Mom in High Heels Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I'm leaning towards dropping spelling after reading LCC, which recommends not doing formal spelling. It makes sense not to use it, since Indy will be doing much more writing next year (5th grade) and I think can learn by spelling words for that. Plus the fact that the spelling tests stress him out so much I think I'd rather not go through that every week. He usually does fine on them, but the stress makes him crazy and by extension, me. So, if you do more LCC style and don't use a spelling program, how is it going? How do you feel about not doing spelling? Do you feel your child is still learning how to spell? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I think it really depends on the child. If your son isn't having any issues with spelling, then I think it's entirely feasible to drop formal spelling in 5th grade. Neither of my girls did formal spelling past about 2nd or 3rd grade, and they've been fine. They both had Latin for years, but I think they're just natural spellers. On the other hand, my son is still doing spelling in 5th and will continue in 6th, because he really struggles with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 We've dropped spelling for both my children. When they get a word wrong, we write it on the board and they learn it. Both are natural spellers, and through writing and reading they seem to be doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my2boysteacher Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I have also been trying to streamline things after reading LCC. I think I could skip out of spelling for my youngest, who is an extremely natural speller. (photographic memeory?) The only problem I see, is that my oldest is dyslexic and will always struggle with phonics/spelling. I'm not sure how it would fly to let one son forego spelling, while one has to continue... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Fly Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 I think it depends on your child. We have never done formal spelling, DD is a natural speller and we read a lot. We used Spelling Accelerator software for a while, adding new difficult words we found as we read. It has some fun games and quizes, but you have to make the word lists. I do think DD learns the spelling of new words by reading them. What is LCC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Thanks for posting this. I am encouraged to maybe possibly drop spelling for my upcoming 5th grader next year. She already works a year ahead in spelling and she gets so annoyed because the words are so easy for her. Her book does do vocab study with the words though, and I like that. She hasn't misspelled a word on a test all year, and when she does in her work occasionally, it is usually a careless error that I can point out to her. When I read WTM she has them working in Spelling workout which switches to vocab in middle school. Maybe I will skip spelling for 5th and look into SWO for the vocab study later? Anyway, thanks again for posting this.. Much to think about as our plates grow fuller for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 .So, if you do more LCC style and don't use a spelling program, how is it going? How do you feel about not doing spelling? Do you feel your child is still learning how to spell? I didn't use a spelling program with my dd until about 2/3 of the way through her 3rd grade year. She's very bright, and she has always been a strong writer, but her spelling was always atrocious. Lots of reading and writing wasn't changing that. My husband is also a terrible speller, so I guess she gets it from him. I never wanted to use a spelling program because I remember them from when I was in school and how boring and pointless they were. I assumed that because dd is a good reader and strong writer that she would just "pick up" spelling from reading and writing. It wasn't happening. I use Wheeler's Elementary Speller, free from Google books. I do not do spelling tests. We just work through the lessons, and I have seen great improvement in her spelling. I'm not in a hurry and I don't care whether she's spelling "on grade level." I just want to see progress. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 We dropped Spelling Workout in January, dd hated it so much. It was the only thing we were doing that she truly hated. So I have her keep a spelling notebook, in which she has to copy down 5x any words she misspells in her writing assignments. It seems to be working fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I truly believe in dictation as the way to teach spelling. It is a much slower process in a child learning how to spell, but the child learns it better. I usually have my children copy passages from the books they are reading. Then at the end of the week, I dictate a few sentences from the passage to see how well they remember how to spell the words. I think it is a great method because the child is learning the spelling words in context. Just my experience! Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jen3kids Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I'm doing AAS 5 with my 10 year old and it's likely the last level we'll do. He is a pretty good speller now but he gets totally stressed by the word lists part of the lesson. I've resorted to doing most word lists verbally to reduce his stress. He usually bounces on the mini-trampoline while spelling the words and that seems to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 My ds is also a natural speller.. he completed the Spelling Workout program, but really once you got into the later books it was more about vocabulary than spelling.. he's now using the Classical Roots program, I like that he's being introduced to perhaps new words and word families, kwim? But it isn't exactly spelling... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 (edited) I'm doing AAS 5 with my 10 year old and it's likely the last level we'll do. He is a pretty good speller now but he gets totally stressed by the word lists part of the lesson..... How interesting. We are using level 6 now and are running into the same problem. It's starting to become stressful even though she's not having much difficulty. She misses words here and there, but not usually, yet she's still stressed. My dd is NOT a natural speller and AAS was the program that worked after many failed attempts with other programs. We've done Levels 1-6, but I think we will be moving on to using studied dictation and working on frequently misspelled words. Edited March 7, 2012 by Hilltop Academy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom in High Heels Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Thanks for your input. Indy is not a natural speller, but that is likely due to being dyslexic. That is probably also the reason spelling tests stress him out so very much. He does fine on them, and is doing 4th grade level, but gets crazy and completely agonizes over them every week. He tries so hard when it comes to other writing, but is a very phonetic speller, which in English doesn't always work out so well. He loves Latin because he can spell the words. They are generally spelled the way they sound. I like the idea of keeping a spelling notebook to write down words he misspells. If he misses a word on a spelling test, he has to write it 20 times and KNOWS how to spell it after that. I wouldn't make him write every word he misspells 20 times though if we don't do a spelling program, but maybe 5X each. Making choices is HARD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Apples and Pears is an excellent program for dyslexic kids. Tara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 (edited) We've dropped spelling for both my children. When they get a word wrong, we write it on the board and they learn it. Both are natural spellers, and through writing and reading they seem to be doing well. My oldest two went through a big chunk of Webster's Speller last year and that seemed to be it for them. Edited March 7, 2012 by starrbuck12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Thanks for your input. Indy is not a natural speller, but that is likely due to being dyslexic. I know this isn't the same thing...but our 7 yro is mildly on the spectrum and I'm using All About Spelling with her. I also bought that scrabble game for young children with those big, chunky letter tiles (and the pot with the ladles). We get the pieces out and practice spelling different words from the AAS workbook. It seems to be working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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