SWR...when to introduce rules?

[Corrigan]

I'm new here and am hoping you parents can give me some help with SWR, so that I can actually use it. As of right now, I'm thinking of chucking the whole thing and switching to AAS with Happy Phonics for my 5-year-old DD, because SWR is just making us both miserable.

 

I've built some of my little text, but I'm still unclear on when the different spelling rules are supposed to be introduced. At one point it told me to review rules such and such, but that would imply I'd already covered them, which I don't recall ever being told to do.

 

Additionally, what on earth can we do to make it more interesting, or should I just decide it's not for my kid and move on? Currently DD hates it. Whenever she sees the cards or log in her workbox, she gets downright belligerent. Generally speaking, she's a happy flashcard kid. It's just SWR that she hates. When I posted about this at the SWR Yahoo group, I really only got responses from the hardcore "make her do it and have your husband read her Bible verses about how she should be obedient" crowd. I'm not religious and that's not helpful to me. I'm not opposed to structure and I do have goals for DD, but I don't want her to HATE schooling.

 

I looked at All About Spelling and it seems so much more clear and interesting. Plus, it says that in the first year kids will learn when to double different letters, how to pluralize and things like that. I don't see where SWR gets very clear. It seems to me like they just give you some flashcards and a list of spelling words that you're supposed to give in a certain order. Perhaps this is just because I've not read every single bit of SWR yet, but I've gotten all the way to maybe step 18 or 20 (I can't recall, off the top of my head) and still haven't seen it.

 

HELP! lol

[forty-two]

With the rules, you cover a rule whenever it applies to a word in the list you are covering. With the word "have", for example, you would discuss the applicable silent e rule. I have WRTR, not SWR, which notes any applicable rules right next to the word on the list. I'm pretty sure SWR notes which rules to introduce when - looking at the samples, the applicable rule #s are to the right of the words in each list in the WISE Guide, on the right-hand page of each list.

[forty-two]

Also, you might find OhElizabeth's free Quick and Dirty Guide to Getting Started with Spell to Write and Read to be useful.

[fractalgal]

I'm new here and am hoping you parents can give me some help with SWR, so that I can actually use it. As of right now, I'm thinking of chucking the whole thing and switching to AAS with Happy Phonics for my 5-year-old DD, because SWR is just making us both miserable.

 

I've built some of my little text, but I'm still unclear on when the different spelling rules are supposed to be introduced. At one point it told me to review rules such and such, but that would imply I'd already covered them, which I don't recall ever being told to do.

 

Additionally, what on earth can we do to make it more interesting, or should I just decide it's not for my kid and move on? Currently DD hates it. Whenever she sees the cards or log in her workbox, she gets downright belligerent. Generally speaking, she's a happy flashcard kid. It's just SWR that she hates. When I posted about this at the SWR Yahoo group, I really only got responses from the hardcore "make her do it and have your husband read her Bible verses about how she should be obedient" crowd. I'm not religious and that's not helpful to me. I'm not opposed to structure and I do have goals for DD, but I don't want her to HATE schooling.

 

I looked at All About Spelling and it seems so much more clear and interesting. Plus, it says that in the first year kids will learn when to double different letters, how to pluralize and things like that. I don't see where SWR gets very clear. It seems to me like they just give you some flashcards and a list of spelling words that you're supposed to give in a certain order. Perhaps this is just because I've not read every single bit of SWR yet, but I've gotten all the way to maybe step 18 or 20 (I can't recall, off the top of my head) and still haven't seen it.

 

HELP! lol

 

One thing that might help you is to find a SWR class in your area. This can help a great deal.

 

If you have the Wise Guide, the rules are listed at the top of the word lists in the Preliminaries section. Once you locate the rule you are supposed to teach, you then read through that section in SWR.

 

Lesson plan ideas are listed in the Appendix E of SWR book. That is what I followed to teach my 6yo. SWR goes quickly, but you could go slower.

 

I also have AAS, and this is also a good program. It introduces phonograms more slowly and has plenty of reinforcement.

 

I prefer SWR to AAS, because I like to understand the whole picture up front. I did the entire teacher notebook before I started teaching from the Wise Guide. It was teacher intensive, but got easier after I'd done my own notebook and had the details worked out. I know others who only do a section at a time in their notebook and stay ahead of their students. That is another idea.

 

Good Luck :)

[Corrigan]

Thank you all! It could be the problem that I was building my log with DD dictating, since right now she hates writing. (I think she might be a little slow with her fine motor skills, but I'm giving her a little more time to mature before I rush to judgment on that.) I guess I really do need to do it all on my own first. That's what I get for rushing.

[Aloha2U]

I've built some of my little text, but I'm still unclear on when the different spelling rules are supposed to be introduced. At one point it told me to review rules such and such, but that would imply I'd already covered them, which I don't recall ever being told to do.

 

Have you read the recent SWR Yahoo Group posts about "Adding Tabs to SWR and Wise Guide"? Perhaps the following info from one of the SWR Trainers may be of some help to you.

 

...tabbing is a personal thing. I have a good friend who simply wants neat, clean, and clutter free. She states tabs get in her way! On the other hand, I am the type of person who gets sheer joy out of organizing and labeling things (of course, maintaining that order is a challenge...) I like the tabs - and post it notes - and labels.

 

When I attended my first training some years ago I too was given a handout which contained suggestions for tabbing. Over time, I found there were certain sections of SWR I continually returned to, i.e. Think to Spell section of Step 12 and the Diagnostic Tests in the SWR appendix. As a result, I have "tweaked" the tabs to fit my preferences.

 

Here is where I put my tabs for Spell to Write and Read:

•Scope and Sequence, p.13

•WISE and School Grade, p. 63

•Daily Spelling in WISE, p. 69

•Think to Spell, p. 77

•Reinforcing Spelling Words, p. 89

•Diagnostic Spelling Test, p. 197

•Sample Log Pages, p. 207

•Prefixes/Suffixes, p. 223

 

In the past I had tabbed my WISE Guide by sections. However, this year I met Nicole Cull, a Canadian trainer who had tabbed her WISE with the first time you teach a reference page. I have since adopted this way of tabbing. Now when I turn to a section in WISE I can quickly see which reference pages a student has already been taught and how long until a new one will be introduced.

 

Here is where I put my tabs for WISE:

•Consonants and Vowels, p.2

•Multi-Letter Phonograms, p. 2

•Numbers, p. 2

•Silent Final "e", p. 10

•SH Reference Page, p. 12

•A-E-I-O-U, p. 14

•"er", p. 36

•Plurals, p. 44

•E's Dropping, p. 58

•1-1-1 Rule, p. 74

•Y's Exchanging, p. 80

•Plus Endings, p. 80

•Additional Phonograms, p. 102

•2-1-1- Rule, p. 136

•ie/ei, p. 148

•Phonograms/Spelling Rules, p. 239

 

:001_smile:

[ElizabethB]

I use my own methods, but I tried to teach all the rules to my 5 year old daughter...they just bounced right off her head. (So did math facts!)

 

She learned them a bit better when she turned 6, and even better now that she's 7. Math facts are also sticking better (and the switch to Singapore math helped, and we're now using Right Start math games for fun review.)

 

She learned more by pattern when she was 5 and 6. She did learn to spell well with Webster's Speller, just seeing the words arranged by pattern.

 

My older remedial students find the rules very helpful and learn them very quickly.