tlcspcarcetc Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 I've gotten mixed reviews on this. I'm wondering if I should do spelling w/my first grader. We already using ETC (moved back to 2 because I wasn't sure she was REALLY absorbing everything in ETC3, though she was getting all the right answers). I have people telling me that it's not that important and others who swear by it. DD gets very upset when she gets something wrong. She sometimes even melts down. DD1 is using Sequential Spelling and I tried to see if DD2 could do it, but it was WAY over her head. I've heard good things about AAS, but other than that would have no idea where to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 (edited) My oldest just finished with ETC book 8 and will be moving to a spelling program very soon. I like to hold off on spelling until they are reading well. One of the reasons we haven't started a spelling program now that she is finished with ETC is that I'm undecided on which program to use. ETA: She just started 2nd. Edited September 30, 2011 by ChrisB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyhomemaker Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 Our spelling and phonics are combined into one program (SWR), but if we weren't using a program like that, I think I would wait on spelling until we were finished or at least almost finished with phonics. The way we do it now, I give ds spelling words and we practice writing them, sound them out, etc. I don't give him a spelling test, but I do keep track of problem words so we can get extra practice on those and any phonetic/spelling rules that might apply to them. So far he seems to be doing well with it, and he doesn't seem frustrated. I would consider his reading to be ok, but not fantastic. He is reading "If you give a mouse a cookie" and other books in that series, but he's not ready for chapter books yet. Maybe you could try some spelling for a few weeks and just see how it goes. If it's too frustrating, table it until later in the year when she is reading better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
threeofakind Posted September 30, 2011 Share Posted September 30, 2011 I have been told that spelling can lag anywhere between 6-12 months after phonics have been introduced. With my first grader I am just doing dictation with words- sound by sound to build confidence and skills. I, too, don't test her on the words- it's just practice and no pressure. I will likely not do official spelling tests until maybe the end of the year- if she seems comfortable. But really I am pretty relaxed about it at this age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandty Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Last year with my first grader, we started spelling about half way into the year. At the beginning of the year I knew he wasn't ready for it, and then a few months later I knew he was ready. You could always do a week of it and then keep going if it goes well or stop and try again a month later. We used AAS, but didn't continue with it after we did level 1. We did a couple weeks of review here and there because we would hit a lesson that he wasn't ready for yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tothenthdegree Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 We are using AAS and love the program! My son is in the first grade and is reading at an intermediate level. He flew through AAS 1 and we just started AAS 2. There is no prep on my part; it's open and go and tells me what to say. HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessieC Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Someone here mentioned they used the last page of each ETC lesson as a spelling test, and I've been doing this with my first grader lately. She is on Book 2. Totally off topic, but funny story--the first time she had a spelling "test," I told her she couldn't look at the words. I came back and she had written the entire page in atrocious handwriting. When I pointed out that it didn't look like her best writing and she should try again, she said, "But mom, I can't do any better! You told me I couldn't look!" (She thought she couldn't look at the word she was writing. Ha!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skueppers Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I am not doing spelling with my first grader. She is picking up spelling just fine from our routine of copywork, dictation, and writing exercises. I don't plan to introduce a spelling program until second grade, at the earliest, and then only if it seems needed. My child is a strong reader who works best with patterns rather than rules, so if we do spelling in the future, I'll probably try Sequential Spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Someone here mentioned they used the last page of each ETC lesson as a spelling test. I've entertained this idea too until I can decide what program to use next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom2011 Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 n/m Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketgirl Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I LOVE Spelling Power for my older daughter who has passed through 4th, 5th, and is now in 6th grade. But it just wasn't the right thing for us for 1st grade. My first home schooled 1st grader was a "high" achiever when I took her out of public school mid year last year and her little sister, my new 1st grader, is more Math-y than Language Arts-y. It doesn't seem to be the best thing for that grade for us (and I've read that's its more for maybe 3rd grade and up) but it seems to be really clicking now this year for my 2nd grader. I'm going to try to work on word families, sight words, and just lots of reading my new 1st grader... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I am doing Spelling Plus with my first grader. Genus doing very well. We have accelerated quite a bit. In a week we will start the second grade lists. Each list focuses on a spelling rule or two. We do a list, and the corresponding dictation the next week. He hated spelling worksheets. This is just a method for practicing the words. Not worksheets. It is perfect for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorrelZG Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 The Modern Speller is working out wonderfully for DS for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama2Many4 Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I use the Charlotte Mason method for homeschooling, and don't introduce spelling until at least 2nd grade now. Charlotte Mason's teachings on spelling methods do make sense. My 3rd grader just really started spelling this year and my first grader will start next year if I feel he is ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggermom Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 Have any of you tried Click N Spell? I was thinking about that for my 1st grader once he is reading a bit better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siloam Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 I've gotten mixed reviews on this. I'm wondering if I should do spelling w/my first grader. We already using ETC (moved back to 2 because I wasn't sure she was REALLY absorbing everything in ETC3, though she was getting all the right answers). I have people telling me that it's not that important and others who swear by it. DD gets very upset when she gets something wrong. She sometimes even melts down. DD1 is using Sequential Spelling and I tried to see if DD2 could do it, but it was WAY over her head. I've heard good things about AAS, but other than that would have no idea where to go. Necessary? No. Helpful in your situation with a child who wants to spell right? Probably. Love, no adore, no will die for AAS. Ok maybe no die for, but I really like it. It is one of the purchases I have not regretted and would do again without hesitation. Sometimes spelling can lag behind reading a lot. My kids have dyslexic tendencies. The youngest two in particular struggle to hear the sounds correctly in words and struggle with retaining correct visual memory of how words are spelled. I have a 13yo who reads at an college level and spells at about a 9th grade level, a 12yo who probably could read at a college level but doesn't like to read that much. She spells at grade level or above. My 10yo can read above grade level but is just now nailing blends. Yep I said blends. She just couldn't hear two sounds. Took a tour through a special program (LiPS) that focused on the way the mouth moves to make sounds and through a visualization program (Seeing Stars) to train her to see words in the mind for visual memory. In the last two years she went from spelling a word like blend as bid because she didn't hear the blends and mixed up /i/ and /e/. Then she would read it and melt down because she knew it was wrong and couldn't figure out how to fix it. The first year we stopped spelling and just worked on the programs. The next year she spent figuring out how to fix it after she wrote it wrong, now that she had the tools she needed. This year she is finally spelling them right the first time through without pauses (she is still in AAS level 2). Of course my ds is walking in my 10yo's steps. :blink: My life is exhausting. :D But in PS they would have just been left as poor spellers. I know because the younger two get it from me. Heather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 (edited) I did formal spelling with my oldest and found it to be a waste of time, honestly. And she was a struggling speller. I dropped it in 2nd and then I picked it up again briefly this year in 3rd trying to use AAS, and I still think it's a waste of time. But, I do like having the tiles as a manipulative she can reference while writing. I've felt both my kids (current 3rd and 1st grader) have improved their spelling skills far more with just reading & writing. Lower elementary spelling addresses common words, anyways. My theory is with plenty of reading and writing they will internalize them just due to frequency of exposure. My experience is that progress in spelling - *real* progress as in permanent recall and not just recall for a test - has not been related at all to whether formal spelling is done or not. I will reconsider spelling in later elementary when we start tackling unusual rules and rare words. Edited November 30, 2011 by zenjenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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