Accelerated 6yo that loves spelling (yet can spell nearly everything)

[AnniePoo]

I have a 6yo that loves spelling.  I ended up dropping it from his daily schedule because the only time I can find words hard enough (at least grade 6), there's no way he can do the work or write his answers in the small space.  I'd like to keep him interested though, and maybe enter him in a spelling bee in a few years.  How do I go about that?  

 

Can you recommend any programs to help natural spellers completely master spelling that would be age-appropriate?

[SierraNevada]

Spelling Power is nice because you can find the right level then go from there. You don't study a word list for a full week. One list a day. If you spell it right first try you move on until you find words you can't spell. We don't use it exactly like it was intended but close enough. At first I was very put off by the size of the book and getting started with it. But once I did it was so easy and I found it was great for a natural speller to fill the gaps.

[kiana]

If you have a program that you otherwise like, can he write his answers on a different page? 

[Kerileanne99]

I have a dd who turned five in December who loves spelling and is working at a very high level. Because she is so young I took her through all of the levels of All About Spelling through level 6, (we will do level 7 in the next few months) which is supposed to be HS level. I supplemented throughout with higher level word lists from several sources (one of our favorites is Natural Speller!). We now supplement with spelling bee materials.She actually combined handwriting practice because she learned to write at the same time, so I give her one of those dry erase boards that are slightly oversized with lines from Lakeshore and a fine-tip dry erase marker. AAS has dictation sentences and she can quickly write out the whole thing on the board, as well as create her own sentences for the words. There is a writing station part where she is given six words and creates a story out of them, for which I give her the lined kiddie journal paper with the top half blank to illustrate. These modifications have really helped, and we even switched to cursive after her manuscript was mastered:)

Also, continuing spelling at a higher level like that (as long as it is fun for them!) turned it into a vocabulary program as eventually she was spelling words she rarely encountered.

[Black-eyed Suzan]

If you have a program that you otherwise like, can he write his answers on a different page? 

 

I like the idea of using a program that works and modifying it so his fine motor skills aren't hampering him. Would he like to use a white board or letter tiles? Can you have him spell orally and scribe for him? The latter is great practice for spelling bees. :)

[EndOfOrdinary]

We just began doing all spelling orally. It was a challenge initially for much longer words, but has greatly helped my son's working memory.

[SoCal_Bear]

Have you considered Spelling City? My son has no problem using it on the iPad or computer tapping out his answers. Plus there are all sorts of fun games and activities that involve vocabulary and other language arts skills.

 

[kiana]

I like the idea of using a program that works and modifying it so his fine motor skills aren't hampering him. Would he like to use a white board or letter tiles? Can you have him spell orally and scribe for him? The latter is great practice for spelling bees. :)

 

YES! And if he likes the idea of spelling bees, maybe having him pretend he's in a spelling bee and see how far he gets would be fun for him. 

[Heliconia]

I have a dd who turned five in December who loves spelling and is working at a very high level. Because she is so young I took her through all of the levels of All About Spelling through level 6, (we will do level 7 in the next few months) which is supposed to be HS level. I supplemented throughout with higher level word lists from several sources (one of our favorites is Natural Speller!). We now supplement with spelling bee materials.She actually combined handwriting practice because she learned to write at the same time, so I give her one of those dry erase boards that are slightly oversized with lines from Lakeshore and a fine-tip dry erase marker. AAS has dictation sentences and she can quickly write out the whole thing on the board, as well as create her own sentences for the words. There is a writing station part where she is given six words and creates a story out of them, for which I give her the lined kiddie journal paper with the top half blank to illustrate. These modifications have really helped, and we even switched to cursive after her manuscript was mastered:)

Also, continuing spelling at a higher level like that (as long as it is fun for them!) turned it into a vocabulary program as eventually she was spelling words she rarely encountered.

 

 

I have a question that is a bit off-topic: Do you think it is possible to use only Natural Speller instead of going through all the levels of AAS? Won't we be missing something? DS is only 4 and have just finished AAS1 which was really too easy for him. He no longer uses the tiles but directly writes them on paper. Also, we haven't used the colored cards much as I just mark down the words to review on the book (just thought it's easier, but again I am maybe missing sth). Thank you.

[Kerileanne99]

I have a question that is a bit off-topic: Do you think it is possible to use only Natural Speller instead of going through all the levels of AAS? Won't we be missing something? DS is only 4 and have just finished AAS1 which was really too easy for him. He no longer uses the tiles but directly writes them on paper. Also, we haven't used the colored cards much as I just mark down the words to review on the book (just thought it's easier, but again I am maybe missing sth). Thank you.

