Megawords ?

[Roxy Roller]

I am doing some remedial spelling and reading with my DD11 this year and it is going well.

 

I have Megawords 1 and 2 with teachers manuals and I am thinking about using them next year(7th Grade), but I have a couple of questions.

 

1) I am a little confused about the S&S. I see the chart on the inside cover, but do I complete one book a year, or do you just keep going into the next book, when you are finished the one before. Megawords 5 & 6 only have 4 lists. Are they huge lists?

 

2) I like the mastery aspect of the program, but I am not sure how to implement it. I read in the teacher's manual that you could be on one list with accuracy in reading, another list in reading speed and still another in spelling accuracy. How does this work?

 

Thanks in advance,

[....]

Hi, Roxy Roller. I'm using Megawords 1 right now, so I can help you a little... I've got the TM and workbook if you need me to look at any word lists or something for you.

 

Basically, we've just been going through the workbook one page a day. You DO need to buy the TM, though. We're still on Word List 1 and there's about 75 words, but they're compound words with tiny words like any and some...it's easier than it looks. It shows them how to break the words down so they are easy to read and spell.

 

I think other posters were saying that they work through 2 books a year...I'm not sure what we'll do. I just kinda work through stuff and when we're done, we just move into the next level.

 

Your question #2 - I have no idea. My daughter can read and spell the words on the word list. I've just viewed it as a spelling program...

 

What I like is that there are some dictation exercises in the lessons - which my daughter needs practice doing... Also, there was a "write a short story using the vocab words".

 

Anyway, we went from BJU Spelling into this - and my daughter really likes Megawords. I think one page a day and it's not overly time-consuming or overwhelming...but your daughter might actually fly through the first couple of workbooks.

 

I hope that helped a little...

[Roxy Roller]

Thank you, Starrbuck12!

 

Anyone else?

[i.love.lucy]

I have it but haven't gotten into it too much because I planned a lot for this year. But my understanding is that you test first, to find out what they need to work on, then work on those lists and the rules. When done with those you can retest to make sure there is mastery before you move on to the next list or book.

 

Did you happen to do a search for Megawords? There are a lot of threads about how to use it. I need to do that again myself to refresh!

[ChrissySC]

I use Megawords. We use it because dd cannot say the words that she reads, but she knows what the word means. Also, she cannot spell well - OK, she is a horrible speller.

 

You begin with a list, list one for example. You read 10 random words. You spell 10 random words. We chose to work with the whole list. You teach the phonics/syllable rule. You do one sheet a day for work. The key is to make sure that the program is verbal. Yes, they will talk while they work and repeat often. The verbal side of this program is what makes it successful with the rules and the syllabic approach. We read from the list about every other day. There is dictation of syllables and words. The key is to approach each syllables' sound. As I see the progress and the mastery of the rule for that list, we begin to look at moving forward. I pick out the spelling words. I have dd make a list in her handwriting, again one of the keys to being successful is seeing it in their writing too. Once we read the list and have mastered the reading portion, we move towards the spelling portion. I give 10 words to spell for the test. If we miss more than 2, we do not leave the list. We review the rules, we get the new spelling words, and we study how to spell each syllable according to the rule.

 

With that said, you may or may not finish a book in a year. You may finish two books in a year. I know how far behind dd is from public school overlooking her verbal reading ability, which led us to believe that she had poor comprehension. Oh, how this was not so. I always end up homeschooling, LOL.

 

If you have any specific questions, feel free to pm or email me. :)

[Sunshine State Sue]

We used Megawords in 5th-8th grade. We completed anywhere from 1.5 to 3 books per year. We worked through the earlier books quicker than the later books.

 

I generally worked on one list at a time, but ds didn't have much trouble with most of it. In the early books, we skipped a lot of the reading pages because he was already reading very well. If, at the end of the lesson, he didn't do well on the spelling test, I would keep quizzing him occasionally on the words that he missed until I was confident that he knew them. If his reading speed was not fast enough or he made too many mistakes, I would test him again on the list every few days until I felt comfortable with his speed and accuracy.

 

HTH! Here are 2 threads that might be helpful to you:

So impressed with Megawords!

Wow -- Megawords looks really good