BlsdMama Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Small introduction. Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and eight wee little ones - Ana (12), Christian (9), Hannah (^i^2/14/01-2/26/01), Elizabeth (6), Rebecca (4), Timothy (3), Abigail (21 months), and Sarah (3 weeks). We've homeschooled since the very beginning, originally for academic reasons, my personal convictions, and, now, finally for academic reasons and for dh's political convictions. :) We are switching to a laid out curriculum (Sonlight) for the first time in all these years and Mom is done doing the majority of the planning. We'll see if I can handle sticking to the program! We found the Well Trained Mind back when dd was in K / 1st grade. We've followed it since then (sometimes more and sometimes less) with quite a lot of CM worked in as well, generally always being eclectic, pulling bits and pieces from here and there. Our oldest is the perfect example of what a homeschooling student can be... She was an early reader, bookworm, and excels academically. Our ds had a lot of speech difficulties when he was little so we didn't start teaching him to read in earnest 'til about 7, when he could finally enunciate his sounds. This last year we really focused on reading and I feared we were very much behind. With testing (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) we actually found he was at a 5th grade level in 3rd grade and we were greatly relieved. I try not to compare the two, but often when I think he is behind he is really just normal. So we put off spelling because it's so difficult when you're not reading easily. So this year we need to work on his spelling and writing abilities, not handwriting. We used Spelling Workout for dd and she spells beautifully, but it was very natural to her and she never did much formal spelling. DS is not a natural speller. I have used Spelling Power and felt it was a good fit for dd, but cannot see it fitting Christian at all. Suggestions please? I don't want to "challenge" him at this point. I'd like something that he can do and feel very confident and competent with. The reading in Sonlight won't be hard for him as we picked Core 3 just for his interests and to help him fall in love with books. Thank you for your suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue G in PA Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I highly recommend All About Spelling for spelling. Very easy to implement, short lessons each day (10 minutes or so). It's not a workbook program w/ lists to memorize but rather a rules based program that teaches the "why" behind the spelling, KWIM? It is also a multi-sensory approach to spelling. My ds10 is a horrid speller. We tried SWO and he could memorize the words pretty well for a test, but a week later forget them. We're starting him on Level 1 of AAS next year (even though most of it will be easy!) and hope to get through to level 3 by year's end. The only time consuming part is the prep work cutting out all the letter tiles and phonogram cards. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 When my dd was at a hump with her spelling, we got the calvert spelling cd (for computer), and it turned out to be a real keeper! I'm not sure if it does any good for her spelling (we do SWR and dictation on top of it), but it absolutely made her feel more confident and positive about spelling. I also like SWR, but in your shoes, with so much going on, that doesn't seem very practical. You might look at Spelling Plus, which is totally open and go, has lots of spiraling dictation sentences, and just the get the rules and phonogram cards for SWR. That way you have a way to explain the words, but you have the easier implementation. Dictation and that computer spelling program really made a huge difference for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcara Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I 2nd the All About Spelling recommendation! It takes no prep work (after the initial cutting of all the tiles and cards). I started my dd (4th grade in the fall) a few weeks ago after finally admitting that her previous program wasn't working. Yesterday, she spelled a word in the program that she's been struggling with all year. I pointed it out to her, and she said, "This spelling program really works!" I'm also using it for her younger sister (1st grade) at a slower pace. We're really happy with it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share Posted June 13, 2008 So, parents with older kiddos... What level? I read her "Which Level?" article, but still am not sure. For example: Does the student know how to segment words into their individual sounds? (Shrimp is segmented into /sh/ - /r/ - /ĭ/ - /m/ - /p/, for example.) Yes. He can sound out things just fine. Has he completely mastered the sounds of the phonograms for a through z, plus ch, th, sh, ng, and ck? Can he write them from dictation? Yes. Can he easily spell most short vowel words? Yes. Does he know the basic spelling rules and how to apply them? We've never taught him a rule except that the silent e at the end of the word makes a vowel say its' name. Can he easily write out these sentences: The map can help us. Hand me the red backpack. Stick a stamp on the box. Fill six cups with milk. From dictation, he mispelled one word, milk. He had it correct, then second guessed himself, erased it and wrote "ck" instead of "k." Knowing that, if you've seen/used Level 2, which level would you go to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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