I've disliked most spelling programs.....

[Denisemomof4]

thinking that there should be more of a focus on WORD FAMILIES instead of memorizing lists. I've done Spelling Workout, Abeka, A REaon For Spelling and own Spelling Power. I've never used SP because I can NOT have a curriculum with SO MUCH CLUTTER that it causes brain fog, I like things plainly laid out for me. I have a head injury.

 

So today I was looking at Sequential Spelling. Although my daughter is not learning disabled or dyslexic, I did think this was a real good way of teaching spelling. Can anyone who has used this please respond? Or if you've used a program that is SIMPLY laid out and goes over word families and NOT word lists, please give me input?

 

My daughter is doing MUCH better in spelling. We did phonics, she went to 1st grade and 2nd until December and then I pulled out. Her spelling has come a LONG way in 4 months by going over phonics again, but I'd really like to focus on SPELLING and not phonics because she reads very well.

 

Thanks so much,

Denise

Who is SO SICK of searching for the perfect curriculum!

[Greta]

We are really happy with Sequential Spelling. My daughter isn't dyslexic or anything either (as far as I know!) but she's also not a natural speller. I had tried SWR (we both hated it) and using spelling rules and word lists from Phonics Pathways (she hated it) and neither worked, and were causing her so much stress that she would be reduced to tears. She hated spelling and thought she would never learn to spell, and I was afraid I was never going to be able to help the poor child get her confidence back. After a few months of Sequential Spelling, not only are there no more tears, but sometimes she even asks me on weekends if we can do spelling!!!! She actually likes spelling now, and feels like she's a good speller. The program is so easy to use. The first few lessons are scripted for you so that you get the hang of how it works. From there, it's super easy -- just open up the book and go and it's done very quickly. Highly recommended!

[Sunkirst]

Hi Denise!

 

I have such a love/hate relationship with the search for the perfect curriculum. I hate to waste my money on something that turns out to be a poor fit. We use Sequential Spelling, and I love it. I'll give you what I know about the program, and you can judge if it would be a good fit for you. My son is mildly dyslexic (he's 10, and has been reading since he was 5, but only recently has he become an independent reader). He is not a "sight speller." Nothing looks right or wrong to him, as he never really "sees" the words he reads. SS works for us because there is so much repetition. On day 1 you might learn pot, spot, plot. On D2 you would progress to pots, spots, plots. D3: potted, spotted, plotted... My son NEEDS all that repetition. I've taught him the "double the consonant and add ed" rule so many times, but he never used it until we started this program.

SS is simple to implement. Just read off the list with a sentence for each word. There is a bit of extra learning with homophones, contractions and possessives (we are on the first volume). My one quibble with the program is that there are no rules or explanations given. One just learns through repetition. My son needs the repetition, but he also wants to know why.

[teamturner]

AAS is phonics based but it is laid out very simply and is soooo easy to use. I wanted a phonics based program even though my children were reading just fine but to me learning to spell according to the phonics rules made more sense. If you want word families then Sequential Spelling would be a good program for that but I haven't looked at it in a while or used it so I can't speak to its ease of use. HTHs!!

[hsmom]

My son is neither and we use it (sequential spelling) and we LOVE it. He asks to do spelling. I know that sounds like something you would hear on there advertisement or something, but he really does. LOL

[Cindy in NY]

We also love Sequential Spelling

 

I have one natural speller and one who spells so phonetically it is almost impossible to read his writing.

 

My natural speller is almost done with book 1 and I am debating whether to continue in book 2 as I think he would do fine without a spelling program. He wants to continue, spelling is his favorite subject.

 

My poor speller is on lesson 65 of book 1 and his spelling is definitely improving. It is only just beginning to carry over into his writing, but I am very happy with the progress I have seen.

 

Neither of them has dyslexia, but I have found Sequential Spelling to be the answer for us.

