checking Montessorish way and much more suited to my ds preference for being independent and is taking advantage of the fact that he already reads very, very well and has no trouble with diction of words - it also doesn't put him on the spot if he forgets as he is testing himself. It also frees me from all the phonogram drilling.
I enlarged and laminated a copy of the spelling rules and we don't sweat memorizing them, but do have them for easy reference. Any words that he has trouble with in dictation we analyze more thouroughly to see if there is a logical reason for the spelling. We will also tend to do this in a very informal way with words he misspells consistently in other work.
I do dictate once a week and we mark those words. However, in dictating, I really, really emphasize the syllable divisions and sometimes really exaggerate vowel sounds at first - the we think to spell dialogue. We do allow erasures and I give hints so that if he has a tendency to misspell a word, he is able to correct it himself. (This is the 2 syllable phonogram for "n" kind of thing). If I'm really with it, I hint at the ones I know he has the most trouble before he actually starts writing. We don't sweat too much the words he seems to already know how to spell. I do know that in our case we have noticed a distinct pattern - he has trouble with unaccented syllables where the vowel sound is slurred and with with double letters. We notice patterns - things like the e often is slurred to sound more like an i in speech when it is followed by an n - this is not specifically in WRR just something we notice and mention as we go. He really likes the more cerebral approach - this seems to be how he learns best anyways so this works. I will remind him how to mark words with pretty obvious hints. I don't care if he remembers this stuff or not - it is mostly the exercise in thinking about how a word is spelled and why that seems to get him over the hump.
I pick the extra activities very, very minimally. We are doing things like making as many words from his list words as possible using prefixes and suffixes. We copied and cut out individual prefixes and suffixes and laminated those for our use (they were designed to be cut and copied for the child). I think this will help him with words like mistake once he recognizes the prefix. My ds is making a list for me and we will fill up a jar with beans or something to keep track of how many words he has created and spelled correctly. When we have the jar filled, we will celebrate the progress by having an afternoon for computer fun (I don't allow any computer other than research and paper writing on school days normally). I do not do a lot of the sentence building exercises and the other stuff as we do that more easily with other things and I am noticing how he spells words in context already in looking at his other work. A lot of the extras in my program are for a younger child who is still developing reading and phonics skills. My ds is 6th grade, reading well above grade level and just is needing lots of remediation in spelling. There is no need to do the exercises involved in reading/writing proficiency unless I see something that I see as particularly relevant to things we are doing - then I would make that a part of his complete lang. arts and not just spelling. Generally we have better ways to handle all that and skip the WRR stuff that is not specifically spelling.
When the lesson plan calls for building charts, we do those if he has not already done them and I dictate and he fills in blank charts. I never have him actually make his own in the notebook like the advanced calls for (too much time and writing involved and it just makes the spelling time drag out). If my son has already done this in a previous year, then we pull out the chart he already did, review it and maybe add a word or two from his current list of words to the chart.
One day a week, I spend maybe 20 - 30 min. in the initial analysis of new words or in building new charts. On Fridays we have a spelling test - takes maybe 10 minutes because he is slow handwriting. Occassionally I use one of the alternatives (sentence testing) but usually not because this same child hates the mechanics of writing. In between the dictation and the spelling test, he reviews words in whatever way works for him. He likes to do it independently.
I decided too to ditch the more involved grammar work and we went to Winston grammar as that is something that takes about 5 min. to do and seems to help him better than any of the other grammar programs. (Basically, I eliminated excessive mom time in other subjects in order to focus on spelling this year).
Janet
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Alcat
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| Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 4:53pm | IP Logged
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Thanks ladies,
Colleen, it's helpful to know that
Iwould still have 10-15min a day dealing with spelling. The program sounds like it would work for us, but WWR/SRW is working for us.... I just want something easier 
Janet, thanks for sharing how you guys do WWR. Your method sounds a bit more stream-lined than mine. Since we began our book last spelling notebook last year, I decided not to make him do the pages all over again 
We are reviewing all the phonograms per Mari McAllister's Nuts and Bolts guide and we are reviewing the pages. I'm also going through the lists from the begining and drilling the words he misses. Then we will go back to building our notebook pages.
I am just looking for more time to read and play with my younger kids during those intense morning times, but having two older kids that still need my attention for most subjects...
 I think I will take Mari's advise and use a tape recorder for ds and then he can quiz and self check... this might really challenge him
Alison
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mom to ds15, dd13 ,ds11, dd8, dd6, ds4, & dd18mos
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: your experience with AVKO
