ukfan78 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I am looking for spelling for a 6th grader. My son has always been a natural speller. The only program we have used is Soaring With Spelling for 4th grade. It ended up being too easy and he could spell all of the words correctly with the pretest. We prefer a workbook that is pretty independent. I also need it to be secular. I was looking at Soaring with Spelling again and Spelling Workout. However, my son really dislikes crossword puzzles and word searches. I see them in the samples for both of these programs. Are there a lot of these throughout the books? Is there another spelling program that is workbook based, secular, and doesn't have puzzles? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeschoolingHearts&Minds Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Are you sure he needs a formal spelling program? If he's only occasionally misspelling a word, it may be more beneficial (and less time consuming) to simply review those few words as they come up---that way he won't waste time spelling words he already knows. You could use a free site like SpellingCity.com or have him do some copywork featuring those words. Or, if you find that there's a particular pattern to the words he has trouble with (like ie words, for instance), you could cover that rule and study the words that follow that pattern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Maybe it's time to move onto root based vocabulary instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukfan78 Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 I have Vocabulary Workshop A for him to do this year. I was just going to use a spelling program too for 6th-8th. Is there a place I can get a list of words for 6th-8th graders? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Zaner Bloser has free spelling lists here. My ds is also a natural speller, although younger than yours, and we have done these lists since we started spelling lessons. I do add to his lists, words that he misspelled in other schoolwork, etc. We briefly discuss the spelling rule the list is working on (it is not explicitly stated, but so far has been easy to figure out) and I leave him the list to review daily--he hates contrived games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 You can take the free spelling lists and have him: alphabetize the words divide them into syllables write their etymologies add prefixes or suffixes or both when possible write a sentence with each meaning of each word write a paragraph with all the words Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbmamaz Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I have spelling power but havent used it yet - but its a full spelling curriculum, 3rd - 12th. You can just go through the pretests until you find words he doesnt know. Its not workbook based and the intro is intimidating, but it sounds like the actual process is pretty easy - pretest, some studying methods, test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amyrobynne Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 IEW's Phonetic Zoo? Level C is supposed to be high school level but there's a pretest you could check to see if it's worth it. It's done on CDs and totally independent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Phonetic Zoo is a hit here. It is not a workbook, but it is almost completely independent. No extras, just spell the words to mastery. Here is my review if you want to look to see if it might work for you. My son is a 5th grader, http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=397302 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I have Vocabulary Workshop A for him to do this year. I was just going to use a spelling program too for 6th-8th. Is there a place I can get a list of words for 6th-8th graders? You can use the Spell Well list from the author of Spelling Plus. From the SP web site: This one-year program reviews words which account for over half of misspellings by high school students. Spell Well includes 24 ready-to-use lists of 20 words each... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I can think of a few opitons and chat a bit on them. Simply Spelling uses dictation to test, and it let's the child choose and study the words from the passage that they do not know. This goes through high school and uses deeper and more complex passages. It is only a few dollars for all of the years. (I use this one, and so I meniton it first. I printed the books in a booklet format and bound. )They will develop a visual memory of the spelling of the form of a word as it is used in context. Second, look at Spelling City. They have an enitire selection of books from which spelling lists are pulled. Example. These are free. I tend to like the literature approach. Simply Spelling was a less complex version of Spelling City - passage versus entire book. You could choose a more complex speller, such as Webster's Blue-Backed Speller. A more comprehensive explanation is here. I like the way that Webster's approaches spelling by syllables and focuses on pronounciation. This is great for auditory learners. You can download and print or use on a tablet. I love donpotter.net for these types of resources. His typed book is great, and he has resources too. Even the other scanned versions are very clear. Spelling workout is great as far as workbooks go. The exercises do vary. It is built on phonics and structure, but remember that we study spelling to read. It goes through the eighth grade. There is a focus on the more complex spelling patterns as you move through the levels. I have not seen book G or H. I only know from what I have read and been told by others. I recently found the spelling book Word Families in Sentence Context. You focus on a group of words based on some simliar pattern. This makes the phonic or structure of the pattern easily memorable. Again, I like the context use. There are sentences for each word to help with the visual memory. This type of program is great for all types of learners too. (You can join the AVKO site for $25 and get the 10 volume set of The Patterns of English Spelling and this book in PDF, as well as a number of others free with membership.) Moving to more root-based spelling: English from the Roots Up and Vocabulary Bridges. This could very well cover your needs for vocabulary too. While not every suggestion is solely independent, consider that it takes many of these resources no more than 15 minutes a day. You could do spelling with you one day a week and turn him loose with a list of the day-to-day requirements. For example, Simple Spelling would need you the first day to help him choose the unknown words and make his list. From there, he follows the simple directions for each day and studies his words each day using the techniques outlined. You could even record the dictation to mp3 and let him test when he wants. I do this. I work, and any shortcut that I can find is one that I will use. I also include lots of copywork from the Modern Speller, but then my daughter is a visual learner when it comes to spelling. If you want her to remember, don't tell her. Show her and let her see it. I suppose the best way to look at spelling is to identify how he learns best. I ramble. I need coffee. Sorry!:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukfan78 Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 That is a lot of great ideas! Thank you all so much. I will look over all of these and figure it out. I am leaning towards Spelling City combined with alphabetical order, etc. or Spelling Workout if we want a workbook. I appreciate all of the advice. Melissa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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