Spelling...do we need it?

[truebluexf]

I haven't really done spelling formally at all. We got Spellwell last year and ditched it after a couple weeks. DS knew most of the words for the first 2nd grade book, and then thought the work was boring anyway. It kinda was lol. He reads above grade level but spells on level. I'm considering AAS (almost hit send several times LOL) but I just can't decide. It looks good and thorough, and we never did a true phonics program and this kind of includes phonics. I'm scared about the time though. DD1 joins us formally this year. I'm ditching RS for DS now to free up some of my time and because we were having some trouble with it. I will do RS B with DD1 though bc I feel it is outstanding. I'm just afraid of bogging myself down with too much stuff so we don't actually accomplish what we need to. Sitting down and learning a list though just seems so artificial??

[JMDRAD]

I think that spelling is pretty important but many go about it the wrong way by just memorizing a list of words. I use Spell to Write and Read as a spelling program and phonics review. It majors on teaching the phonograms and rules. I've learned a lot about our English spelling by using this program. WARNING: It is very teacher intensive. But maybe you could just use the Wise list (brown book) and the cards rather than do the entire program.

 

Just my $0.02.

[robsiew]

We use AAS and I've got 4 kiddos (only 3 using it right now). The nice thing about AAS is you can do as little or as much in a day as you want. The last 2 years we've done spelling 4 times a week, but this year I'm going to try 2 days, just doing more each day. When we did it 4 times a week we only spent 15 min. on it. I'd set a timer and when the timer went off we were done. I really really like AAS. It is fun for the kids and I'm learning a lot too...even though I'm a decent speller. I'm learning more the "why" behind different spelling patterns... which I love! :001_smile:

 

Kind of depends too on what you want for a spelling curriculum. It's worth it to me to have more teacher involvement because I see great results with what we're doing. The trade off is more of my time... I'm sure something like SWO would work well for us too, but we all really enjoy AAS. No one has ever complained about doing spelling and we used to have tears every Friday when I did a more conventional "list" each week.:001_smile:

[....]

I think spelling is very important. Spelling kinda ties in with writing. If they're going to be effective writers, they need to know how to spell correctly. Unless, of course, you're me - writing this post...then spelling's not important. :D :D :D

 

I understand the concept of not wanting to be overwhelmed with curricula.

 

Have you looked at a workbook-based program also - like Megawords or BJU Spelling? I think we spent about 15 minutes/3 times a week on spelling last year using BJU Spelling.

 

Don't worry about taking on too much. You guys will get into the swing of things and you'll be able to adjust your schedule accordingly. We actually become much more efficient as the school year progresses.

[MerryAtHope]

AAS doesn't take that long--about 15 minutes a day is fine. You can stop & just pick up there the next day. If you have kids who are natural spellers, then I might just do dictation & not a full spelling program. If not though, AAS is a thorough and fun program.

 

Merry :-)

[truebluexf]

Thanks guys. I don't why I had a panicky moment. :willy_nilly: Thanks for bringing me back!!!! Last year was such a crazy year for us with a toddler, DH away a LOT, and a toddler, oh yeah and moving (and traveling to house hunt and being homeless for oh 3 months where we bounced from family to a vacation rental to fill the time for our house to be ready) that we just didn't get through what I'd hope to get through. I have to remember this year will be different!!!!!!!! :D

[NanceXToo]

I think you can just pay attention to words your kids commonly spell wrong in their writing assignments, and then have them work on those words. So that may mean they work on one word a week, it may mean ten words a week, depending on them.

 

And to review, you can do it in a variety of ways. Some of the ways we reviewed spelling last year were:

 

Chanting the words as we tossed a ball back and forth

Making a windsock with streamers and writing the words on the streamers

writing them in chalk on the sidewalk or in the dirt with a stick

making a small town "map" and naming buildings and streets after the words

 

and then there's the typical alphabetical order/sentences/3X each or whatever, too.

[G5052]

Some of us are going to end up better spellers but I still believe that we should do all we can to give a good foundation in spelling. It's one of those things that will make your writing look very, very bad, and checking your spelling with a wordprocessing or online tool is not the answer IMHO. You should still be able to recognize and correct the majority of your spelling errors unless of course there's a serious learning issue.