Would you say LoE is like SWR but open and go?

[SFM]

I ordered SWR and actually looked at LoE and thought I would like to "teach" more so I opted for SWR. Holy cow! It is a tad overwhelming, does it get easier? My son needed and still needs some phonics remediation and I thought this would be a good place to begin.

 

I went ahead and got AAS for him because it seemed more open and go. I didn't want him waiting for me to learn a program before we began. So, now we are on AAS 2/3 and we are just not digging it. And, I am finding there are things that I teach and the later the letter doesn't really make that sound but it hasn't been "introduced" yet so we just move on. (Not so much in the dictation portions but more so in the other areas of his writing through the other subjects).

 

So, here I am now wondering if I should have just gotten LoE or if I stick it out with AAS 3. I am a tad conflicted.

 

I should note that I also have Spelling Power that I really like the look of but I feel it would be better for him once we establish good phonetic habits.

 

I should also note that he is quite possibly mildly dyslexic and does not struggle with reading but has other issues in the way of spelling, doing things backwards, reversals, etc.

 

Thoughts? How do you implement SWR? Should I just jump ship and do something completely different than these?

 

 

I also have a dd starting all of this next year and would like to stick with one program if it is working. I was just looking at the cards (spelling rules and phonograms) and those I get. Maybe I just need to be diligent and get it done and do it.

Wisdom? :bigear:

Edited September 6, 2012 by SFM
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[FO4UR]

I used SWR for 2.5 years. I've only looked at LOE and AAS online. I still use the rules & phonograms in my teaching, but I follow none of the programs above. (...so you know where I'm coming from...)

 

 

 

It's my understanding that AAS goes much slower than SWR. Using SWR would probably clear up the "finding words with patterns we haven't studied yet" problem quickly. SWR teaches it all upfront, and spirals review through the word lists.

 

 

The problem with SWR is that Red Book!:glare: It is confuddled and confusing!!! Make a spelling notebook for yourself. Use the brown Wise Guide and only consult the Red Book as needed. The basic program is much simpler than it appears....teach phonograms, spelling rules, and words. Build a spelling notebook as you learn. Enrich lessons with the activities at the bottom of the page in the Brown book.

 

You can check you library for The Writing Road to Reading. SWR is a spin-off of that book. Reading TWTR helped clear up much of my confusion when I was trying to figure it out.

 

 

ETA: SWR is not "open and go" and it is teacher-intensive. However, it is a thorough program. There many other "Spalding" options out there, but if you already have SWR it's worth giving it a go. imho

Edited September 6, 2012 by 3blessingmom

[SFM]

Thank you, that is most helpful.

[Dinsfamily]

I've used SWR for 3.5 years now. It has become completely open and go for me. It is hard to get a handle on in the beginning, but doesn't take long to figure out. I did make schedules for the first couple of years (like those in the back of the red book) which helped, but I don't need to do that any more. I rarely even look at the red book these days. I just open the WISE guide and take it from there each week.

 

The thing that helped me the most in the beginning was making my own logbook. It helped me get a handle on the markings and the flow of the reference pages.

[SophiaH]

I used AAS for three years previously and bought WRTR this summer with the intention of using it this year with my youngers. I feel like LOE is the perfect blend of the two programs. It's open and go, and you can as few or as many of the optional activities as needed. I use almost none of them with my 10yo that I'm taking quickly through the program (excellent reader but atrocious speller). I use quite a few of the optional activities, plus the games, with my middle two that are going through the program together at a slower pace. I really can't say enough about how wonderful this program has been for me. It definitely would've solved a lot of issues I've had the past five years in the Language Arts/Phonics/Spelling department, and saved me money over all the things I've tried. :tongue_smilie:

[fractalgal]

 

Thoughts? How do you implement SWR? Should I just jump ship and do something completely different than these?

 

 

 

It can be difficult (and expensive) to figure this out at first. :grouphug:

 

I can share what I ended up doing for this.

 

I have used SWR since 2008, at which time I took the SWR Training class - which happened to be taught to me by the author of LoE. She did (what I think was) a good job explaining SWR, so I have not felt the need to jump to LoE. ;)

 

So since I have had a training course and now four years of experience with it, SWR is 'open and go' for me. But I adapt it and teach it how it is more convenient for us. For example, for my fifth-grade son, I 'refresh' teach all the rules at the beginning of the year. I wait to begin the spelling lists until I have taught all the rules. It (for me) is too much pressure on both he and I to try to force all of it at once.

