Spelling Difficulties

[Guest Angelene]

I am trying to find a spelling program that works for my kids--and me as a mom. We tried Spelling Workout--to no avail. We have tried Phonetic Zoo and the kids like it okay--and I like it b/c it is mostly on them to do it--however, they are not getting it. They still do not spell well and I am ready to resort to lists and memorization b/c it seems that that was the norm 100 years ago and maybe there is a reason! I do not want to commit another 140 dollars to AAS if it is not going to work either--any suggestions??? The kids who would be using the spelling are 15, 13, 10, 8 and 6 in grades 10,8,5,3,and 1 respectively. Any ideas would be appreciated. They are not "natural spellers" like some of the kids I have seen. Thanks.

 

Angie

Mom to 7

[Jen500]

You could try How To Teach Spelling. It covers all grade levels so you could use it with all your kids, and it doesn't cost a lot. There are also workbooks, which I use, just to make it a bit easier to implement. It teaches the spelling rules.

I can't compare HTTS w/the programs you've already tried.

[wtrmlnlabs]

:bigear:

Sounds like my house!! DH is a TERRIBLE speller and the boys have to get it from him!! I learned just by reading so much mostly and DS is NOT getting it through that. So I'm anxious to hear what others find useful!

[kandty]

You could try How To Teach Spelling. It covers all grade levels so you could use it with all your kids, and it doesn't cost a lot. There are also workbooks, which I use, just to make it a bit easier to implement. It teaches the spelling rules.

I can't compare HTTS w/the programs you've already tried.

:iagree:

 

Of course that is just from recommendations I have seen on this board. I am starting Megawords with my 5th grader this year and you might want to look into that program for your older ones. He also struggles with spelling. I believe Megawords is recommended with 4th grade and up.

[MerryAtHope]

I know about not wanting to waste money on another program that isn't going to work! We went through quite a few here. One of the reasons I tried AAS was because they have a 1 year, 100% money back guarantee if you purchase from them. I started my kids at the end of 3rd & 5th grades, and it's made a huge difference here. Have you looked at their online samples? That might help you decide if it's worth trying or not. Here's links to samples for the first 3 levels. I blogged more about our experiences with AAS here.

 

How well do your older ones (13 & 15 especially) work with the younger ones? One thing you might consider is whether you could teach them and then they could teach the younger ones--they might pick up some basics they missed that way but in a less painful way if they are learning for the purpose of teaching the younger ones. That strategy sometimes works well with a program like AAS that starts off easy to fill in gaps.

 

Your oldest 2 might also keep their own personal dictionary if there are certain words they tend to miss a lot in their writing--common words to check in their assignments before turning work in. Do they use spell check? If they can at least recognize the correct word that they want, that's part of the battle. Sometimes the errors are more about concentrating on the creative process in writing, organizing ideas etc... than about not knowing how to spell, so if they can use spell check successfully, that's a positive sign. (For awhile, one of mine had spelling that wasn't even good enough for spell check to help, but thankfully we're beyond that stage now! Progress is possible!!)

 

Here's a blog article I wrote about helping kids with editing in their writing--it uses some ideas that integrate with AAS but you could use the ideas even without that program too.

 

Hope you find some things that work for your kids! Merry :-)

[SnMomof7]

Well, don't spend $140. Just get the first level materials and see if it works. I have ONLY used AAS, but it works so well with my DD that I am using it for DH too. Like Merry said, there is a good return policy!