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Can someone list spelling curriculum for NON natural spellers?


mystika1
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:001_smile:Hi,

The title says it all. From what I gather, some spelling curriculum cater to natural spellers while others are gears towards the opposite. I would like to save myself some time and money by sticking to programs designed for the non natural speller. Please help me with a list.

 

Thanks,

 

Penny

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I tried Sequential Spelling for my non-natural speller and it was a disaster. It's the only curriculum I've totally dropped mid-year. He wasn't learning anything without a good understanding of spelling rules. I switched to Phonics Road and saw his spelling improve dramatically.

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All About Spelling has worked for my non natural speller who always tried to spell things phonetically. Truth be told, I have learned a lot about spelling from it too! I never knew the why to spelling rules but just memorized words. I am beginning to understand enough about spelling that I can actually answer my children when they ask why something is spelled the way it is:)

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Apples & Pears

R&S Spelling (unabashedly Christian, if that's an issue for you)

 

I'm using a combo of the two right now... A&P when I have time to spend one-on-one time on spelling, R&S when I want something more independent (and I've put his lists into Spelling City to play with the words some more).

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Spelling Power works good for some non natural spellers. It is working for my Ds. Spelling Plus is also a good one.

 

Ones that are suppose to be for non natural spellers, but didn't work for us: All About Spelling. It was too much and he was overwhelmed. Apples & Pears seemed good, but I stopped after the dictation sentences of "I'm a drinker not a thinker said the sad clown." :001_huh:

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I tried Sequential Spelling for my non-natural speller and it was a disaster. It's the only curriculum I've totally dropped mid-year. He wasn't learning anything without a good understanding of spelling rules.

 

:iagree: My dd ended up guessing but not actually learning anything. We use AAS now and it is almost miraculous how much it has helped!

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Another vote for All About Spelling. We have really loved it this year and it has made all the difference in my daughter's reading. She was really having difficulty paying attention to the "details" in words; she would usually just glance at each word and guess a word she already knew based on the first and last letters. This was leading to an enormous amount of frustration and no desire to read or write. I thought that approaching reading "backwards" from spelling might help her to fill in the gaps and it absolutely did. AAS is her favorite part of our school day now.

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So far, AAS has worked for us, too. I like the open and go lessons and the quick lessons each day. We are on Lesson 4 and used it the first time in the last week and he has found his Aha moments for spelling. He is starting to really pay attention to words while in the past he would glance at a word and make up a word with the first letter only!

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I would say the most commonly used spelling programs for non-natural spellers would be:

 

All About Spelling

Apples & Pears

Sequential Spelling

Phonics Road

 

As you can see, even among these programs, there is some hit and miss. My DD is dyslexic and a very non-natural speller. She was another one that spelled very phonetically, but AAS didn't work for her. It comes down to knowing your child and remembering that, even among these programs, nothing is perfect.

 

Does your child learn best through patterns and repetition? Then you should be looking at Apples & Pears or Sequential Spelling. Do they really like to understand the in's and out's of things? Then maybe look into All About Spelling or Phonics Road.

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My daughter is dyslexic and we were using an O-G program, which are supposed to be the best for dyslexic kids. We stuck with it for 2 years, but my dd just could *not* memorize all the spelling rules, no matter how much repetition, no matter using the multi-sensory approach.

 

We switched to SS this year and while she still hates spelling, we zip through it in 15 minutes and move on to reading (which she loves). For my dd I am hoping SS will work. She tends to like patterns, and with her inability to learn rules it seems like the best fit. If my dd could remember rules, I would have gone with an O-G approach, All About Spelling, etc.

 

Part of the trick is finding what works well with your dc! Something that is supposed to be the "best" curriculum, may be a flop with your dc and vice versa!

 

Paula

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SWR

Spalding

Phonics Road

Logic of English

AAS

 

All of these programs are based on a similar philosophy. They teach explicit, thorough phonics and all of the spelling rules you need to know. We use SWR, so that is obviously my preference. But any of these will get you there.

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I tried Sequential Spelling for my non-natural speller and it was a disaster. It's the only curriculum I've totally dropped mid-year. He wasn't learning anything without a good understanding of spelling rules. I switched to Phonics Road and saw his spelling improve dramatically.

 

:iagree: But we switched to AAS and have seen dramatic results.

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I have one of each, a natural and a non-natural, and we do AAS together. Everyone seems to be doing great. I like the blend of the memorization of rules but the super-tactile for my kinesthetic little boy.

 

I think a good phonics program helps. We've been doing ETC since preschool age, with the online component, and that has some "sneaky" spelling in there.

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We used SWR. It is intense, but worth it if your child needs it. My ds was diagnosed with auditory processing issues, and by the time I realized what was going on, he had learned to read and mapped the wrong sounds to the letters because was not hearing the sounds properly. That SWR fixed this mess in 2.5 years is a miracle in my book.

 

Ruth in NZ

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I have a natural speller and a non-natural speller. I just stumbled upon Spellwell for my non-natural speller, and it is a HUGE hit! The books are levels, not grades (A, AA, B, BB etc), and the exercises are not busy work. They are made to make them think about the structure of the word and help them tap into those phonics and long term memory skills.

 

Oh, and did I mention it's CHEAP?!?!

LOVE IT!!!!

Dorinda

 

Just for comparison, I'll list, in order, what we've tried with this poor kid prior to Spellwell.

 

MISSES:

Spelling Power

Spelling Workout

Rod and Staff

Building Spelling Skills

 

:001_smile:

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I know its been mentioned, but I'll put my plug in for All About Spelling as well. I am a natural speller yet have learned quite a bit from it already and we're just finishing up level 1. LOL

 

I've always have just spelled words, but never knew why I spelled them the way I did. I started my youngest with this program this year and its proving to be the right program for her, or she to may just be a natural speller. I will say though she's learning the rules so it doesn't hurt her either way. I plan on using this with my non natural spellers that I have too when we start up back to homeschooling all of the girls again for the upcoming school year.

 

I had always looked at this program and always passed it up because of their price. I'll admit though I wished I hadn't had done that because it really is an excellent spelling program, and I've used many.

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