Need Help with Spelling

[susancollins]

My daughter who is in 1st grade took her standardized test she did excellent on everything but spelling. The lady who does the test is a curriculum consultant also she also does learning style assessments’. She recommended all About Spelling but Carrington has been using Abeka. I was told by another parent that Carrington would get confused and forgot all the phonics rules from Abeka. I don't want that to happen. She tested above her grade level on reading and everything else so what should I do. Could you recommend a spelling program that would be compatible with Abeka. I want to thank everyone for their response I know I can come here for sound advice. :001_smile:

[Catherine]

It has worked wonders here for my spelling-challenged child. It introduces the phonics rules and has lots of review (which can be skipped of course if not needed). I second the recommendation for AAS.

[abbeyej]

I would have no qualms about switching her to All About Spelling. She will not forget everything she has learned from Abeka unless you place her in an entirely print-free environment for the next year. ;)

 

On the other hand, for a first grader, I also wouldn't have qualms about just sticking with what you've been doing for another year and waiting to see if she makes a great leap in her spelling. For many kids, the ability to read comes well before the ability to spell correctly. She may just need more *time* with her phonics practice and reading, reading, reading. Unless she's showing signs of dyslexia (is she putting the letters completely in the wrong order? is she inserting letter sounds that simply aren't *there*? or is she spelling more or less phonetically, just not correctly?), you can wait another year and stick with Abeka. If, at the end of 2nd grade, her spelling scores are still significantly below what you would expect, you can switch to AAS at that time.

 

Either way, *unless* she's totally putting sounds totally in the wrong order ("tra" for "rat") or inserting completely wrong sounds into her words ("pmrt" for "pet"), I don't think you need to worry too much. AAS is strong. Abeka is strong. And she's only in first grade. You could do either one with confidence next year, knowing her spelling is likely to improve significantly as she gains more and more experience reading. And, if her scores are still lower than you would like at the end of 2nd grade, she will still be young enough that she's not wildly behind, even if you find you need to try another approach.

[Ellie]

I was told by another parent that Carrington would get confused and forgot all the phonics rules from Abeka. I don't want that to happen. She tested above her grade level on reading and everything else so what should I do. Could you recommend a spelling program that would be compatible with Abeka. :001_smile:

I'm sorry, but I strongly disagree with whoever told you that.:glare:

 

You don't need something for spelling that is "compatible" with ABeka. ABeka does not have a corner on the market on phonics and spelling. Furthermore, phonics and spelling aren't even the same thing. ABeka's phonics instruction is very good; whatever your dd does for spelling will have no affect whatsoever on her reading skills.

 

It is probable that your dd's spelling skills will improve, whether you do something specific for spelling or not. She's just little.:) But if you still feel the need to do something, my recommendation is Spelling by Sound and Structure (Rod and Staf).

[ZooRho]

actually for a first grade even a second grader I wouldn't worry about spelling. Once reading becomes more natural and they have down phonics then things will become easier.

 

I didn't start any real spelling with my boys until after 3rd grade, and actully one is a natural speller so we never did spelling with him.

[MerryAtHope]

First, I'm kinda surprised that they are testing 1st graders on spelling!

 

Second, All About Spelling is a great program--it's a complete phonics program that teaches all of the rules that hold true in our language about 97% of the time, it is multi-sensory so it helps kids remember things, it has good visual strategies for spelling patterns that don't have rules to help you choose (like whether to use ee, ea, or e_e for the long e sound in "sheep" etc...), and teaches good word analysis skills too. Plus it incrementally helps their writing and memory skills by using dictation--starting with just 2-word phrases in the first book, then a combination of phrases and sentences in the second book, then moving to more sentences in the third book and adds in "the writing station" where kids make up some of their own sentences--so kids get "real world" spelling experience on top of learning the rules and how they apply to our language. And, the review is completely customizable--you can do as much or as little as she needs of reviewing phonograms, sounds, keys (or rules) and words.

 

HTH some! Here's a link to my blog that has more description and some pictures. Hang in there! Merry :-)

[naturelovinmama]

I have to agree with all that recommend All About Spelling!!! We love it here!

[EppieJ]

Let me just throw another thought into the mix...

 

Spelling is not something I put effort toward until recently. My priorities were reading and math (among others); spelling just always got pushed to the back burner. I felt bad about it, but just couldn't fit everything into a day. This year, ds (now 4th grade) asked to do spelling and actually brought me his own word lists! (Glad I was sitting down!) :lol:

 

I decided to invest in Phonetic Zoo (IEW) and it's been working great for us so far. (I'm sure my son's attitude and age have something to do with it as well). There are a couple of things I like about this program. One, it incorporates visual, auditory and kinetic elements which only increases (IMO) the ability to retain the lessons. And two, it's designed to be independent. Ds and I study the tip/rule and spelling words together at first, then he uses headphones to listen to the words, writing them down as they're given. The next track voices the words again, with the correct spelling which ds also writes. Then he goes back and checks his original spelling against the correct spellings and circles the ones he spelled correctly, so he grades his own work learning on his own what he still needs to work on. He and I both love that I'm not standing over his shoulder telling him which words are incorrect. Each lesson only takes about 10 minutes.