Jen in PA Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I'm curious to know how those of you who combine phonics and spelling do it. DD will be doing mostly 1st grade work next year, and I had planned on starting SWO. However, she does very well with the spelling-oriented exercises in ETC (we are in Book 4 right now), and I was considering making her weekly spelling lists based on what she's working on in there instead. I like the idea of saving the money and limiting the number of workbook pages she has to do each day, since she is already enthusiastic about writing in general, and I'd like her to stay that way! I'd really appreciate any thoughts or suggestions on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmwife Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I personally did not care for SWO at all. We choose to use SWR which is a combination phonics/spelling curriculum that can be used all years with only investing in a Learning Log or a composition book for 3rd grade and above. It is a big investment initially but I do think that we will save lots of $$$$ in the long run, we have a large family and I plan on using it with all my children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Both of mine had limited attention spans then, and I didn't see the need to duplicate efforts. We didn't start spelling until they were done with phonics, which was early 1st grade for one and last 2nd for the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmy Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I'll be interested to hear on this - I started oldest on SWO this past fall and he is/was a *terrible* speller. Personally I feel like it's too many workbooks to ETC *and* spelling workout (and handwriting for us...) but his spelling has actually improved a lot so I'm afraid to stop LOL. I've been thinking of switching to the natural speller because it would be less expensive over time with 4 kids....those SWO books are $15 each! eek! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfamily5 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 We started using Spelling Power last year. (I bought it used on ebay) As long as it works with my other kids, I'll never have to buy anything else. All levels, all grades. My oldest did great with it, my youngest, okay. (They suggest not starting any earlier than 2nd grade and not pushing it at 2nd grade--I pushed:) I think alot of it was her age. Instead of buying a vocab program, I'm pulling words from the books we/they are reading. They are underlining words they don't know and I'll add them to a list in a notebook for them to use as vocab and spelling words. I think your plan is very doable. Patty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithfamily5 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 we only used the dolch sight words as spelling words until we finished phonics. Patty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nestof3 Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Phonics was cheap here -- Alphaphonics for both my boys. I think I paid $10 for it. Once they finished Alpha Phonics, they began reading Pathway Readers (Ben) and CLP Nature Readers (Nathan). Now they are continuing reading those aloud to me and reading on their own. I do not start spelling until the 3rd grade, and I'll be using Natural Speller -- another inexpensive book. I've never done workbooks for phonics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tristangrace Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 My daughter will be doing first grade work next year also, and I've decided to hold off on a formal spelling program until she's eight. Until then, I plan to just use a list of the 300 most commonly used English words and make sure she knows how to spell those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
materursa Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Previously there was a post on using ABCs and All Their Tricks for spelling. This book is a complete reference for letter sounds and already has some spelling lists in it. In this thread Lori D. shares how she creates a spelling program using the book and Karenciavo shares a link to samples of the beautiful spelling worksheets she created for using the book for spelling. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29334 Rainbow Resource has the paperback version for $11.95 keepersofthefaith.com has the paperback for $11.94, the hardcover for $18.39 and even has the Phonics Made Plain flashcards that go along with it for $19.99. HTH, Amanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 We've never really consistently used a spelling program. My dc both used ETC in 1st grade (along w/ Phonics Pathways), but dd used many more ETC workbooks than ds (who didn't like doing them). I think those helped w/ spelling -- just getting the practice of writing the words correctly. After that, we never really did 'spelling' as dd seems to be a natural speller. If she ever has a question about spelling something when writing, I tell her how to spell it -- that way she's practicing writing it correctly & seeing it written correctly. In that vein, I am thrilled to have found Spelling Wisdom (by Simply Charlotte Mason) & I have it on hand for our upcoming 5th grade (and 2nd grade) year. I really like the idea of Spelling Wisdom (prepared dictation) vs. the traditional 'rote memorization' method of spelling found in many workbooks. I think this will be a great, and useful, addition to our days. On the Simply Charlotte Mason website, here's what they say about dictation as a spelling tool: Dictation Dictation is the method Charlotte Mason used to teach spelling and reinforce grammar and composition skills to her students. For a dictation exercise, give the child a copy of a selected passage and instruct the child to study the passage until he is sure of the spelling of all the words and knows of all the capitalization and punctuation. When the child is ready, dictate the passage one line or sentence at a time, saying each line or sentence only once and pausing while the child writes it. Be on the alert to catch any misspelling and correct it immediately. Start with short passages for younger children and progress to paragraphs and pages for older children. Charlotte started using dictation exercises with children around the third or fourth grades. Our Spelling Wisdom books will save you a lot of time and make this method quite easy to do. Each Spelling Wisdom book covers a few years worth of spelling in each book: Grades 3, 4, 5: Book One Grades 5, 6, 7: Book Two Grades 7, 8, 9: Book Three Grades 9, 10, 11: Book Four Grades 11, 12: Book Five Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 Thanks to everyone for all of the great ideas. I really like the idea of just streamlining language arts for 1st and then seeing what she needs as we progress, but it's reassuring to hear what others are doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I am using SWR for spelling/phonics. It makes complete sense to combine spelling and phonics:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarynB Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 We tried a variety of programs before settling on: Spelling Power (buy it once and you never buy again for any other kids!) and The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, again this book is not consumable and teaches all the reading/phonics instruction that you need at this age (by the end of the book, your child should read at 4th grade level and it's very gently done!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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