Spelling help

[Hottater]

I am using OPGTTR, and he is on lesson 119. So, his reading word list yesterday is hauls, sauce, pause, swat, wasp, wash, waltz, all, calls, tall, salt, yawns, draw, drawn, straw. Shouldn't he be spelling at the same reading level? I did explode the code book 2 and 3, but I didn't reinforce it as much as I had in the beginning of the year and squished out some LA, because I think a reason for handwriting won out and I needed a break from going eclectic all over the place :) Also, his explode the code was only 3 pages max per lesson. So of course, without enough of "practicing" spelling, he's written things like "eta" instead of "eat". I bought Spelling Power by accident. It says to start with an 8 year old. I tried to return it and they wouldn't take it back. :( So, I don't know what I should do. Shouldn't I start with a spelling program, to reinforce where he's reading? Is explode the code enough? Should I wait until he's old enough to do spelling power? Should I get another spelling curriculum before then? Is there a better "bridge?" Son is 5, will be 6 in August. I didn't want to burn him out with too much written work, but if that's the only way to get him to spell things out well, then... sigh i guess I'll do it. Wish that Peace hill press had a spelling curriculum suggestion to compliment Opgttr. I need to go cheap though. We've already maxed out our schooling budget with an ipad. So, any apps or free online suggestions would be great. I was told by a friend to make him make a sentence on the chalk board using two of your new words from OPGTTR. But how do I do all the words and it not take up another 45 minutes? I feel like I have a lot of "catching up" to do in spelling. But, I seriously don't want to burn him out by spending so much time on LA. It feels like a good hour and 15 minutes on Reading and writing alone sometimes, when their recommendations are 15 minute lessons per subject.

Yvonne

[boscopup]

He doesn't need to spell as well as he reads at this point. Most kids don't. Encoding and decoding are two different skills. You could go back to the beginning with OPGTR and use it for spelling - just don't expect to go nearly as fast as you do for reading. Those words he read today aren't words typically spelled by K'ers. ;)

 

You could check out Webster's Speller (free). I like how it breaks thing into syllables form the beginning via the syllabary.

 

Some people use ETC as their spelling program. I only just got the books yesterday, so I can't comment as to the effectiveness of that. ;)

 

Spelling is a bit harder, because a lot of things have to be memorized. There are often multiple ways to spell a particular sound, and sometimes there are rules to help you narrow it down, but sometimes you just plain have to memorize them. Reading, OTOH, is mostly decoding the phonograms. It's easier to do. That's why good readers aren't always good spellers, but good spellers are often good readers. When my son started first grade, he could read at a 4th grade level, but he couldn't spell his way out of a paper bag. He's a lot better now (learning phonics), but his spelling abilities were pretty normal for his age.

 

For something like "eat" being spelled "eta", try having him read the word, so he'll see that that's not how you pronounce it. I wouldn't expect him to know "eat" vs "eet" or "ete", but he can learn that it's definitely not "eta". So start out slow by having him do small syllables and easy words, listening to each sound in the word. Basically, chunk the word into its sounds, doing the opposite of what you did when teaching him to read.

 

You should be fine using the materials you already have available until he's ready for Spelling Power. :)

[zenjenn]

Agreed. Think about it - even as an adult, unless you possess an unusual spelling knack, you can read more proficiently than you can spell. If I read "Reykjavik" I can read it without missing a beat, but ask me to spell it without a dictionary or a spellchecker (which I had access to for this forum post)? No, I couldn't.

 

Just want to share a story about spelling. I pulled my daughter out of public school a few months into 1st grade, for a variety of reasons including mild speech articulation and dyslexia issues that were being ignored by the school. Her spelling scores were alarmingly low, and even though we were lax in many subjects the first year we schooled, I diligently used a spelling curriculum. She would do fantastic, learn her words, ace her spelling tests - and then misspell the same words if they came up outside the context of the curriculum, even a few days after spelling them perfectly on a test.

 

The following summer I had her further evaluated by a dyslexia specialist because I was not satisfied with her process in spelling and writing. Her spelling was under the 20th percentile for her grade, virtually no improvement from the time I had her speech and language evaluation a year earlier.

 

I read about an approach to spelling used by the creator of a curriculum called "Connect the Thoughts", which is for older kids and in my opinion has some problems, but the author has some good ideas. For spelling he has the kids (older) simply keep track of words they misspell in essay writing, and then turn those words into spelling lists. The theory is that words on the list are contextual to words used by the students by choice in their writing, and improve more organically.

 

So I took a leap of faith and I completely ditched the spelling curriculum early this year. Just shelved it and ignored it.

