Has anyone used these spelling series?

[rowan25]

I'm looking for opinions pro/con on: Sequential Spelling, Spectrum Spelling, and Spelling Success. I'll be using with a 5 year old 1st grader, if that makes a difference.

 

TIA

[razorbackmama]

If I remember correctly from when we used it, they don't really recommend Sequential Spelling until around grade 3. The first few lessons' words are quite simple, but they get very difficult very quickly - most 5yo's wouldn't be able to even read the words! The levels in SS do not correspond with grade level.

 

That said, we used SS for a time but changed to All About Spelling. SS is based solely off of the child recognizing the patterns in the words. I wanted more of a rule-based spelling program - WHY we spell "kid" with a k rather than a c, for example.

[rowan25]

I understand. I'm having a problem with my daughter. She is only 5, but reads on a 3rd grade level. Her word recognition tests at 11 grade. But she refuses to do any writing unless I sit and spell everything to her. She is greatly frustrated by her inability to spell. She also isn't one for phonics. She spontaneously learned to read at approx. age 2, so she seems to be a whole to parts kind of girl.

 

Frankly, I'm a terrible speller whose writing vocabulary is greatly hampered by my inability to spell. I understand her frustration! Phonics didn't work for me either and the rules never made sense to me. I just wondered if a completely different approach had worked for anyone else in the world! :tongue_smilie: Then again, we may be the only two nuts of this variety in the world!! :lol:

[razorbackmama]

Then Sequential Spelling just might work!:thumbup1:

[Melissa B]

We use Sequential Spelling. I think it would take a long time with a 5 year old and it would probably become very boring, very quickly. My 5 year old dd likes to sit in on the first lesson of each group (without the endings.) She will get about halfway through the list before she leaves. I won't let her sit in on the others because the older girls like to be done with spelling in about 10 minutes. It takes us at least 20-25 minutes with the 5 year old sitting in on the first half of the list.

 

If she likes to write, I would encourage a great deal of copywork at that age. My five year old likes the Draw Write Now books (but she also likes to draw.) She also likes to copy poems, her sisters' school work:confused:, and information off cereal boxes or clothing tags or other odd things.

[Bee]

Well, maybe the spelling lists on ed-helper.Oldest dd would take the words, write them daily and then do a quiz on the 5th day.

 

I used Sequential Spelling with oldest dd in 5th grade. Boring. Probably won't use it again. Youngest dd is using Spectrum spelling on grade level. It's easy which may be why she likes it. It's easy for me to use which is why I like it.

[Matryoshka]

I'm looking for opinions pro/con on: Sequential Spelling, Spectrum Spelling, and Spelling Success. I'll be using with a 5 year old 1st grader, if that makes a difference.

 

I love Sequential Spelling, but I wouldn't recommend it for a kid that isn't comfortable sitting and writing the 25 words easily (I didn't say spelling them, I mean physically writing them). My younger dd insisted on sitting in with us when she was 5 - it was torture, because physically she couldn't keep up with the older two, and her hand would tire, but she insisted on writing the complete words out (I tried just giving her a shorter version of the word, but nooooo....). I actually took a break and started again when she was 7 - 7 seemed the magic age to start SS for us.

 

Anyway, I think even if she's reading well, it's the writing mechanics that would be the gating factor. Once she can write a reasonable amount at a reasonable speed without her hand tiring, it's a go.

[rowan25]

Is there any reason that you HAVE to do a full list of 25ish words? Could you break the lists in some way?

[Matryoshka]

Is there any reason that you HAVE to do a full list of 25ish words? Could you break the lists in some way?

 

The program teaches by pattern recognition (although I do tend to riff off and talk about rules where I think it's useful, and homonyms, and capitalization, and etymology and... ). But it's showing pattern. Where is the root, what are other words with the same pattern, what happens to words with that spelling pattern when you add a suffix, or a different kind of suffix, what are other words that sound the same but have a different spelling pattern.

 

Every day you have a list of 25 words. The next day, it's just about the same words, but with a suffix of some kind. The next day, it's a different suffix, or maybe a prefix. You want enough words for the pattern to be obvious. If you split the list, the next day you'd have different words (2nd half of list) instead of the same words changed.

 

There do tend to be two different main patterns in each day's list - I suppose you could do the top half (or to the pattern split), and then get to the end of the rotation (every so and so many days, you start again with new root patterns) and instead of moving on work through the second half of the lists you just finished, but that seems like a lot of extra work, and the lists don't always split that easily, and new patterns are sometimes melded in seamlessly - it would be difficult to do. Also, many of the words are long, right from the get-go. You work up to them, but the long words (not just the long list) was another challenge for my dd when she was 5. It could be your 5yo has much better fine-motor skills than mine did - mine could write, but it was still slow and laborious, it was too much physical writing for her.

 

Here's the list from day 32:

 

chatty Patty

chatting

spattering

that's too bad

splattering

mattering

chattering

shattering

admitting

permitting

committing

omitting

emitting

submitting

upholding

withholding

beholding

unsold

wasn't

molding

moldy

shouldering

bolder

littering

glittering

bitterly

 

This started over the days prior with words with -it, -at and -old patterns, many having only 3-4 letters, then expanding from there.

