tomandlorih Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 For those of us looking for a "rules-based" spelling program(workbook-y if possible:), what ARE the spelling rules?.. How many are there? Are some rules taught as "phonics"? I think "if it ends in a y, change the y to an I and add -es" is a "rule" but it was just taught in my dd's Easy Grammar 3. So is there just a lot of overlap? Help.. I'm confused! For those of you teaching "the rules" or with a "rules based" spelling program (like AAS).. do you require your children to memorize them? or just go over it with no memorization. TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Here's a link for spelling rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 For those of us looking for a "rules-based" spelling program(workbook-y if possible:), what ARE the spelling rules?.. How many are there? Are some rules taught as "phonics"? I think "if it ends in a y, change the y to an I and add -es" is a "rule" but it was just taught in my dd's Easy Grammar 3. So is there just a lot of overlap? Help.. I'm confused! For those of you teaching "the rules" or with a "rules based" spelling program (like AAS).. do you require your children to memorize them? or just go over it with no memorization. TIA Spalding and its spin-offs and cousins :D do not teach the rules in isolation, but as part of the method of analyzing each word. With Spalding, when you and the dc say aloud "A, e, i, o and u usually say their second sounds at the end of a short word or syllable" multiple times, you have it memorized. :) I wouldn't say that there's "overlap" between grammar and spelling, only that some grammar instruction may include things like changing the y to i.:-) There are rules such as c followed by e, i, or y says /s/, or English words don't end with u or i, or s, f, l, and z are usually doubled at the end of a single syllable word. :-) And there are five reasons for silent e; most spelling (and reading) methods don't teach all of them; you need Spalding and the rest to learn them all. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 :iagree: with Ellie's explanation. Yes, there is some overlap between phonics rules, spelling rules and grammar rules, because it is all applied together when reading and writing. Different spelling programs teach different number of rules. Some examples: 7 spelling rules taught in Spelling Plus (see page 2) 47 spelling rules from Riggs Inst 100 spelling rules (!) Overall, though, all these sets of rules cover the same patterns of language. I have found the Spalding rules (linked by Twigs above) to be easy to understand and comprehensive enough*. (* Do note, however, that the spelling rules don't cover how every word in English, because the same sound can be made with different letter combinations.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomandlorih Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Good gracious ladies.. no wonder I am confused.. even the "experts" can't agree! I guess that's what had me the most confused is that there really didn't seem to be a definitive answer. Spelling "rule 1" is not the same to everyone. Even the Riggs people have the same "rule" listed as #4 in one set and #17 in the other. :confused: I have Spell to Write and Read coming from the library.. maybe it will help even though my dd already can read and write. Thank you for the replies.. I appreciate it! I feel better even though I still don't have a black and white answer.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 AAS has you master the rules, and has a built in review system that makes it easy to do so. They are easy to understand and you practice them when you learn them. When you are analyzing new words, you think through what strategies will best help you learn the word (rules-based, visual, pronouncing for spelling, morphemes, etc...). There's not an over-abundance of rules but there are a number of them that really do help with spelling the majority of words. Also, AAS focuses on the rules that hold true about 97% of the time. Some programs include "rules" that are only true about half the time (such as the famous, "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.") Sometimes grammar and spelling overlap (another time when you'll see this happen is with contractions), but they don't overlap too often. You might like this article on What Works in Teaching Spelling, or this one on Why Teach the Phonograms and Spelling Rules? HTH some! Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Good gracious ladies.. no wonder I am confused.. even the "experts" can't agree! I guess that's what had me the most confused is that there really didn't seem to be a definitive answer. Spelling "rule 1" is not the same to everyone. Even the Riggs people have the same "rule" listed as #4 in one set and #17 in the other. :confused: I have Spell to Write and Read coming from the library.. maybe it will help even though my dd already can read and write. Thank you for the replies.. I appreciate it! I feel better even though I still don't have a black and white answer.. lol Well, all spelling products/methods teach spelling rules, but the "rules" just aren't what you think they are, lol. For example, the single phonogram a has three sounds: a (as hat), a (cake) a (father)...but those are not rules. The rule would be that a says its second ("long") sound at the end of a short word or syllable (Rule 4 in Spalding). Here are some other rules (according to Spalding): Rule 1: Q is always written qu when we say the sound /kw/ Rule 2: C followed by e, i, or y always says /s/ Rule 3: G followed by e, i or y *may* say /j/. Other methods don't present them as "rules." AFAIK, Spalding and its spin-offs are the only ones which teach all of the reasons for final silent e (none of which is "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking"). They're the only ones which teach that English words don't end with u or i (one of the reasons for final silent e) and relate it to using ay instead of ai at the end of a word (some might sort of teach that, but they don't usually say it so clearly). I guess the short story is that although I prefer Spalding, SWR is probably going to be what you're looking for. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I guess the short story is that although I prefer Spalding, SWR is probably going to be what you're looking for. :) Again, :iagree: I think you will find SWR comprehensive enough. If you have questions after reading the manual, do post back here. There are also many, many threads on SWR (and Spalding) in the archives. Search for the tags "SWR", "WRTR", "Spalding" or just search for those terms on the K-8 board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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