Awesome, thanks!

I've decided to try Phonetic Zoo for spelling with my rising 4th grade dd. She has some vision issues (strabismus, amblyopia, and a congenital cataract in her left eye that is hopefully getting removed in the next few months). Her spelling is OK, not great, and she seems to get letters switched a fair amount (right letters, wrong order). We've used HTTS 1 and 2, and she's done fine with them. I just wonder if she would benefit from something that relies less on visual learning. Thus, the switch to PZ. If anyone has a dc with similar vision issues and has used PZ, I'd be curious to hear how it's gone. I don't think she's dyslexic or anything like that. Anyway, we don't have a CD player that would be convenient for her to use. Would it be possible to rip the CDs to an MP3 player and have her use that? I hate to spend money on a device that would only be used for PZ.

I have a fairly extensive review of HTTS (including page samples) at http://dougcarla.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/how-to-teach-spelling-review/ Carla

We use Math Mammoth with Math Minutes as well. Definitely a winning combination. Occasionally a topic will come up in the Math Minutes that they haven't covered in MM yet, but I tell them to just skip it and we do a quick discussion about it when they've finished everything else. My 3 that I am teaching (11yo, 9yo, 7yo) all do the Math Minutes w/o complaint. They do complain about MM sometimes; it makes them think! :) Math Minutes can be found as a PDF at http://www.creativeteaching.com/products/math-minutes-1st-grade (for first grade). I have six children so I wanted a PDF instead of a workbook.

I just ordered it from CBD. It says it is in stock.

Hi, I have a big write-up on HTTS on my blog, including spreadsheets I use to help guide me. I basically rely on the workbooks for direction, and use the TM for dictation sentences. I have not bothered with going over the phonograms; I just dove right in with the workbook pages. Oh, and I usually point out any spelling errors after they have finished writing the whole sentence/phrase, first asking them to see if they can find the error, then telling them which word if they can't figure it out. http://dougcarla.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/how-to-teach-spelling-review/

Sorry, I keep forgetting I can't just copy and paste links. :tongue_smilie: Fixed it in my original post, and here it is again: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=423348

For info on how some of us use How to Spell/How to Teach Spelling, take a look at this thread: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=423348 I wrote a lengthy blog post about how we use HTTS that includes a planning spreadsheet. It is linked in the thread above. Genevieve gives a nice, concise description of how they use it which is helpful, I think.

For info on How to Spell/How to Teach Spelling, take a look at this thread: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=423348 I wrote a lengthy blog post about HTTS that includes page samples and a planning spreadsheet. It is linked in the thread above. Genevieve gives a nice, concise description of how they use it which is helpful, I think.

:iagree: If my child has a particular sentence or more that she wants to write, such as, "Happy birthday, Grandpa! I love you!" I will usually write the whole thing on a small whiteboard for her to copy. Makes things easier for both of us. I also purchased a small beginning writer's dictionary that has many of the words she would want to use, plus room to write in other words that are not included. You could easily make one. I think the one I bought only cost $2 or $3 on CBD.

This thread will probably be very helpful. I wrote a lengthy blog post about HTTS, which is linked in this thread, but Genevieve gives a nice, concise description of how they use it. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=423348

We are in WWE 3 and my almost 10yo ds (starting 4th grade on Monday) hated the dictations, too. I noticed he did a lot better with dictations from his own narrations of the story, so we are only doing narration days and dictations from his narrations. He is still not crazy about WWE, but doing it this way gets the job done and with a lot less heartache. We are just going to finish WWE 3 and then do a couple of short writing books (Igniting Your Writing is one of them) before we start WWS in 5th grade.

I went there last night to find something and had trouble as well...

Did you say you actually have AAS? If so, definitely try that. There is a rule to help her know when to use k vs. ck. I am wondering if the teacher is explaining any rules or just expecting the children to figure them out from the spelling lists. We use How to Teach Spelling (rules-based with workbooks and dictation), but I might consider AAS if we were doing afterschooling. It might be a fun bonding time for you and your dd.

I did something similar with my dd7 for K. (I did Saxon 1 for my oldest's K year.) Since I was only schooling 2 at the time, I felt comfortable winging it. The downside was that because it wasn't all laid out for me (open and go), that was the first thing we skipped if the day got a little hectic. She ended up doing OK with MM1 in 1st, but I feel like she would have done better if I had had something laid out for me because it would have gotten done more consistently. That's why I am trying Singapore EM for dd5. I'll be schooling 3 with a 3yo and 1yo roaming the house (as well as being pg w/ #6). She is a bright but wiggly girl so between SM and Miquon/LoF (combining her with dd7 on Miquon/LoF) I'm hoping this will keep her engaged. Anyway, all that to say that making up your own K program is totally doable if you think you can be consistent about it.