 

When my dds were that age, I just told them "sound it out" for spelling - I used a phonetic approach, but one with no rules (Phonographix/Reading Reflex). Your dd might like that approach better than traditional Phonics with all the rules and exceptions (I think the approach I used is more like what they use in the UK). Their explanations made so much more sense to me. Each sound is represented by a letter or letter combination (they call it a "sound picture"). So if my kids wanted to spell "freight", I'd say, sound it out. Yes, the "f" sound is represented by f. The "ay" sound is next - in this word, we use the sound picture "eigh" for "ay". The last sound is "t" - yes, we use t for that. Then I used the same terminology when explaining spelling using SS.

[rowan25]

The program teaches by pattern recognition (although I do tend to riff off and talk about rules where I think it's useful, and homonyms, and capitalization, and etymology and... ). But it's showing pattern. Where is the root, what are other words with the same pattern, what happens to words with that spelling pattern when you add a suffix, or a different kind of suffix, what are other words that sound the same but have a different spelling pattern.

 

Every day you have a list of 25 words. The next day, it's just about the same words, but with a suffix of some kind. The next day, it's a different suffix, or maybe a prefix. You want enough words for the pattern to be obvious. If you split the list, the next day you'd have different words (2nd half of list) instead of the same words changed.

 

There do tend to be two different main patterns in each day's list - I suppose you could do the top half (or to the pattern split), and then get to the end of the rotation (every so and so many days, you start again with new root patterns) and instead of moving on work through the second half of the lists you just finished, but that seems like a lot of extra work, and the lists don't always split that easily, and new patterns are sometimes melded in seamlessly - it would be difficult to do. Also, many of the words are long, right from the get-go. You work up to them, but the long words (not just the long list) was another challenge for my dd when she was 5. It could be your 5yo has much better fine-motor skills than mine did - mine could write, but it was still slow and laborious, it was too much physical writing for her.

 

Here's the list from day 32:

 

chatty Patty

chatting

spattering

that's too bad

splattering

mattering

chattering

shattering

admitting

permitting

committing

omitting

emitting

submitting

upholding

withholding

beholding

unsold

wasn't

molding

moldy

shouldering

bolder

littering

glittering

bitterly

 

This started over the days prior with words with -it, -at and -old patterns, many having only 3-4 letters, then expanding from there.

 

When my dds were that age, I just told them "sound it out" for spelling - I used a phonetic approach, but one with no rules (Phonographix/Reading Reflex). Your dd might like that approach better than traditional Phonics with all the rules and exceptions (I think the approach I used is more like what they use in the UK). Their explanations made so much more sense to me. Each sound is represented by a letter or letter combination (they call it a "sound picture"). So if my kids wanted to spell "freight", I'd say, sound it out. Yes, the "f" sound is represented by f. The "ay" sound is next - in this word, we use the sound picture "eigh" for "ay". The last sound is "t" - yes, we use t for that. Then I used the same terminology when explaining spelling using SS.

 

That sounds interesting. I think I'll look into it. Thanks!

[Guest tyketto]

I use SS and some days we get through all 25 words, some days I only give her 12 or 13. The book even says - you know your kid. If your child cannot do all 25 words then don't. She has never complained about me giving her less words to spell. :001_smile: I really like the program and, more importantly, so does she.

 

Also, I don't think anyone mentioned this, but the children have to correct all of their spelling errors themselves. If they do you give them a 'star'. If not, you don't. My daughter quickly learned she couldn't half pay attention. She started to care more about her writing and correct spelling of her words once she did not receive her star.

 

Good luck! Beth

[Lolly]

I understand. I'm having a problem with my daughter. She is only 5, but reads on a 3rd grade level. Her word recognition tests at 11 grade. But she refuses to do any writing unless I sit and spell everything to her. She is greatly frustrated by her inability to spell. She also isn't one for phonics. She spontaneously learned to read at approx. age 2, so she seems to be a whole to parts kind of girl.

 

Frankly, I'm a terrible speller whose writing vocabulary is greatly hampered by my inability to spell. I understand her frustration! Phonics didn't work for me either and the rules never made sense to me. I just wondered if a completely different approach had worked for anyone else in the world! :tongue_smilie: Then again, we may be the only two nuts of this variety in the world!! :lol:

 

Whole to parts. I would try just doing copywork/dictation.

[rowan25]

I use SS and some days we get through all 25 words, some days I only give her 12 or 13. The book even says - you know your kid. If your child cannot do all 25 words then don't. She has never complained about me giving her less words to spell. :001_smile: I really like the program and, more importantly, so does she.

 

Also, I don't think anyone mentioned this, but the children have to correct all of their spelling errors themselves. If they do you give them a 'star'. If not, you don't. My daughter quickly learned she couldn't half pay attention. She started to care more about her writing and correct spelling of her words once she did not receive her star.

 

Good luck! Beth

Stars are a big motivator here as well! Thanks for that tip.