jcross222 Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Now that my dd (6th grade) is writing more :hurray:, I am realizing just how bad her spelling really is :eek:. We've tried Sequential Spelling in the past, but, obviously, the retention is not there. As a point of interest, her twin brother is going to be our homeschooling group's representative to the county spelling bee this spring. Go figure. Any sugestions? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt_Uhura Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 How about something like How To Teach Spelling? Maybe she needs a quick run through of the spelling rules. You could probably start w/ How to Spell workbook 3. That would give you another level for review the following year to really cement those rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 When you say it's "in her writing"... Are you talking about rough drafts? Or after she does (her own) revisions? What I'm getting at is that it's very, very common for kids this age to make spelling errors in the midst of writing a sentence or thought down for the first time. Just too many other things going on at once for a child to get it all right right away. If she can look back at her own work and find and correct most of her spelling errors, then I don't think you have a serious spelling problem. On the other hand, if she can't see that they're misspelled and come up with the correct spelling on her own (you know, lol, most of the time), I'd be more proactive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly in FL Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 My son is a horrible speller...and, I finally came to the conclusion that it's because the two programs we had tried did not teach any spelling rules. I had used Sequential Spelling last year...and, he liked it...but, wasn't improving. I have been using All About Spelling with all three of my children...and, my son's spelling is finally improving (he's 12yo) and, my two younger daughters are learning "the right way" from the get-go! I love, love, love this spelling program...and, my children think it's a lot of fun. Imagine that...having fun while learning to spell. ~Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Did you start at level 1 with a 12 year old? I too have a horrible speller (almost 13) and two who seem more to be natural spellers..... Dawn My son is a horrible speller...and, I finally came to the conclusion that it's because the two programs we had tried did not teach any spelling rules. I had used Sequential Spelling last year...and, he liked it...but, wasn't improving. I have been using All About Spelling with all three of my children...and, my son's spelling is finally improving (he's 12yo) and, my two younger daughters are learning "the right way" from the get-go! I love, love, love this spelling program...and, my children think it's a lot of fun. Imagine that...having fun while learning to spell. ~Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly in FL Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Yes. Since I was starting the program with my girls, also...I decided it would be easier to do it with all three of them at the same time. Also, I knew my son needed to start at the beginning to get all the spelling rules. I told him the first level was going to be very easy for him...but, he needed the foundation for the program. I think the fact that he was very successful with the first level helped his confidence, also. If I had been doing it with just him, I think we would have finished that first level in one month. It took closer to two months since I was also doing it with my younger girls. I have a feeling there will come a time when I have to move forward with him and slow it down for my girls...but, we'll see. I hope that helps! ~Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homeschooling6 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I'm thinking about using Spellbound with my 7th grade ds who doesn't spell very well either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Thank you. We are spelling curriculum drop outs.....nothing works well for my 12 year old who is struggling. We are going to look at Spelling Power and use the activity cards with it and hope that sparks some interest. If that doesn't work I will keep looking...... Spelling is our nemesis! Dawn Yes. Since I was starting the program with my girls, also...I decided it would be easier to do it with all three of them at the same time. Also, I knew my son needed to start at the beginning to get all the spelling rules. I told him the first level was going to be very easy for him...but, he needed the foundation for the program. I think the fact that he was very successful with the first level helped his confidence, also. If I had been doing it with just him, I think we would have finished that first level in one month. It took closer to two months since I was also doing it with my younger girls. I have a feeling there will come a time when I have to move forward with him and slow it down for my girls...but, we'll see. I hope that helps! ~Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeJM Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I chose Megawords based on many comments from this board. Since my son's spelling was so bad, I decided to start with level 1. It seems to be helping, in that he actually thinks about how to spell words, whereas, before, he would just write any old thing down, lol. I think my favorite thing about Megawords is that it gets the student to think in syllables and therefore attack the word by syllables. It does give rules also, for syllables. If a kid can break down the word into syllables, he has a better chance of spelling it correctly. I like that concept. We just do one page per day. When we do spelling. We're still on book 1 :blush5:. My son's other really big motivator to spell well is -- posting on facebook! He wants to put his best out there, so he's motivated to get those words right.:lol: hth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 With MegaWords, the child must start at Book 1. I have to admit I gave up trying to teach spelling to my olders. What we have done is start a personal dictionary using an old Rolodex file and cards for every word they misspell or ask me how to spell. Some kids have to take pictures of words they use to spell them. All the grinding of spelling rules into them doesn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleHouseHomeschool Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 If she likes a hands on component, I would go with All About Spelling. If it's not necessary for her, or if you need to save money, I would go with Spell to Write and Read. We've used SWR for a few years now. I had a sixth grader who was spelling at a third grade level. We began SWR, and several months later, he was spelling at a 6th grade level. He's made steady progress since. He's in the 11th grade now and just this week, scored a 12.5 grade level. Yay! On the other hand, my seven year old daughter just took a diagnostic and just from reading books, she has gained four grade levels of spelling. She's currently testing at the 6th grade level. So SWR gives me the flexibility I need for all of my students. (I'm currently teaching three.) If we had used All About Spelling, I think we would have become frustrated with having to purchase so many levels and then working all those levels at once. SWR gives me more flexibility. That said, there is something to be said for a program that is so easy to implement! Everyone I've spoken to about AAS, has raved about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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