Do you teach spelling to your accelerated learner?

[scrapbookbuzz]

As with reading, my 6yo ds is way ahead of the game when it comes to spelling. You can give him pretty much any word and he can spell it. (I was the same way at his age and that carries on into today.) So, as I was looking over his lessons for this next week, when I came to spelling, I thought, "Do I really need to do this with him?"

 

Do you teach your accelerated learners spelling? If you've stopped, what was the deciding factor?

[Guest Dulcimeramy]

I do. My 6yo is also a brilliant reader and speller, but I still don't want to neglect the use of a phonetic speller. I made this decision for my oldest son and used McGuffey's Speller. He's still a great speller at 14. He really did internalize the spelling rules.

 

For my current 6yo, I use Webster's from donpotter.net. I simply spend 10 minutes each day asking him words. If he misses any, he writes them three times on the whiteboard. He misses 0-2 words per day.

 

Both of my natural spellers think that spelling bees are great fun. If they hated it, I probably wouldn't do it. This oral drill method seems to be fairly painless for us all.

 

I also teach spelling through copywork and dictation.

[Donna]

I can't say that I actually "teach" spelling to my dd. I use Spelling Power which involves giving her a pretest list of words (lists are arranged according to phonetic rules) and the words she gets wrong, she studies for the next time. Every year I give her a placement test then we do a "year" or two of the program and put it away for the summer. The first year (5yo) she placed in what they consider 3rd grade level.

 

She is 8yo and this year worked through 7th and 8th grade levels getting maybe one word or two words incorrect every week (every 5 lessons). We have already put it away this year and I have decided to just use her errors in writing for spelling study from now on. The deciding factor for me was that she is already spelling very well, now knows all the rules from doing the program since she was 5yo, and it is really just a waste of time for me to read her a list of words to spell at this point.

[MaMa2005]

We use Megawords and A Reason for Spelling. DS is an excellent speller, but between the two programs, he is learning some of the subtle nuances of words, i.e., words ending in -en and -in, etc.

[2smartones]

I wouldn't say I'm "teaching" spelling. I sort of "reinforce" it on an as-needed basis. If a word is pretty phonetic and pretty well follows all the rules, it's not a problem at all, has never been taught, and will never be taught. If it's a word like ... I don't know... "cliche", it needs to be taught. Look at the last book or two of Sequential Spelling to find some odd words like that. We're also doing both Latin and Greek (not at the same time), so a lot of "odd" English words really aren't that odd at all. They're phonetic in another language, ya' know? I honestly haven't worked much with spelling or vocab at all. If a problem comes up, we work on it. We did Explode the Code a long time ago, so that probably helped solidify phonetic spelling. I really didn't think about it at the time, though.

[zaichiki]

ds - No. Not in years. He's a natural speller with a strong visual memory who deduced spelling rules from his reading. I did use a few programs on and off for a few years, but he was years ahead of grade level and it was honestly just a time user.

 

dd - yes. She's still learning and practicing her spelling rules.

 

Don't know about the younger two yet, but the boy is showing signs of being a lot like his brother.

[brownie]

For my 2nd grader, I regret not using Spelling Workout earlier. He knows most of the words going in at level D, but he doesn't think phonetically since he taught himself to read at 3yrs old. The exercises in the book are good for him.

 

For my 4th grader we've been hit and miss this year. I've decided next year that we will spend one 6 week session prepping for the spelling bee, maybe require him to be able to spell any vocab words from lit studies, and leave it at that. I used spellingcity.com this year to make personalized spelling lists for him. However, finding the words he doesn't know, without going to a list of words for which he doesn't even know the meaning, is difficult. It will leave more time for other things!

 

Brownie

[Storm Bay]

My eldest was a natural speller and understood phonics, so I used Spelling Power after doing A Beka (real spelling of it :)) for the very first year we had her at home. That way she only studied words she got wrong on a pretest, which meant she studied very few words, and all above her grade level. I used Spelling Workout with my younger two, but since they are NOT natural spellers found it next to useless for helping them learn to spell well. I think it could work for a natural speller, but it would have been just busy work for my eldest.

[Mandy in TN]

Keep in mind that we are more of a math family than a LA family, but here is what we have done.

 

We used the CLE LA materials with their grade 1 schedule, then MCP Plaid Phonics C, and MCP Word Study D. I was more interested in an overview of spelling guidelines than a weekly word list. Since I know that he can look at a list of words and then be able to spell them, programs that present a word list and then several pages of activities to study the words don't really appeal to me.

