Shelsi Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I'm trying to purchase everything now and get ready and then have a few weeks "off" before we start school this year. Obviously all I really and truly need is the manual. I'm sure however there are things that help, right? Any particular notebooks? Games? I'm using it to teach dd reading & writing (and spelling obviously) for kindy this year and my 3rd grader will be using it just for spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Ellie has posted before that all you need is the manual (WRTR) and the spelling assessment book. I think it's the book that has the Morrison-McCall spelling tests. I think you may also want to use a sewn notebook (like the Mead Composition book) for your 3rd grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 (edited) I'm trying to purchase everything now and get ready and then have a few weeks "off" before we start school this year. Obviously all I really and truly need is the manual. I'm sure however there are things that help, right? Any particular notebooks? Games? I'm using it to teach dd reading & writing (and spelling obviously) for kindy this year and my 3rd grader will be using it just for spelling. You need the manual and the phonogram cards. :) The Spelling Assessment Manual is helpful, but you can find the Morrison-McCall Spelling tests on-line if you're watching your budget. Your older dc will need a composition book; just get the one from Spalding Education International; the ones sold in stores are usualy thicker than you need. You will do the same thing with both dc (except that the older one will keep a spelling notebook while the younger one will not). The spelling lesson includes handwriting, and children learn to read by learning to spell. You don't need games.:) Edited July 16, 2012 by Ellie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Ellie has posted before that all you need is the manual (WRTR) and the spelling assessment book. I think it's the book that has the Morrison-McCall spelling tests. I usually recommend the phonogram cards, too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelsi Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 You don't need games.:) No phonogram bingo even? Darn, I like bingo. I admit, the games are usually what I enjoy - it's a nice way to start a school day and I'm a game junky - I'm one of those people who would sit around playing board games all day if only I could find someone to play with me! lol. In all seriousness though, thanks for the info! I just ordered the 6th edition of WRTR - I had the 4th edition from the library, complete with record in the back lol. In your experience how long does it take each day to teach it? It doesn't seem like it will take very long especially once we've learned all the phonograms right? Of course my 3rd grader HATES writing so we'll see if we can get through this or not for him but my kindy dd loves to write. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 (edited) Just because Spalding says you don't need them doesn't mean you can't use them or that your student won't benefit. ;) Feel free to make it as fun as you want. I grant you the pixie dust. :D When my dd was little and we did SWR (which we fled to from WRTR, hehe, good luck), we did lots of fun stuff like the bingo, playing mother may I to practice or words, using a whiteboard or tiles, file folder games we made, etc. Now LoE has a really nice book of games. It's all good. It really just depends on your student and what they need and what gets in the way. My SN boy is dominantly kinesthetic, so I'd be a fool not to harness that. With him I use puppets and trampolines and whatever it takes, whew! You fit the school work to the dc, not the other way around. The 3rd grader is a boy or girl? That hating writing can be all sorts of stuff. Just see if you can cipher what is going on. Can be their hand hurts or finger agnosia or vision problems or attention or that he needs more work on dictation and narration (thought to word, word to paper) or that he was given creative assignments when he had nothing to say or that he was given boring assignments when he's very creative or... Yes, that's a big range, lol. You'll figure it out. :) Just as an oddball suggestion, the Eides have put some studies on their blog I think about kinesthetic memory in typing. If your 3rd grader is having issues and you want to get the spelling going and separate it out a bit from the handwriting till you figure out what the problem is there, typing would be a way to do that. It's a great age to work on typing. My dd is on the more extreme end. She was very pencil-phobic for years and actually got worse the harder we worked on typing rather than better. I switched her over to the Dvorak keyboard layout using the Mavis Beacon lessons, and she took off. And when you get that kinesthetic memory going with a method that is finally working for them, it can actually be a very good way of working on the spelling. Hmm, did I just tell you to be rogue and think of WRTR as a starting point that you make work for you? Yes, I think I did. Have fun. :) Edited July 16, 2012 by OhElizabeth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 No phonogram bingo even? Darn, I like bingo. I admit, the games are usually what I enjoy - it's a nice way to start a school day and I'm a game junky - I'm one of those people who would sit around playing board games all day if only I could find someone to play with me! lol. Well, you don't need games, but you can do them if you like. One member here has posted free phonogram bingo cards. You can start with them. There are other phonogram games suggested in this forum. In your experience how long does it take each day to teach it? It doesn't seem like it will take very long especially once we've learned all the phonograms right? Of course my 3rd grader HATES writing so we'll see if we can get through this or not for him but my kindy dd loves to write. My dd is doing a Spalding-spinoff, but I follow her lead. If she appears to be bored/tired, I do another subject/give her a break. People do between 20 to 40 words a week. I think 5 words a day/20 a week is a good start and then you can follow your child's lead. This schedule is from a school's web site. Hope it helps you plan. At present, we are going to enter 40 words per week into our notebooks, as we are reviewing words from 4th grade. Once we begin new words in a couple of weeks, 30 words per week will be the norm. Words are entered Monday – Wednesday, a pre-test is given on Thursdays, and any missed words will be reviewed for that night’s spelling homework. If a students receives 100% on the pre-test, no test is taken on Friday!! Phonograms are tested weekly – 30 per week. A 70 phonogram test is given monthly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelsi Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 The 3rd grader is a boy