[trust and obey]

My oldest ds (10) was an awful speller. We switched to SS last school year and the difference is amazing. He is very logic/pattern oriented and it has helped him tremendously. I also like that he's not just memorizing a list of words, spitting them out, and moving on and forgetting them - which is just what he used to do. The various patterns are revisited and the idea of a "test" everyday has been so helpful. My ds 8 who is a natural speller also thrives on it. Neither are dyslexic, but I can't say enough good about this program. I've seen his spelling improvement reflected in his writing too.

It's a great program - give it a try!

[Denisemomof4]

nt

[Novafan]

We are about 12 weeks into Sequential Spelling and it is working very well for my DS so far. MY DS struggles very much with spelling yet SS is working. He is not stressed out with the lessons, in fact, I keep seeing his eyes light up as if the light bulb has turned on when we do the lists. I'm definitely going to stick with SS through his 2nd and 3rd grade years and then reevaluate.

 

ETA: We tried Spelling Workout, which seems to be very popular, and hated it. SS seems logical to my son, where SW just seemed like busy work.

[Quad Shot Academy]

We recently tried SS for 13 lessons and it was going great until they introduced two types of words, ones where you double the consonant before the suffix and ones where you leave it single. There are no explanations and my son keeps trying to make up rules in his head. I looked on-line and the rule on doubling consonants is confusing, especially because one of the exceptions to the rule, "outing" is on the list! My son loves rules and wants an explanation for everything. So we just ordered All About Spelling and will give that a try.

[Guest]

Loving All About Spelling here.

[Shannon in MO]

Our ds now 12 did SWO A, B & 1/2 of C. He really liked A & B but C introduced some weird stuff in the middle so we dropped it. We tried the Calvert spelling program on CD, but those big RED x's on the ones he missed were really discouraging. We tried R&s & it was too crowded & seemed a little unrelated or something. We've been doing ss for 2 years now & love it (but we need to do it every day - we're still in book 1 b/c we only do it 2 or 3x/wk!!). I sometimes cross out words that don't fit the pattern, like a name or something like that, or give them in a different order.

HTH,

Shannon

[Pegasus]

I sometimes cross out words that don't fit the pattern, like a name or something like that, or give them in a different order.

HTH,

Shannon

 

We do the same thing about skipping names. We chose Sequential Spelling because the idea of focusing on patterns just made the most sense to me. My oldest DD self-taught herself to read so she was purely sight reading. Her spelling was atrocious. I also loved the idea of the child never getting a spelling word wrong because it is corrected as you go with SS. It's been a wonderful program for my perfectionist DD.

 

 

Pegasus

[claire up north]

We do it 4 days a week...we skip Wednesdays cuz we have other things going on. It has helped us soooooo much, and it is so much better than the traditional "memorize this list" programs we tried. My kids are NOT natural spellers (well, 1 of the 3 can spell well), but SS has helped them improve so very much. We love it, even though no one here is dyslexic. It was a wonderful find!

 

I highly recommend it.

[SkiMom]

My 11 year old ds has been using SS for two years and I have noticed a huge improvement in his spelling. Before finding SS we tried several different curriculum, but they all used the same method...memorizing rules and word lists...which was not working for my ds. Then I discovered that my ds was noticing patterns in the words because he would comment on them...so I thought that might be the key for him. Since SS is based on word families and patterns I decided to try it, and since then we haven't looked back. Yes, sometimes I am frustrated that there are no rules to explain why a certain pattern works the way it does, or why some words don't follow the pattern, but it hasn't bothered my ds. I don't want to sound like I am underestimating my son, but he isn't the kind of kid that will remember and use spelling rules. He is the kind of kid that sees patterns, which is why I chose this program. I've tried programs that explained the rules, and they didn't work for him. The patterns and the repetitive nature of the word lists is what is really helping him. He is at the point now where he gets most of the words right on his first try...brand new words that he hasn't used before...because he can figure out the patterns and the prefixes and suffixes. He isn't a perfect speller yet, but as I said he has improved a lot! The program isn't expensive or time consuming and it is very easy to use, so it is at least worth a try. I would also like to add that if you do try this program I feel that it is very important that you use it as directed so that you get the full benefits of the audio-visual-kineshetic-oral methods of learning.

HTH!:)