Well, I suppose that you could in theory, if you were willing to put in all the organizational work and such:)

I only like the word lists in Natural Speller. It does contain all of the spelling rules (although I MUCH prefer the presentation in AAS, or even just printing off the rules from a couple of sites online as I did in the beginning)

 

If you are just worried that AAS is too easy, I will say I panicked a bit after level 1 thinking it was a complete waste of time since I don't think Alex misspelled more than a word or two the entire level:(. In fact, I think it took me until halfway through level 3 before I could really appreciate how well all the rules and techniques came together. I know that for many accelerated learners it seems as though spelling as a subject is completely unnecessary...and honestly, if Alex had started a spelling program when she was older and doing regular writing projects I think I might have felt the same way!

As it is, she is very rules-based and really, really enjoys spelling. She had thoroughly enjoyed going through all the levels or we wouldn't have done it...but I am so glad we did. I see the benefits of all the rules and time put in when she is spelling words from Spelling Bee prep materials. She will stop and think, and then reiterate a rule out loud as she applies it.

We also gained so much more from doing AAS. We used the dictation sentences for grammar practice, did handwriting and learned cursive, and used the writing stations as creative writing starters:)

So while I think you could probably create a spelling program using Natural Speller alone (that is pretty much what it is designed for!), I think you would be hard pressed to get as much out of it. It all depends upon what you are looking for.

BTW, I never went that route but the AAS website has some specific ideas on how to fast track the first 3 levels or so for older kids that you might find useful if you decide to continue...but you can also make things more challenging by simply adding in much harder words that follow the rule taught in that step. We also played a game to add affixes and tenses to the given words, which definitely helps.

[LucyStoner]

Ok, the thing about spelling is that there's always more to learn, more languages to explore.

 

We had the 6 year old who could spell "anything". Fortunately he learned there were always more words to learn.

 

We opted to forgo regular spelling programs for indepth spelling bee prep, etymology lessons and intensive language exploration. We checked out a bunch of programs but he was just beyond the need for the phonics and basic spelling rules- he knew them all intuitively and also there are basically no hard and fast rules in spelling.

 

We started bee prep with the Scripps' Spellit words on www.myspellit.com and have acquired a lot of Hexco and other spelling bee and vocab books over the years. He has a massive set of spelling binders - we use a template I made for him.

 

I definitely recommend MCT's language arts materials, especially Caesar's English, for building vocabulary for strong natural spellers.

[Heliconia]

Thank you Kerileanne99 for your help. I will most likely give AAS another try and supplement it to make it more challenging. We can probably combine spelling with art and/or ASL for more fun.

[Ad astra]

I have a dd who turned five in December who loves spelling and is working at a very high level. Because she is so young I took her through all of the levels of All About Spelling through level 6, (we will do level 7 in the next few months) which is supposed to be HS level. I supplemented throughout with higher level word lists from several sources (one of our favorites is Natural Speller!). We now supplement with spelling bee materials.She actually combined handwriting practice because she learned to write at the same time, so I give her one of those dry erase boards that are slightly oversized with lines from Lakeshore and a fine-tip dry erase marker. AAS has dictation sentences and she can quickly write out the whole thing on the board, as well as create her own sentences for the words. There is a writing station part where she is given six words and creates a story out of them, for which I give her the lined kiddie journal paper with the top half blank to illustrate. These modifications have really helped, and we even switched to cursive after her manuscript was mastered:)

Also, continuing spelling at a higher level like that (as long as it is fun for them!) turned it into a vocabulary program as eventually she was spelling words she rarely encountered.

I have a question for you. I assume you didn't use the tiles and cards much? We took a few months of break and my DS is still doing AAS 2 but he also rarely makes mistakes. We just use the Teacher's Manual only with no tiles or cards because he likes writing. I dictate and DS writes down the words and phrases on his notebook. I was actually thinking of switching to Spelling Power because I thought AAS was pricey just as a word list if you end up buying all seven books. Do you think AAS was worth the purchase even though you didn't use it as it was intended to be?

[Black-eyed Suzan]

I have a question for you. I assume you didn't use the tiles and cards much? We took a few months of break and my DS is still doing AAS 2 but he also rarely makes mistakes. We just use the Teacher's Manual only with no tiles or cards because he likes writing. I dictate and DS writes down the words and phrases on his notebook. I was actually thinking of switching to Spelling Power because I thought AAS was pricey just as a word list if you end up buying all seven books. Do you think AAS was worth the purchase even though you didn't use it as it was intended to be?

