DD more interested in spelling than reading

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Like the title says, dd is more interested in spelling than reading. She can read CVC words as well as CVCC and other similar level words in isolation but she has little interest in it unless I make it into a game. She would much rather spell words instead. She can segment any word into its separate sounds and uses that information to spell the words, sometimes writing them (mish mash of upper and lower case manuscript that she has taught herself) and sometimes using a movable alphabet. Since she doesn't know any phonetic rules yet many of the words are spelled wrong. I decided it was time to start a spelling program and bought AAS level 1. Much of it will be review for her but we are both excited about starting it this week. I am also teaching her cursive using sandpaper letters, a sand box, and tracing pages that I found online. We have just started that last week and it is going well. Should I be doing anything else with her? Can I just teach her spelling for now and let her reading flow from that as she is ready? Or should I be doing something else to reinforce it?

TIA

(cross post with K-8 board)

Edited November 16, 2008 by Lisa in the UP of MI

[Storm Bay]

I think you can. There's even a reading program based on spelling to learn to read and write.

[EKS]

I think this how they do it in Montessori schools.

[DinoMom]

The Montessori school which my DD goes to, uses Explode The Code whenever the kids feel like working on worksheets. Miraculously, I find that they all start to spell at an average age of 5!!

[Donna]

My dd was more interested in spelling prior to learning to read. We played games with bathtub letters or a Magnadoodle when she was very young (under 2yo). She eventually began reading on her own without formal reading instruction. I never really "taught" her to spell either but she is now a natural speller and is easily working through 5th grade level spelling rarely getting any words incorrect.

 

I am a firm believer that our bright kids know what they need to do to learn and will be much more motivated when following their own interests especially when very young. I think what you are doing is fine. I wouldn't even worry about a spelling curriculum per se. Just follow your dd's lead.

[ElizabethB]

I started with spelling with my daughter, then did some reading, then changed to Webster's Speller on a white board, teaching both spelling and reading.

 

It worked well! She's been able to read almost anything since she finished up Webster's Speller in K.

 

When they taught with Webster's Speller, they were taught to read mainly by spelling, and the children progressed from the Speller to the KJV of the Bible at a young age.

 

Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary:

 

"Spelling Book. n. A book for teaching children to spell and read."

[Terabith]

Elizabeth, did you go through the whole Webster's speller? There are an awful lot of words in there that my daughter is not familiar with from oral language! (Though she is not really accelerated.) Although, I guess for decoding purposes, it doesn't really matter if they know the word or not. Hmmm..... something to ponder.

[ElizabethB]

Elizabeth, did you go through the whole Webster's speller? There are an awful lot of words in there that my daughter is not familiar with from oral language! (Though she is not really accelerated.) Although, I guess for decoding purposes, it doesn't really matter if they know the word or not. Hmmm..... something to ponder.

 

I skipped a lot of the more obscure 3+ syllable words. I did enough to make sure she could sound them out, and taught her the definitions of a few that were only a bit over her head but might come up in the near future.