 

In its place - additional writing, additional reading, and oral spelling exercises/games in the car (we are in the car daily). That's it. Tons and tons and tons of reading. I let her stay up until 10 pm on the condition that she was reading, not only for reading proficiency but spelling. Heck, even as an adult, the way I identify that I've spelled a word wrong is because it just looks wrong, partially a filter derived from a ton of reading. She also did daily writing almost without exception, and she edited her own work.

 

I sheepishly mentioned this approach to a former 1st grade teacher, thinking she would chastise me, and she said "Oh, I think spelling lists and tests are completely useless. I only did them because parents and administrators expected them." :001_huh:

 

That was validating. But you know what was even more validating?

 

I just had her take her standardized SAT 2nd grade test. After a year of ditching the spelling curriculum and taking this approach, she jumped from 20th percentile spelling to nearly 75th!

 

I know one size doesn't fit all, but I'm a believer.

Edited June 18, 2011 by zenjenn

[katiejean]

What is OPGTTR? thanks! ;)

[janainaz]

Get him reading well, keep working with him, and THEN do spelling.

 

I worked on reading with my younger son all through K. I did work on math skills also, but my number one goal was for him to be able to read very well. Simplify it - work on ONE goal and then move on. Don't stress out your kid by asking him to do spelling while he's learning to read. Just sit with him daily (I use OPGTTR also) and focus on the lesson. If you want to play games and work on phonics beyond that, go for it, but keep the time short and sweet. Always review before presenting new material and just don't stress!

[Hottater]

Thank you for the encouragement. Trying to do Classical method is hard for me. I am naturally a sequential teacher. But God has totally been impressing on me to do more hands on learning stuff with Konos (a unit study approach) I forgot that I had also purchased Spelling workout A. So, I could just let him do one lesson a week. Starting with the long vowels. Wow, I feel like it's still Lang arts overload. If I have Spelling workout, do I ditch ETC? or do ETC and ditch Spelling workout? I don't know which would be more beneficial. I remember I liked spelling workout because of the proofreading skills. But, ETC seems to help in other ways. If I forget to instill spelling, I will know if it's the first subject I let go, if cramped for time, i won't stress. :)

Currently Language Arts- Ordinary Parents guide to teaching reading, Explode the Code, A reason for Handwriting, First Language lessons (Grammar),

Sigh, wish there was something less time consuming that does it all for him. Time totally got away today, cause I went light on Lang Arts these last two weeks to finish some history that we have to catch up on. And for reading only today-- it took 1.75 hours, which I know he could do in 15 minutes, but he constantly got distracted and was outta practice these last too weeks. I even had an abeka learning game as incentive. It's so hard to make sure he gets the *right* amount of daily practice, or even block out the scheduling to help him feel more on the successful side. grrr... just a mini vacation from reading for one week seems to blow away 3 weeks worth of work. :mad:

Edited June 22, 2011 by Hottater

[Classically Minded]

The only thing you need for language arts in the beginning is OPGTR. You don't need ETC, we never used it and dd7 finished OPGTR and is reading on a 4th grade level and spelling well using Spelling Workout B now. I never understood why people used ETC because OPGTR is the ONLY phonics you need - it is K-4th grade phonics/reading.

 

Generally, you start spelling (Spelling Workout A) after you finished Lesson 115 and start First Language Lessons on Lesson 140 in OPGTR. You can read more at the WTM store link, its the last question on the bottom:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/frequently-asked-questions?___store=default

 

You are right, Spelling Power is for 3rd grade and above.

[Classically Minded]

And for reading only today-- it took 1.75 hours, which I know he could do in 15 minutes, but he constantly got distracted and was outta practice these last too weeks.

 

We didn't even start OPGTR till my daughter had just turned 6 and we finished it a few months after her 7th birthday. She was more attentive then and we would fly through lessons. Maybe take some time off and let him read Bob books or other readers through the summer and then do a review come fall and you may find that small amount of time will save BOTH of you some time and patience! ;)

[Classically Minded]

What is OPGTTR? thanks! ;)

 

OPGTTR is Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

[Hottater]

The only thing you need for language arts in the beginning is OPGTR. You don't need ETC, we never used it and dd7 finished OPGTR and is reading on a 4th grade level and spelling well using Spelling Workout B now. I never understood why people used ETC because OPGTR is the ONLY phonics you need - it is K-4th grade phonics/reading.

 

Generally, you start spelling (Spelling Workout A) after you finished Lesson 115 and start First Language Lessons on Lesson 140 in OPGTR. You can read more at the WTM store link, its the last question on the bottom:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/frequently-asked-questions?___store=default

 

You are right, Spelling Power is for 3rd grade and above.

 

THANKS! You have helped me stop guessing. Wheww..