Annabel Lee Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 I'm wondering what the differences are in these workbook-based programs. I know HtTS is said to be a lot like AAS but in workbook format. Do the workbooks spell the content of each daily lesson out more clearly than the TM? Also, Ellie mentioned once that if forced to make a workbook recommendation for folks who insist on it, Rod & Staff Spelling by Sound & Structure would be her choice. Ellie, if you don't mind, can you share what you like better about this than SWO? I've never seen R&S Spelling before; only a quick peek at online samples. As for SWO & AAS - That's what I have, so I'm wondering how the other 2 above compare. I like what AAS teaches, and I like SWO's format. Can you offer any comparison of HtTS or R&S spelling to eachother or to SWO or AAS? :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 Hello? I think I killed my own thread. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Here's a thread that may be helpful for R&S and HTTS. I've used R&S and SWO. My R&S review is in that linked thread. SWO was a flop for us. The rule was mentioned once on the page, in a little box the kid could completely ignore. It wasn't once needed to finish the lesson. The first assignment had them sorting the words by the way the sound was spelled. The next page was puzzle-ish; one of my kids liked this, the other would have preferred poking his eyes with sporks. The last page was editing and a small composition lesson. My oldest, spork kid, loathed that book. The second kid thought the puzzle aspect was fun, but didn't improve her spelling. She was grandly annoyed at me for buying R&S for her the following year, and made her opinion well known. By the halfway point of her first R&S spelling book she had changed her mind and admitted she was actually learning how to spell. Right now she's in her second R&S spelling book, and has thanked me for making her switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 :bigear: I hope you didn't kill the thread (I'm queen at this), because I want to know too! Also I'd like to know Ellie, why no workbook. We do TONS of writing in narrations, copywork and everything else. Curious. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted April 24, 2012 Author Share Posted April 24, 2012 Thanks for the link, I just read through it and the link within it as well. I might have to compare the TOC for R&S and HtTS, if those are online. I want something that covers all the rules like AAS, but also incorporates roots study in later levels like SWO. Those R&S exercises in the samples look good! Does R&S have plenty of work with phonograms, phonics-based spelling rules, and syllabication rules? The words in SWO are too easy even though I've bumped the kids up a level, and we haven't had time to get through much of AAS. Now they are older and AAS feels like it spends soooo much time on each little step, when we need to just get through it already. But, they do still need the phonics-related teaching in their spelling, because we never did get through AAS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Thanks for the link, I just read through it and the link within it as well. I might have to compare the TOC for R&S and HtTS, if those are online. I want something that covers all the rules like AAS, but also incorporates roots study in later levels like SWO. Those R&S exercises in the samples look good! Does R&S have plenty of work with phonograms, phonics-based spelling rules, and syllabication rules? Looking for the EXACT same thing. R&S has a roots sample in 8th that is really good, but they say it starts in 7th and I just haven't looked yet. I'd prefer roots study earlier for decoding larger words, but R&S does phonics based spelling rules and syllabication. FWIW I loved their phonics workbooks early on and dd learned tons from them. Just say'in and :bigear: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Thanks for the link, I just read through it and the link within it as well. I might have to compare the TOC for R&S and HtTS, if those are online. I want something that covers all the rules like AAS, but also incorporates roots study in later levels like SWO. Those R&S exercises in the samples look good! Does R&S have plenty of work with phonograms, phonics-based spelling rules, and syllabication rules? The words in SWO are too easy even though I've bumped the kids up a level, and we haven't had time to get through much of AAS. Now they are older and AAS feels like it spends soooo much time on each little step, when we need to just get through it already. But, they do still need the phonics-related teaching in their spelling, because we never did get through AAS. Yes, it does. What you see in the samples is what you get. Not every lesson has syllabication work, but it's in there frequently starting in either the 3 or 4 book. These books also turn into root based vocabulary starting with the 7 book. The word lists in R&S are often called light, but that's not where the focus is. The exercises actually teach. Only one of mine works ahead, but she's ahead in everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Also, Ellie mentioned once that if forced to make a workbook recommendation for folks who insist on it, Rod & Staff Spelling by Sound & Structure would be her choice. Ellie, if you don't mind, can you share what you like better about this than SWO? I've never seen R&S Spelling before; only a quick peek at online samples. No, what I said was that if I had to choose a publisher that was not Spalding, it would be R&S. :) Spelling by Sound and Structure is a workbook through fifth; sixth through eighth are texts. SWO isn't bad, but I like Spelling by Sound and Stucture because of the activities. By the time the children are ready for the final spelling test (or even if they already know the words and don't really need the test, lol), they've analyzed the words in the list for spelling rules, looked them up in the dictionary, used them in context (each meaning of each word, as many words have more than one meaning), and written each word several times. It's more than just writing the words three times; it's really using all of the words in multiple ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Also I'd like to know Ellie, why no workbook. We do TONS of writing in narrations, copywork and everything else. Curious. :) I didn't say no workbooks. See my other answer. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsMe Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I didn't say no workbooks. See my other answer. :D :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Do the workbooks spell the content of each daily lesson out more clearly than the TM? No. All the teaching andinfo is in the TM. The HTTS workbooks is just for the student to fill in. Imho, you can even replace it with a regular composition notebook. See this recent thread for more info about HTTS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Do the workbooks spell the content of each daily lesson out more clearly than the TM? No. All the teaching andinfo is in the TM. The HTTS workbook is just for the student to fill in. Imho, you can even replace it with a regular composition notebook. See this recent thread for more info about HTTS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PookieMama Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 No. All the teaching andinfo is in the TM. The HTTS workbooks is just for the student to fill in. Imho, you can even replace it with a regular composition notebook. See this recent thread for more info about HTTS. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, but I have to disagree about the workbooks. I feel like the TM is a little overwhelming and confusing w/o them. I like having the worksheets to make the program a little more independent as well. I use the TM mainly as a dictation source and for a more thorough explanation of some of the rules. More details and page samples are on my blog: http://dougcarla.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/how-to-teach-spelling-review/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, but I have to disagree about the workbooks. I feel like the TM is a little overwhelming and confusing w/o them. I like having the worksheets to make the program a little more independent as well. I use the TM mainly as a dictation source and for a more thorough explanation of some of the rules. More details and page samples are on my blog: Yes, what I meant was, that the workbooks has the worksheets (by spelling rule) to be filled in by the student. There is no teaching or instruction in the workbooks. All of that is in the TM. I do suggest your blog to members who ask about HTTS. :) Your post and photos are quite helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PookieMama Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 I do suggest your blog to members who ask about HTTS. :) Your post and photos are quite helpful. I'm glad to hear it is helpful to someone! boscopup kinda inspired me to do it because she was lamenting that HTTS didn't have good page samples on the internet. She has some from Level 3 on her blog (the only workbook she had in her possession), but I wanted to add Levels 1 and 2 because I feel like there's a bit of a jump between 2 and 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorisuewho Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, but I have to disagree about the workbooks. I feel like the TM is a little overwhelming and confusing w/o them. I like having the worksheets to make the program a little more independent as well. I use the TM mainly as a dictation source and for a more thorough explanation of some of the rules. More details and page samples are on my blog: http://dougcarla.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/how-to-teach-spelling-review/ Thank you for taking the time to post these samples! I appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabel Lee Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 (edited) No, what I said was that if I had to choose a publisher that was not Spalding, it would be R&S. :) Spelling by Sound and Structure is a workbook through fifth; sixth through eighth are texts. SWO isn't bad, but I like Spelling by Sound and Stucture because of the activities. By the time the children are ready for the final spelling test (or even if they already know the words and don't really need the test, lol), they've analyzed the words in the list for spelling rules, looked them up in the dictionary, used them in context (each meaning of each word, as many words have more than one meaning), and written each word several times. It's more than just writing the words three times; it's really using all of the words in multiple ways. Oh dear, it's too late to edit my original post. I suppose if I'm going to claim to be quoting someone, I should just copy & paste a direct quote instead of re-posting my sleepless, perceived interpretation. Sorry about that! Thanks for explaining more about your thoughts on it. Edited April 26, 2012 by Annabel Lee spelling, of all things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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