Should I move on with phonics or go back?

[runamuk]

My son finished ETC book 5 and took the first half of the Posttest today. He did very well with the reading portion of the test, but his spelling in the sentences has me worried.

 

He misspelled several words, including baseball (basboll), three (tree), queen (qeen), meatballs (meat boll), mistake (mistack), and hunted (honted). He struggles a bit with spelling at all levels and often needs to be reminded to slow down and listen to the sound of the word he's trying to spell.

 

Having said that, he reads very well. He's able to read on a third grade level (he's 6 and in first grade) and has good comprehension skills. He has no trouble sounding out words when reading them, it's only when he's asked to write them himself that he struggles.

 

Should I move on to Book 6 or should we stay where we are and do book 5 1/2? Is the spelling trouble normal for this stage? Will more exposure and practice correct the problem? Or is this something that will continue and grow the further we go, if I ignore it and move on?

[johnandtinagilbert]

I'd suggest a program that uses phonics to teach spelling. The Writing Road to Reading, Spell to Write and Read or The Phonics Road are some top programs that would accomplish this. They take phonics rules and apply them to spelling. All of his misspelled words would fall right in place with this style of program and he'd not only be able to read all those words, but also understand the why behind their pronunciation and spelling.

 

To answer your question plainly, I would absolutely hit the phonics (and the rules for application) before moving on too far. In the meantime, keep reading!