learning to read and spelling?

[Guest spoony]

I'm teaching my DS to read with OPG and he's doing well in my mind, but I have friends who doing a little more than that. My question is should we be practicing spelling too or wait until he has mastered reading better? Also, should I be drilling him on how fast he's reading the words?

 

Wanting to make sure I'm doing enough. Thanks!

[forty-two]

WRT teaching spelling at the same level as reading or having spelling lag behind reading, people go either way.

 

Spelling is more cognitively demanding than reading. So some people focus on spelling instead of reading to get the best bang for the buck - b/c if you can spell a word, you can read it, but the reverse isn't always true. Some curricula specifically go the spell your way into reading approach - there is no explicit work on reading, it develops naturally as a byproduct of explicitly learning to spell.

 

Others figure that, since spelling is the harder task, kids are generally ready to learn to read before they are reading to learn to spell, and you might as well teach reading first instead of waiting for kids to be able to spell.

 

I personally am waffling between the two, but so long as you teach spelling well in the elementary/middle years, I'm not sure if it truly matters one way or the other.

[siloam]

I'm teaching my DS to read with OPG and he's doing well in my mind, but I have friends who doing a little more than that. My question is should we be practicing spelling too or wait until he has mastered reading better? Also, should I be drilling him on how fast he's reading the words?

 

Wanting to make sure I'm doing enough. Thanks!

 

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. :D

 

Honestly drilling him with reading sounds like a good way to end up hating reading. Though I have a particular dislike of drilling. ;)

 

You build fluency, the ability to read faster, but reading easy material or by reading with a recording of the material. I generally have two sets of readers going, on that is instructional, and one that is easy to build fluency. Just given him lots of books that are easy for him to read and enjoy. No drilling needed.

 

Spelling can go either way. Many people don't start till 3rd grade, after finishing all of phonics. Some people start earlier. All About Spelling is a good program for younger kids. You can just as easily wait and it really won't harm your child. If they really like to write, and are thus likely to start inventing their own spelling, I would go ahead and start now.

 

Heather