Spelling Help

[TNMOMx2]

Ok - I'm on my 4th spelling program since we started homeschooling in 2nd grade. (All About Spelling, Spelling Power, Building Spelling Skills, Spelling City). With each, they memorize the list for the Friday "test" just fine, but what I'm finding - now that they are writing papers - is that it isn't translating to writing. They're heading into middle school and so there's an urgency to get this fixed. Any advice on approaching this subject at this point?? Thanks!

[HomeAgain]

With my oldest, switching to a word roots program helped a LOT.  He had to break down the word into parts, memorize the parts, and then build.  He did CTC's Word Roots and Wordly Wise concurrently (the app makes them spell it correctly, too)

 

With my youngest, we're doing Dictation Day By Day.  It's a free set of ebooks. Every day they write a passage, using a word list that progressively builds.  The dictated passages changes subject and the word focus will rotate.  I stop him as he's writing and either give him a hint or tell him how it's spelled when he makes a mistake (and he rewrites it after we go over the passage at the end).  It's short enough to be a very small part of our day. I was going to skip it next year because ELTL does prepared dictation but he requested to continue.  His spelling is quite good.  Because he's always spelling in context, he doesn't get to dump the info from his brain.

[YodaGirl]

Have you looked into IEW's Phonetic Zoo?

Edited July 3, 2017 by YodaGirl

[MerryAtHope]

First, check to see if this is really a spelling issue or an editing one instead. Give them a separate editing time (I used to do that as the only LA assignment for that day so that my kids really gave it time), and praise for every error (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar etc...) they can find, and also ones they know how to fix. It may be that they really do know how to fix the errors, but that they aren't ready to put all of these skills together while also generating writing at the same time. It's a lot to think about at once, and some kids aren't ready to do that until they are older (even adults need a good editor, and sometimes mistakes are not because the person doesn't know the correct spelling etc...) This article on automaticity has more information.

 

AAS doesn't have a Friday test--you review and practice until it's mastered. If they miss something in a dictation or in outside writing later, it should go back in daily review. The cards are there so that your review list is easy to customize. I actually used to wait until a Monday before moving any cards to the "mastered" tab, because if my kids remembered it over the weekend, it was more likely to stay mastered. You might be able to use a similar idea with whatever you are using for spelling now. You could also have your students keep a personalized dictionary of frequently misspelled words, so that they can look for those specifically when they edit their work.

[nixpix5]

With my oldest, switching to a word roots program helped a LOT. He had to break down the word into parts, memorize the parts, and then build. He did CTC's Word Roots and Wordly Wise concurrently (the app makes them spell it correctly, too)

 

With my youngest, we're doing Dictation Day By Day. It's a free set of ebooks. Every day they write a passage, using a word list that progressively builds. The dictated passages changes subject and the word focus will rotate. I stop him as he's writing and either give him a hint or tell him how it's spelled when he makes a mistake (and he rewrites it after we go over the passage at the end). It's short enough to be a very small part of our day. I was going to skip it next year because ELTL does prepared dictation but he requested to continue. His spelling is quite good. Because he's always spelling in context, he doesn't get to dump the info from his brain.

This is the next best direction to go I feel. Dictation day by day is great. We use Spelling You See which is also dictation and copy work with thought out focus on word families and sequential use of special sounds. It works spectacularly. Spelling lists have never translated to good spelling in any of my 5. Reading alot and writing alot was the only thing that worked.

[TNMOMx2]

Thank you all! I had heard about dictation as a methodology to address this - but had no idea how to implement that. I'll look into that further. Is Dictation Day by Day the only source for that methodology? Thanks again!

 

[TNMOMx2]

Have you looked into IEW's Phonetic Zoo?

Do you know if this program has a dictation component to it? Thanks.

[TNMOMx2]

With my oldest, switching to a word roots program helped a LOT.  He had to break down the word into parts, memorize the parts, and then build.  He did CTC's Word Roots and Wordly Wise concurrently (the app makes them spell it correctly, too)

 

With my youngest, we're doing Dictation Day By Day.  It's a free set of ebooks. Every day they write a passage, using a word list that progressively builds.  The dictated passages changes subject and the word focus will rotate.  I stop him as he's writing and either give him a hint or tell him how it's spelled when he makes a mistake (and he rewrites it after we go over the passage at the end).  It's short enough to be a very small part of our day. I was going to skip it next year because ELTL does prepared dictation but he requested to continue.  His spelling is quite good.  Because he's always spelling in context, he doesn't get to dump the info from his brain.

How does DDbyD work if they miss a word in the passage? After they correct it - do you bring it back the next day and ask them to spell it? Thanks

[HomeAgain]

How does DDbyD work if they miss a word in the passage? After they correct it - do you bring it back the next day and ask them to spell it? Thanks

 

No, because the way the passages are set up, they will review the word often.  For example, for about two weeks my son did passages about a family of birds.  The vocabulary used was repeated in various ways.  The one word he did have a standing problem with I helped by taking a day off from dictation and using the included spelling list (each new word has a list of similar words under the introductory passage) to help him see the pattern.  The next day we resumed and it was enough.

 

I will say that for introducing new words, it can help to write them on a sheet of paper if you think there will be trouble with it.  The words are underlined in the passage, so you always know what to look for. I do this with names, especially.  The next day you have them try without the aid and correct as needed.

 

To answer your other question, this is not the only program like this.  There's a Charlotte Mason one called....Spelling Wisdom, I think. Rainbow Resource has it.  It starts dictation later than DDbyD, I think, with book 1 for grades 3-5, and slightly harder vocabulary.  I cannot remember if it does prepared or cold dictation, though.

[That70'sLisa]

Apples and Pears has helped this problem for us. We'd tried whatever their public school programs were, All About Spelling, Spelling You See, and Sequential Spelling. 

 

None stuck like Apples and Pears.

[YodaGirl]

Do you know if this program has a dictation component to it? Thanks.

It does not in terms of sentence dictation.

 

The lists are divided up by phonetic rules. Lesson 1 is "ai" and "ay" for all three levels. The only difference is the difficulty level of the word lists. The words are read for the student to write down. The "hint" that explains the phonetic rule is read sporadically throughout which enables the student to memorize the rule in addition to the words.

 

It's basically a spelling test every day. When the student receives a 100% 2 days in a row, he advances to the next level. A personal lesson is every 5 lessons. You pick 15 words that he has been struggling with, and that's his list.

 

I was skeptical at first, but it has worked really well for us.

Edited July 6, 2017 by YodaGirl

[LindaOz]

I am finding dictation to be really good for spelling. I choose a passage from a book that has a reasonable amount of new/challenging words, child studies it and practices words, I give a few words from the passage to be spelled orally (ie: the tricky ones), then I dictate the passage. This method has the added advantage of constant revision of older words (aka every other word in the passage that wasn't a new/challenging word). Somehow, spelling these words in the context of a passage makes more sense and is more like 'real-life' spelling.

Edited July 6, 2017 by LindaOz

[TNMOMx2]

Thank you ALL for the comments and suggestions! I have options to explore now. Blessings!