Tell me about Spelling Power

[EKS]

I'm looking for a spelling program for my 6 yo son. He reads on about a 4th grade level and he spells pretty well. When he doesn't know how to spell something, it usually only takes a few practices and he has it down. I like that with Spelling Power he doesn't have to study words he can already spell.

 

Is Spelling Power extremely easy to implement? How do the CDs (or is it DVDs?) work? Can you customize lists for the child to study?

 

I'm interested in both good and bad experiences with this program.

 

Thanks!

[Cinder]

I used Spelling Power for a *very* short time (thankfully borrowed from a friend to see how it would go). It didn't go well for us. The directions on how to use the program were confusing but there is a quick start checklist that helps. Once you start, though, it's pretty easy to implement.

 

To start you give a pre-test to see where your ds should start. My ds was 7 at the time and tested at level G. But after looking over the lists I decided to start him at E. I thought this program would work well because you test a few words at a time and if they get it right they don't have to study those. But my ds saw it differently. He felt he was being "punished" for the ones he got wrong! He's the kind who needs to know he got 100% (or whatever) correct. Instead he felt like those words he got correct were disregarded and the focus was on the words he got wrong.

 

I switched him back to Abeka after this and used that same technique of recycling words he got wrong on one test into the next test and this didn't bother him at all because now his tests showed he was getting 90s or better every time.

 

This is just *our* experience. I had heard wonderful things about this program, which is why I wanted to try it. It just didn't work out for us.

 

Cinder

[KarenNC]

My daughter tested last year with the Woodcock Johnson at about where your son is now. We worked through Explode the Code books primers-8 and then started Spelling Power in January. It's going great for us. I tried starting it last year, but she wanted to continue with ETC.

 

Basically, you start with a survey test to find out which placement test to give. The placement test gives you the level of word lists on which you start. Once the level is determined, you have a list of (at level D where we started) of around 18 words per spelling rule. You give the child the rule, which they copy down, and then start the pretest. Say the word, use it in a sentence, repeat the word. The child repeats the word, then writes it down (though we have moved to doing them orally, she only writes down the ones she misses). You spell the word and the child checks to see if it's correct.

 

If correct, you repeat with the next word. If it is incorrect, it gets written in the second column to be studied. When you hit either 5 missed words or the end of the list or 5 minutes of testing, you stop.

 

The child then takes the study words, follows the ten step study process (thinks like looking at it, spelling it out loud, tracing it with a finger, etc) and then writes a sentence using the word.

 

The next day you start over again with the missed words and, with the time remaining of the 5 minutes, go on with the rest of the list or on to a new list, with a new spelling rule. There are review lists every 5 word lists or so, then periodic delayed recall tests. A portion of each word list includes review words from a previous level (ie, words from that rule in level C, for instance).

 

The book includes a variety of additional exercises to reinforce the spelling, but we haven't done much so far with those. Paula's Archives http://www.redshift.com/~bonajo/SPhow.htm has some good tips on using SP. I am using her silly sentences in place of some of the rules and it's helping. As far as I know, the cd is only the activities in the back of the book and the forms so that they can be printed off. We don't have it and haven't had a problem.