Spelling...earlier or later?

[truebluexf]

I'm torn on teaching spelling. TWTM says to start early, whereas CM says later, around age 10 iirc. We started with WP LA2 this year (which I dropped eventually in favor of going back to FLL). We did a little bit of spelling with Spellwell but he could do almost the whole first book so we wound up dropping it. I did test him a little this year and he has a 6th grade reading comprehension level but spells just about at grade level (he tested mid-year 2nd grade level a month or so ago). Does it need to be formally taught now, in your opinion? I see something like AAS and think it could be fun, but I don't need it on my plate right now if it doesn't need to be done. I'd rather add in something like Latin! :)

[misidawnrn]

well, I can tell you what I have in mind for my DD age 6, end of K, beginning of 1st.

When she was in our church school and doing ACE she started not "getting" spelling and couldn't do words well but they didn't stay on them long IMO.

When I pulled her out and brought her home I started out at short vowel words and tested her on them to guage her learning. She did great with shorts but got stuck with long vowels like LAKE. So we started SWO 1 with long vowels.

THEN.... I started OPGTR and have decided to put spelling on hold until we review about 1/2 the book then I will start spelling again. I just think she needed some help with some of the phonics so we are doing that first. I think if she does well with phonics then she will have more of the "rules" to do spelling.

HTH

[Orthodox6]

Learn to read well first. That provides a context for spelling to make sense as something useful to learn. Begin informally (orally, as a sort of game), and use a "program" later on. Maybe 4th grade on up. 3rd at earliest.

 

Personal preference of mine, but I like the "word family" approach for spelling. It works so well for reading, it makes sense to follow the same approach for spelling. I don't warm up to the spelling programs with what look like randomly-chosen words that somebody-or-other thinks "belong" to grade X or to grade Y.

[FordFamily]

Please start Early...it doesn't have to be hard, it can be fun and you can use a gentle approach. (chalkboard (sidewalk...), sand...anything they can write in)

I didn't start spelling with my first born until she was in third grade, per cm and other methods. However, I regret that. She struggles at spelling now and we will have to continue spelling program (Spelling Work Out) through middle school.

I also used this same approach with the second born...same results. :(

(And yes they are both read all the time (and NOT twaddle)

Now my other children are getting spelling instruction from a young age, it is easy and they LOVE to be able to spell well. :) It has been such a different experience for my younger bunch.

Great readers do not always mean great spellers.

My opinion...but, I really feel as if I made a big mistake with that approach. Wouldn't it be nice if when you pull out your CM Science Notebook you didn't have to decode it for Grandma! :001_huh::grouphug: HA!

[robsiew]

My kids have a natural drive to spell words correctly. Even my 4 y/o (who is a natural writer) is asking me all the time "How do you spell....?" I start spelling in 1st grade (once they have a decent start in reading). I am more in the camp that writing things wrong over and over again leads to bad habits. I'm not sure why the thought is out there that we should let kids spell things wrong for a period of time, then correct them? We don't do that with anything else... say.... math? I'm guessing part of the reason is the theory that "the more they write the better they will write"... even if what they are writing is wrong. More=better? I'd rather have them write less when they are younger, but write correctly and not have to do a lot of correction later. JMO though....

[truebluexf]

All good thoughts. DS does ask how to spell when needed, and like I said though is pretty much on "grade level" when it comes to spelling. I'm so torn!!! We could start working on AAS for both kids (3rd and 1st in the fall). I wish I was ok with Spelling Workout bc quite frankly I'd love to hand out a workbook for SOMETHING lol. ;)

[Becca211]

I have gone back and forth on this too and I think I have landed on How to Teach Spelling. It has workbooks, and I think it will do the rules like AAS. I am going to order it and see. I don't think that I can do one more mom intensive thing, so I am hoping this works!

[robsiew]

I wish I was ok with Spelling Workout bc quite frankly I'd love to hand out a workbook for SOMETHING lol. ;)

 

I hear you! At these younger ages the time is really intensive for mom! I have found they enjoy and learn best when I interact with them. And, when it comes down to it... really, it's a reason why I homeschool. They could sit in a classroom and do worksheets just as easy. A real benefit to teaching my children at home is the one on one... once I realized that I became okay with the more teacher intensive time. Now, that being said... there is a line! One can only spread herself so thin between 4 kids! :-)

 

FWIW.. AAS really doesn't take us much time at all. I keep the lessons 15-20 min per child 4 times a week. I think we could even go down to 3 times a week and be okay. It's a very easy curriculum to tailor to your time. Sometimes we get through a step in a day, but often it's 2-3 days per step. My ds9 just started Level 5 (there are 6 levels) at the end of 3rd grade here so I'm not worried in the least of us running out of time. On the contrary.. he will be through the whole series before he finishes 4th grade most likely! :-)

