Is the AAS phonogram CD necessary?

[mo2]

I could save quite a bit if I just bought the letter tiles and not the magnets or CD that come in the starter kit.

[nukeswife]

I don't have it and have no problem. If you feel comfortable saying the clipped sounds of letters ie: /b/ not /buh/ then you'll be fine.

HTH

[Sandy in Indy]

It's not strictly necessary, but I have found it helpful. (There's a couple of phonograms that I just have a hard time remembering!) I like that you can click on the phonogram and get just the sound(s) for that ONE.

[mo2]

I don't have it and have no problem. If you feel comfortable saying the clipped sounds of letters ie: /b/ not /buh/ then you'll be fine.

HTH


So what did you purchase? Just the level 1 student and teacher materials? I would think I would also want the letter tiles; they seem a pretty integral part of the program.

[mo2]

It's not strictly necessary, but I have found it helpful. (There's a couple of phonograms that I just have a hard time remembering!) I like that you can click on the phonogram and get just the sound(s) for that ONE.

Yes, the demo looks neat and I would LIKE to have it, but I'm on a pretty tight budget right now.

[nukeswife]

When I bought mine, they didn't have the "starter set" so I just bought the Level 1 TM set that's $29.95 (which comes with 1 set of student materials) , the extra student materials packet (because I had 2 in the same level--if you'll only have one student you don't need this), the letter tiles and magnets. I have found the magnets a great thing because then I keep our whiteboard all set up with the tiles, but if you don't mind setting it up on the table each day you can easily do without the magnets.

[mo2]

When I bought mine, they didn't have the "starter set" so I just bought the Level 1 TM set that's $29.95 (which comes with 1 set of student materials) , the extra student materials packet (because I had 2 in the same level--if you'll only have one student you don't need this), the letter tiles and magnets. I have found the magnets a great thing because then I keep our whiteboard all set up with the tiles, but if you don't mind setting it up on the table each day you can easily do without the magnets.

Thanks. If I remember correctly, you and I are kind of in the same boat with our 7yos. I know we've tried a lot of the same programs, and my dd is still struggling to read. I'm actually considering having her tested for dyslexia at this point because I just don't know what else to do. I notice a lot of letter reversals, guessing, and other things they say are common with dyslexia.

[nukeswife]

Yeah, if I remember we are. My dd is 7 and although it's coming, it's very slooooooow. We aren't having trouble with letter reversal anymore except for the occasional 'b' and 'd', and I think things are starting to click now. My dd seems to be backward to most kids in that since we started focusing on spelling the reading is coming. I always heard that since they are really processed differently in the brain that spelling can take longer to grasp. My dd seems to be able to encode words for spelling much easier than she can decode them for reading. I think she's a late bloomer and will get there just not as fast as many think she should.

I hope you have some luck finding what clicks for your child.

[Cadam]

I would skip the magnets. I got a roll of magnetic "tape" that is stick on one side from the craft store. It was super easy to tear off little pieces of the magnetic tape and it was cheep.