Spelling program for first grade

[MellowYellow]

Which one is your favorite?

 

I am looking at Spelling Power, Spelling Workout, and Sequential Spelling. I know a lot of people rave about All about Spelling, but I am looking for short and easy lessons (about 15 minutes or so).

 

Also, how many times a week do you do spelling?

 

Thanks.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

We love AAS. I do find lessons to be pretty short and easy. It would probably be about 10-15 minutes a day if we did it 4-5 days a week. We do AAS 3 2 times a week for my second grader and it takes maybe 20 minutes a day. We complete one lesson a week. Last year we did AAS 2 and could do one whole lesson in a day and it took us about 20-30 minutes.

 

I really like being able to do it just two times a week and we do grammar the other two days.

[Aurelia]

My favorite is either Apples & Pears or AAS. A&P is quick and easy, it's a workbook and TM and is literally open and go, there are no other pieces. We switched to AAS because Ariel doesn't do particularly well with workbooks, and set a limit of 15-20 minutes. We do spelling daily because she is not a natural speller.

[ByGrace3]

We do about 15-20 minutes a day of AAS 4 days/week.

[duckens]

I have not used Spelling Workout.

 

I have used Spelling Power with a homeschooling family for which I nannied. I REALLY liked it, and I already have a copy in a bin in the garage for when dd is older. However, I would not use it for children that are just learning the rules for spelling unless I had better faith in my own teaching abilities. I plan to use Spelling Power with dd when she is in 4th grade or so.

 

At this point, I am planning to start dd on Sequential Spelling within a year or so. I have not used Sequential Spelling with a child, but a friend let me preview her set. It seems very similar to Spelling Power in many ways, but is a better beginner program IMO. My friend uses the computer version of it for the sake of having her son be independent for one subject/day. I think either the computer version or the non-computer version would fit for our family. You can judge what will work for your family.

 

HTH

[happy-hs]

We went through many spelling programs in our first few years of homeschooling. We tried Spelling Power, Spelling Workout, All About Spelling, and Phonics Road (which isn't just spelling, but does include it).

 

We finally found our forever spelling program in Spell to Write and Read. I LOVE it and so do the kids. It's a great, solid, rule-based program with many "extras" added in. It's a one-time purchase that can be used for all ages. My kids were already several grades above their age in spelling, but SWR raised their spelling level by two more grades each in just our first few months using it. It's a meaty program and it takes some time to digest it all before teaching it, but it is truly wonderful. We're hooked. :)

 

Melissa :)

[go_go_gadget]

I used SW with my son last year, and it was fine. It did take him a good half hour to get through usually, but he was only five and and working on it independently. That said, I just love AAS and it doesn't take very long. We only do it once a week at this point (with five minutes of daily card review for my daughter), and do a whole step in about 30 minutes. So 30 minutes 1x/week + 25 minutes of practice (5 minutes 5x/week), which could also be broken down into less than 15 minutes a day.

[MerryAtHope]

 

I am looking at Spelling Power, Spelling Workout, and Sequential Spelling. I know a lot of people rave about All about Spelling, but I am looking for short and easy lessons (about 15 minutes or so).

.

 

AAS recommends only working for 15 or 20 minutes per day.

[3monkeys]

I use SS1 with my 2nd grader. It took us a while to really get into it and about half way through book something clicked for ds. He actually likes it. The only thing I don't like is there are no spelling rules. Child is expected to just "see" patterns in their spelling. They correct mistakes after each word is written. I'm just still on the fence about it. I know that is no help to you. Really considering AAS due to all the great comments on this forum.

[Kathryn]

AAS takes us about 10 minutes, if that, a day for level one.

[KristenR]

Same here with AAS. I started dd at age 4 because she was an early reader and I wanted to give her a strong foundation in spelling. We always do spelling 3x a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays) - with Level 1 it took us about 15 minutes per lesson so we did three lessons a week. If there was ever a time she seemed to be a bit confused on a lesson we would take two days (two 15 minute lessons) on it. Now we are about halfway through Level2 and we average about 25 minutes. If she was older and could write at a quicker pace we would probably be able to do it in 15.

 

We LOVE AAS here. I can't believe how much I learned that I never knew.... and we're only on Level 2!!! :D

[Walking-Iris]

We did sequential spelling 1 during 1st grade. I actually went at a slower pace and divided that book into two years. Mainly because some of the words were hard for my 1st grader and the daily list would get old after a few months. We're doing book 2 now for 3rd and we're zipping through it. I think taking those first two years to do spelling at a gentle pace helped. I used to put the lists on Spelling City as well. The extra work on the computer helped. I thought about using the computer cd-rom this year but I still wanted to be directly involved to explain things (definitions, homophones, subtle differences in sounds etc) that I didn't think he would get with the cd-rom.

 

There actually is a list of frequently used spelling rules in the teacher's guide and we do learn the rules as a result of recognizing patterns. I love this program and think it helps with phonics as well. It's teacher intensive though---you have to come up with your own sentences, seize the moment to explain things like contractions or compound words etc. The teacher book is just literally lists of words!!! If you want something to tell you how to teach those list of words then it may not be a good fit. But I don't like curricula/programs that are too scripted---if at all.

[Canadianmumof5]

We use Spelling Workout here. DS5 is just starting with Level A......he is only on Lesson #2 so I don't have an opinion quite yet.

But we have used C & D, as well as E & F with the older kiddos and it has been great.

 

Pre-test on Monday - any words that are spelled wrong are written out 5X. They also write out the Spelling Tip.

Then Tues-Thurs they work on the lesson pages.

Friday is the final test - usually they get 100% or pretty close.

 

It is simple, easy to use.

DS10 is a natural speller so he just whipped through it, but DD8 struggles a little but we have found it to be a really solid program for her. And DS5 who just started says he loves it. Then again, he loves all ofhis schoolwork :tongue_smilie:

[nansk]

We are going to use SWR too, but it is teacher-intensive. If you want an easier workbook-like program with spelling rules, I suggest you look at Spelling Plus. I found the spelling lists, rules, and a sample workbook page on the Spelling Plus web site so I got a good idea of what the program is. The workbook (one for gr 1-6) is quite affordable too.

Edited December 8, 2011 by nansk
Added web site link.