or girl? That hating writing can be all sorts of stuff. Just see if you can cipher what is going on. Can be their hand hurts or finger agnosia or vision problems or attention or that he needs more work on dictation and narration (thought to word, word to paper) or that he was given creative assignments when he had nothing to say or that he was given boring assignments when he's very creative or... Yes, that's a big range, lol. You'll figure it out. :) Just as an oddball suggestion, the Eides have put some studies on their blog I think about kinesthetic memory in typing. If your 3rd grader is having issues and you want to get the spelling going and separate it out a bit from the handwriting till you figure out what the problem is there, typing would be a way to do that. It's a great age to work on typing. My dd is on the more extreme end. She was very pencil-phobic for years and actually got worse the harder we worked on typing rather than better. I switched her over to the Dvorak keyboard layout using the Mavis Beacon lessons, and she took off. And when you get that kinesthetic memory going with a method that is finally working for them, it can actually be a very good way of working on the spelling. Hmm, did I just tell you to be rogue and think of WRTR as a starting point that you make work for you? Yes, I think I did. Have fun. :) Boy and the handwriting stuff has been going on forever. He never liked to color/draw/paint either as a toddler. And yep, I was going to try typing this year. I gave it a lot of thought over the summer and decided that at first we'll try writing since he'll be learning cursive this year but if that ends in the same amount of usual tears then we're moving on to typing and I'll let him type out all his work. Btw, who exactly do you go to for an evaluation of reasons that ds could have such issues with writing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelsi Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 Well, you don't need games, but you can do them if you like. One member here has posted free phonogram bingo cards. You can start with them. There are other phonogram games suggested in this forum. My dd is doing a Spalding-spinoff, but I follow her lead. If she appears to be bored/tired, I do another subject/give her a break. People do between 20 to 40 words a week. I think 5 words a day/20 a week is a good start and then you can follow your child's lead. This schedule is from a school's web site. Hope it helps you plan. [/size][/font] Thanks so much! And funny enough that school you linked is where my MIL used to be a principal. I'm hoping she helps me learn Spalding (she's a Spalding instructor) but I'm not sure she will so I might be on my own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Boy and the handwriting stuff has been going on forever. He never liked to color/draw/paint either as a toddler. And yep, I was going to try typing this year. I gave it a lot of thought over the summer and decided that at first we'll try writing since he'll be learning cursive this year but if that ends in the same amount of usual tears then we're moving on to typing and I'll let him type out all his work. Btw, who exactly do you go to for an evaluation of reasons that ds could have such issues with writing? For us it was both and OT (occupational therapy) issue and a vision problem. We got the vision eval first and they referred us off to OT as well. Work with him a bit this week and talk with him and just plain ASK him what's going on. Ask him if his hand hurts or if there's a REASON he doesn't like to write. Ask him if there's anything funny about his vision he'd like you to know. Something as simple as that might turn up something. If it doesn't, it's a really conservative option simply to get a regular vision/eye exam but do it with a developmental optometrist instead of a regular one. A developmental optometrist, who you will find through COVD, will *screen* in that appointment for some extra things that affect school work (convergence, focusing, tracking, etc.). So it won't cost any more but you'll get that more thorough screening. Then they can tell you if they're seeing anything that warrants a full developmental vision exam. My dd also turned out to be low tone (low muscle tone, hypotonia), and writing was physically painful. Lots of kids say that when they're little, but hers never got better. The OT can explore why and do therapy to improve it. If you're kind of on the line and wondering whether it's necessary to do evals or not, I'll just say that doing *something* when you get these little red flags is better than doing nothing. Things don't go away, and it's really not fun to sit on it, hope it goes away, and be dealing with it in 5th, 6th, junior high, or high school. A vision exam, for instance, is just plain good for everyone and might turn up something. Your ped can check for tone issues. And of course if you notice anything else unusual (things he says or does that are out of the norm, sensory issues or stimming, etc.), those can give you clues. But it's not like you have to stay in some rutt of frustration for a period of time before you earn the right to request some evals. If you see stuff, pursue them. Where you start just depends on what you're seeing. Usually one person will refer you to the next as they notice things. Our VT referred us for OT and the OT referred us for the neuropsych (np) and by the time we were done we were just this happy alphabet soup, emphasis on happy. :lol: If that scares you, I'll just say again that I wish I had done it years earlier than I did. If you're seeing stuff, start getting some evals. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Thanks so much! And funny enough that school you linked is where my MIL used to be a principal. I'm hoping she helps me learn Spalding (she's a Spalding instructor) but I'm not sure she will so I might be on my own. We are here to help. There are a million threads about Spalding on this forum. Ellie has a long experience of teaching Spalding and she is always ready to respond/help. You can search by her name for 'Spalding'. She also moderates a Yahoo group for Spalding teachers. Either way, there is lots you can learn on this forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelsi Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 Thanks! And MIL got back to me and is offering to me all her teacher guides (she has all K-6 of them) plus her training manual plus all the other random materials she has. Woot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Thanks! And MIL got back to me and is offering to me all her teacher guides (she has all K-6 of them) plus her training manual plus all the other random materials she has. Woot! Awww, what a good mother in law!!!!!!!! She came through for you!!! Well cool for you!!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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