do you do any spelling after Barton?

[caedmyn]

For extra practice or reinforcement? I'm not convinced that DD is going to remember all the spelling rules in Barton well enough, and my boys should be finished with Barton as young ages, prob by the end of 3rd grade. Is Barton really all the spelling instruction they will ever need?

[OneStepAtATime]

If your children internalized the rules. not just memorized them, and are applying them in their daily work then yes, most spelling should be covered by Barton. The goal is to move through the material in such a way that the rules become part of how they think and process, not rules they memorize and may later have to constantly read back on to remember how to apply.  

 

Some kids can pick up, master (not just learn but truly master) and internalize the rules very quickly.  Some need more practice/review, including repeating lessons/levels (DD had to repeat Level 4).  And some may never effectively internalize ALL the Barton rules because of underlying comorbid issues.  For those last kids yes, additional spelling practice may be necessary.  Or if the child was rushed through the lessons and never truly internalized them (but going back through Barton is not an option) then yes additional spelling practice may be necessary.  

 

Otherwise, they might once in a while need a quick review but really they should be mastering and internalizing the spelling to the point where it would not really be necessary to do a full spelling program after Barton.  Certainly you could but it shouldn't be necessary.  They should be applying the knowledge consistently enough in their daily work that the rules should mostly stay clear.  Any minor glitches for words they don't see often could be dealt with using just a quick review/practice session.

 

(On a side note, Levels 9 and 10 are really supposed to be for Middle School not elementary.  I would maybe old off on those levels until at least 5th grade or maybe 6th grade perhaps.)

 

[caedmyn]

DD is not internalizing them, as we're going through a level too fast.  I don't have the time or energy to do 3 kids in full Barton at once, and since she really only needs/needed help with multi-syllabic words and has a decent visual memory for words, I feel like an overview is enough for her.  She's probably one who of those kids would have been fine with just AAR.  I am having her review the rules regularly with flashcards, so maybe she will internalize them eventually.  So I guess she should keep doing studied dictation.

 

We lean more toward CM homeschooling without many workbooks and don't do a lot of writing, so I'm not entirely sure there will be enough review just in their daily work.  DD did one written narration/week and one notebooking page/week for the last couple of years plus Easy Grammar and the same 2-3 sentences of copywork for dictation for a week, and that doesn't seem like enough writing to keep the spelling rules fresh.

 

I'm undecided on doing levels 9 & 10 at all.  Definitely not for a while for DS8, and idk if I will buy them for DD to do if she's the only one who will use them right now.  Lots of people mispronounce and misspell French words anyway, so I don't see those as being entirely necessary.

[OneStepAtATime]

With regards to Levels 9 and 10 I know a lot of people don't do those levels.  I do think they can be immensely helpful, though, because there are a ton of words in English that are based on foreign languages like Latin, Greek, German, or French and those levels absolutely can help with those.  That in turn can help with jobs in lots of  fields (plus also with standardized tests, SAT/ACT, High School level writing, etc.).    But yeah, not everyone actually goes that far in the program.

 

As for her not internalizing, is she actually doing a whole lesson?  Like applying the rule in different ways, doing the entire lesson over a period of time and is still not internalizing the rules?  Or is she just skimming parts of the lesson then reviewing the rule itself with a flashcard?  If it is the latter, then yeah, she will probably need to run through some sort of spelling program other than Barton.  I'm not sure what, though.

 

Maybe someone else will have a suggestion.

[caedmyn]

She is doing the whole lesson, in one 30ish minute session per lesson, 4-5 lessons/week until we finish a level and then takes a break until I buy the next level for DS8.  Part of the lack-of-internalizing is that she does have a decent visual memory for words (in my opinion anyway) and already knows how to spell quite a few of the words, so she doesn't necessarily have to internalize and apply the rules the way DS8 does to spell them correctly.  There was only 1 sight word in level 3, 4, and 5 that she didn't already know.

 

I think studied dictation will work for a spelling program for her...her spelling has improved immensely in the 2 years that we've been doing it.  It'd just be nice not to have to do if it's not really necessary!

[OneStepAtATime]

She is doing the whole lesson, in one 30ish minute session per lesson, 4-5 lessons/week until we finish a level and then takes a break until I buy the next level for DS8.  Part of the lack-of-internalizing is that she does have a decent visual memory for words (in my opinion anyway) and already knows how to spell quite a few of the words, so she doesn't necessarily have to internalize and apply the rules the way DS8 does to spell them correctly.  There was only 1 sight word in level 3, 4, and 5 that she didn't already know.

 

I think studied dictation will work for a spelling program for her...her spelling has improved immensely in the 2 years that we've been doing it.  It'd just be nice not to have to do if it's not really necessary!

I agree wholeheartedly with that, LOL.  :)