[truebluexf]

I hear you! At these younger ages the time is really intensive for mom! I have found they enjoy and learn best when I interact with them. And, when it comes down to it... really, it's a reason why I homeschool. They could sit in a classroom and do worksheets just as easy. A real benefit to teaching my children at home is the one on one... once I realized that I became okay with the more teacher intensive time. Now, that being said... there is a line! One can only spread herself so thin between 4 kids! :-)

 

FWIW.. AAS really doesn't take us much time at all. I keep the lessons 15-20 min per child 4 times a week. I think we could even go down to 3 times a week and be okay. It's a very easy curriculum to tailor to your time. Sometimes we get through a step in a day, but often it's 2-3 days per step. My ds9 just started Level 5 (there are 6 levels) at the end of 3rd grade here so I'm not worried in the least of us running out of time. On the contrary.. he will be through the whole series before he finishes 4th grade most likely! :-)

 

Oh I totally agree...just sometimes with the little one around it is SO HARD. I'm hoping next school year it gets a lot easier with the youngest being 2.5 at the start of the year...crossing my fingers it will be easier to occupy her. Even read alouds were difficult this year because she had to sit on me and the book and get up and down and need stuff lol. However this will be the first year I really try to do more with DD1, since she'll be first grade. I have play room with her since she could be kindy again depending on which state's cutoff you use, but I still want to keep her going if she's ready.

 

Sometimes I wish we didn't care so much about their educations...LOL!

[Greta]

I did test him a little this year and he has a 6th grade reading comprehension level but spells just about at grade level (he tested mid-year 2nd grade level a month or so ago). Does it need to be formally taught now, in your opinion?

 

In my opinion as a confessed spelling slacker, no. :D I have tried a number of different spelling programs over the years with my dd, who is not what I would call a natural speller at all. It was always a struggle, something she did not enjoy, and it didn't seem to help much. Somewhere along the way and between all the different programs, things just started to click for her, I believe, when she became developmentally ready for it.

 

Now, she takes pride in knowing correct spellings. So there's no more fighting and struggling. If I see that she has misspelled something in the course of her writing for any subject, I jot it down in a notepad I keep for that purpose. Then we practice and review those words by writing them on a whiteboard. No fuss. No pain. And no wasted time on word lists where she already knows most of the words.

 

We'll be starting a formal vocabulary program with 5th grade this fall, and that will be spelling practice as well. And she's learning some spelling patterns simply by learning Latin.

 

Of course, I realize different kids have different needs and different ways of learning. Just sharing our story. :001_smile:

[PenKase]

FWIW-I'm planning to add in a spelling component to dd6's ETC lessons. We are taking is nice & steady with the ETC books and she just finished 3 and will go on to 3 1/2. I always do the 1/2 books as I feel they cement the concepts learned really nicely for dd. Now that the books are covering rules, I plan to use them as a springboard to our spelling along with spellingcity.com. I have on my list of things to do to look over the books and start to gather intel to get a "program" together.

 

Now, dd is a natural speller but, as her reading level and comprehension increase, she will need to become more adept at spelling longer, more complex words. I figure starting at this point will be "easy peasy mac & cheesey, sneezy breezy, lemon squeezy" and the plan is to add in Megawords (which is what dd10 will be doing) when she's ready.

 

This all sounds good on paper. We'll see how it goes in real life. I always say the planning is the easy part....the implementing is torture sometimes! :tongue_smilie:

[FordFamily]

 

Today when I was teaching spelling to my little guys, using Spelling Workout, I thought of this. I'd like to expain that I don't think you can

hand a workbook to any young child and have them master the concepts taught. So, I thought I would clarify what SW looks like in our home, we have adapted it using some other methods. However, for a visual learner having the extra writting that a workbook offers helps them to memorize the words. (and enjoy their spelling list a little) It also helps them use the words in context.

 

At the start of the lesson we read the story together, read the words and then I 'pretest' for the words they already can spell. (no reason to study those) Depending how the pretest went, we could be done with the lesson the next day, or it could last the entire week.

 

I hear what you are saying about 'handing' them a workbook. But, I can assure you after using two non-traditional methods with my older children, atleast for our family, a traditional method was the key to our spelling woes. So, I just thought I would share this just incase it might help someone else. :grouphug:

[rafiki]

.

[StartingOver]

We start earlier. I have seen the damage of "kids spelling" or spelling it how it sounds, or inventive spelling. Once they get it stuck in their mind that Wednesday can be spelled inventively as winsday... it is hard to retrain them. lurn = learn.

 

My step sister and a niece still write like this at 42, and 20.

 

I lik to go to tha stor wit my mom on Winsday.