I'm not the person you asked, :) but if you are just dictating word lists, you may consider Spell to Write and Read. All the words are in 1 book for the teacher and you dictate them to the student. There are other activities, but we don't use them. I've never used AAS to know how different their phonograms/markings/etc. are, but you could continue with the AAS conventions if you preferred. My son is not a natural speller. We use SWR in a strange fashion, but it works for us at this point. :)

[Kerileanne99]

I have a question for you. I assume you didn't use the tiles and cards much? We took a few months of break and my DS is still doing AAS 2 but he also rarely makes mistakes. We just use the Teacher's Manual only with no tiles or cards because he likes writing. I dictate and DS writes down the words and phrases on his notebook. I was actually thinking of switching to Spelling Power because I thought AAS was pricey just as a word list if you end up buying all seven books. Do you think AAS was worth the purchase even though you didn't use it as it was intended to be?

Well, we actually did/do use the materials in the student packets, including the word cards, for various things:)

We have enjoyed the extra materials, like the silent E book, homophone lists, etc. My kid likes the 'cute' factor of things like the jail for rule breakers, having a color/sticker chart to mark of progress, certificates of completion, plural books and that sort of thing.

I still do keep the box organized. She just doesn't need much in terms of review of words. We did/do play games with the green word cards at times. Even in level 1 I would let her do things like alphabetize them. The red sound cards she didn't enjoy until later when there were a lot more of them, and more complicated ones where she had to think of possibilities and variations-now they can be a type of puzzle:). The blue rule cards: we don't review those as the book asks because she has them down cold, but we made a game where you splay them out in hand like playing cards. she randomly selects 5-10 and answers those.

 

I guess AAS IS quite pricy for what we do with it. I just never cared because she enjoys it and I love that it is all there, open and go. We absolutely could have done without the student packets, especially if I had been willing to put in the time/effort/creativity to still give her the cute-but I am not sure she would have enjoyed it nearly as much or gotten to where she is without effort.

[Ad astra]

I'm not the person you asked, :) but if you are just dictating word lists, you may consider Spell to Write and Read. All the words are in 1 book for the teacher and you dictate them to the student. There are other activities, but we don't use them. I've never used AAS to know how different their phonograms/markings/etc. are, but you could continue with the AAS conventions if you preferred. My son is not a natural speller. We use SWR in a strange fashion, but it works for us at this point. :)

 

Thank you for your suggestion, Suzan! SWR sounds like what we're looking for and I'll look into it. :)

[Ad astra]

Well, we actually did/do use the materials in the student packets, including the word cards, for various things:)

We have enjoyed the extra materials, like the silent E book, homophone lists, etc. My kid likes the 'cute' factor of things like the jail for rule breakers, having a color/sticker chart to mark of progress, certificates of completion, plural books and that sort of thing.

I still do keep the box organized. She just doesn't need much in terms of review of words. We did/do play games with the green word cards at times. Even in level 1 I would let her do things like alphabetize them. The red sound cards she didn't enjoy until later when there were a lot more of them, and more complicated ones where she had to think of possibilities and variations-now they can be a type of puzzle:). The blue rule cards: we don't review those as the book asks because she has them down cold, but we made a game where you splay them out in hand like playing cards. she randomly selects 5-10 and answers those.

 

I guess AAS IS quite pricy for what we do with it. I just never cared because she enjoys it and I love that it is all there, open and go. We absolutely could have done without the student packets, especially if I had been willing to put in the time/effort/creativity to still give her the cute-but I am not sure she would have enjoyed it nearly as much or gotten to where she is without effort.

 

Thank you for answering my question in detail, Keri! The way you did AAS sounds very interesting and I admire your effort into making it fun for your DD! I guess my son's learning style is different; he quickly loses his focus with all the extra stuff like tiles and cards and can't care less about the "cute" parts, lol. Think AAS may not be a good fit for us and I'll give it a try to other rule-based spelling problems based on a simple dictation method. Anyway, it's good to hear what an amazing job you and Alex have been doing together! :)

[Black-eyed Suzan]

Thank you for your suggestion, Suzan! SWR sounds like what we're looking for and I'll look into it. :)

 

Moon, I just realized that I didn't mention that SWR definitely has Christian content. It comes through in the sentences and sometimes in the words chosen (i.e. resurrection). Something to consider! :)

[MomsintheGarden]

Our competitive spellers learned Spelling Power before tackling their spelling bee prep materials.  I also recommend beginning root word study with something like English From the Roots Up.  There are many, many programs that will work, though.

 

Our local homeschool bee is for 1st-8th graders, with the older students having the chance to qualify for our regional bee.  The winner of the regional bee then competes in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  There are several different paths to the National Bee, depending on what is done in your region.  For specific information about where you live, I recommend contacting Scripps directly, using the "Contact Us" form at spellingbee.com.

[AnniePoo]

I completely forgot about this thread!  Thanks for bumping it up.  I'll check out spelling power.  Everything I've heard about it made it seem like drudgery for kids.  And I'm so past unnecessarily mom-intensive stuff.