 

However, we started using Spelling Plus in Feb and I like that I can present the instructional information including homophones and then have the choice of the words on the page or words from the back that follow the same pattern and that they provide suggestions for adding difficulty. If he can demonstrate that he already knows the guideline presented (usually he already knows the guideline and can say that he remembers that from blah, blah, blah) and can apply it to a handful of words then next time we move on to the next list.

 

Even doing it a couple of days each week, it won't take us long to finish the book (I know it sounds silly, but I did just start at the beginning), but I don't feel like I am wasting our time. We don't have a bunch of skipped workbook pages and while we have continued to review spelling guidelines we have also covered homophones and some suffixes. Also, and not least important, the little man isn't complaining about this. He actually seems to enjoy it.

 

When we finish the book, I may look into Spelling Power, due to similiar format, or I may switch over to Megawords for a different approach. Either way, for us, I don't plan to drop spelling until ds is using spelling in composition fluidly at high school level. Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind.;)

HTH-

Mandy

Edited March 29, 2011 by Mandy in TN

[Halcyon]

My accelerated 5 yo uses Spelling Power. Like your son, he can pretty much spell any word you throw at him, so we do Spelling Power for fun. He is almost done with level E. He really enjoys it so we do it. :)

[RosesAreRed]

No...there isn't any reason to teach her spelling. She can spell everything thrown at her. Instead, she likes to study SAT word lists and spelling comp lists for "fun". The closest she comes to spelling work is writing an unfamiliar word and then learning about it and finding a synonym. But all that is on her own.

[twoforjoy]

I tried using AAS last year, for first grade. I hated it. My son already knew how to spell all the words in the book, and it was seemed like a lot of effort and time to spend on something he already knew. (I think it would be a fantastic program for a child who struggled with phonics or spelling and needed the detailed instruction; it was just a lot of preparation, teaching time, and effort for something that my son really didn't need much instruction in.)

 

Then I started feeling bad about neglecting spelling (we quit about halfway through the year), and I started using Spelling Workout this year. We're starting with Book A, which is very basic for him, but I like it better than AAS, because at least it's fast and easy (for me, in terms of prep work). I just hand him the workbook, tell him what pages to do, and he does it. This way I can expend my time and effort on the subjects I feel are more important for him to focus on right now, but at least he's doing something for spelling.

[abbeyej]

Some very accelerated kids are terrible spellers. They still need instruction. But for my natural spellers, we've given up on spelling as a separate subject pretty early on. There are just so many interesting, important things for them to spend their time on that spelling (when they already do it well) seemed like a waste. I do agree with others that Spelling Power has been the most useful thing for us, because we could do placement tests and move through rapidly. Both of mine have used it from time to time. They've occasionally studied spelling just before spelling bee time. But for the most part, I correct their occasional mistakes and they don't repeat those mistakes. We can spend that time on other, more interesting material. :)

[crazyforlatin]

I also have a great reader and above-average speller, but I'm still using AAS because she doesn't know the rules even if the words in AAS3 are too easy for her. I don't use the tiles but do everything orally so that it's quick and efficient. AI think it's actually possible to go through the whole program without the tiles within 1 year with a strong speller, but it's really costly.

 

I wonder if there is a more concise spelling program. Afterall AAS has 6 (or more?) levels, but with great spellers who really just need to know the rules, I wish I could just have one book.

[boscopup]

I wonder if there is a more concise spelling program. Afterall AAS has 6 (or more?) levels, but with great spellers who really just need to know the rules, I wish I could just have one book.

 

That's kind of where I am too. My son picks up on the rules and how to apply them really easily. He just doesn't spell well UNTIL he learns the rules and other strategies. He didn't have much phonics when learning to read, so AAS is doubling as phonics for him. It's working great. We just go quickly through it and don't use the tiles to spell. We've done 2 levels in 3 months, though I expect level 3 to take longer.

[Scuff]

Does he enjoy it? DD6 probably doesn't need spelling. We'remgoing through Spelling Power (need to change my sig.) and she usually only gets 1 or 2 wrong each day, and then usually remembers it correctly everafter. She probably would spell just fine just absorbing it from reading. But it would break her heart to drop it. Lol the girl loves words.

[LisaKinVA]

Yes... and no.

 

I take everyone through spelling through 5th grade. My two boys, thus far, are very, very good spellers. My dd, although a voracious reader, suffers with lots of spelling issues. She may need a bit more time to remember how to spell (or maybe, just slow down and think about the word she is spelling...)

[Truscifi]

We use Megawords. Ds has a good visual memory and likes learning the longer words. I like that he is learning the rules of syllabication, which is helping his word attack skills. And we do a verbal pretest so he only practices the words he needs work on.

[Embassy]

I do quite a bit with spelling because my kids don't have a strong phonics background.