 

Next we begin the spelling lists. Then as we come to words throughout the spelling lists that follow rules we have learned, I have him add those in the particular rules section in the black learning log as a rule reminder.

 

Finally, at the end after we have finished the spelling list I have chosen, I give him a quiz on all the rules.

 

I think it is easier to teach and adapt it if you have the big picture of what is going on, which I think I have now from taking the training and the last four year of experience using it. It was a lot of work at first, but I think the work at the beginning helped me learn the material better.

 

So that is my experience with it.

 

Good luck in your search. :)

[RootAnn]

I ordered SWR and actually looked at LoE and thought I would like to "teach" more so I opted for SWR. Holy cow! It is a tad overwhelming, does it get easier?

I went ahead and got AAS for him because it seemed more open and go.

 

So, here I am now wondering if I should have just gotten LoE or if I stick it out with AAS 3. I am a tad conflicted.

 

I should note that I also have Spelling Power that I really like the look of but I feel it would be better for him once we establish good phonetic habits.

 

 

Oh dear. You've had an expensive learning curve.

 

I've read a lot about LOE, but not seen it in person, so I can't speak to what it is like in comparison to SWR. Maybe you would like it better. That will have to be your decision!

 

I've used SWR (after Teach Your Child to Read in [more than] 100 [not-so-easy] Lessons) with three children now - and this is my fifth year using it.

 

It is confusing at first. I made my log book, but that didn't really help me understand the program. TEACHING it helped me understand the program. Every year, I understand something a bit better & I do a better job. Luckily, the program is flexible enough that you don't (completely) ruin your kids if you don't do it perfectly. (I was making the "ch" phonogram sounds like a train wheel-noise - /ch/ /k/ /sh/. Somehow, this made my second child think that the word "train" started with a /ch/ sound. :eek: But she knows better now.)

 

There are videos on youtube about how to do the 'finger spelling' and dictation portions. There are sample schedules in the back of the red book. There are blog posts about using SWR. I have two of my kids together this year (dd#2 & dd#3) & posted my tentative schedule (which I've already changed/added to/moved around some). Yours would be different.

 

These excerpts are from the SWR Yahoo group in the "Files/Getting Started" section:

 

Readers who are new to the program

1. A teacher working with any age or ability level of a student needs to work through the first eleven steps in SWR before beginning WISE Guide. Any other Reference Pages you will need to teach before your starting Spelling Section will be listed for you in the "Preliminaries" section for that Spelling List in the WISE Guide. The mystery of when the other pages will be needed is resolved in this book as well. At the beginning of each section it will say something like, "If you have not done so already this year, teach __,. ___, and __ before you teach this list." The Reference Pages can then be taught when relevant to that student and the words you are teaching. You can start at any Section between A and S and cover every single spelling rule. In most cases, Wanda recommends not placing a student new to the program any later in the list than Section T (see SWR pg 65).

 

2. Administer Diagnostic Test #1 (SWR pp 196-198) to determine:

a. Spelling Mastery = first error word tells us

 

 

1) where to start the Spelling List each year after the foundation is laid

 

 

 

2) on a monthly basis, where each child needs review and is missing concepts

 

b. Grade Level = total number correct

Be sure to administer enough words on the test to exhaust the student’s capabilities. If the student is cooperative, try to get 10 consecutive errors before stopping the test. This will give you useful information about rules not yet mastered and what may need to be focused on in review.

 

3 . Give a new diagnostic test every 4-6 weeks to monitor progress.

 

-----------

There is a good "road map" post archived there. It is too long to share here. It goes through the first 11 steps in the red book.

 

I think that you will have a better idea how to do SWR since you have gone through AAS. (There are some differences in phonograms, but not many. LOE has some differences too.)

 

If you can make it to a training seminar, I've heard SWR is much easier to learn that way.

 

No matter what, this is what you'll need to do:

 

Maybe I just need to be diligent and get it done and do it.

[Tracy]

For me, once I got past reading through the first 12 steps in the read book and making my own log, it became open-and-go. I look whatever list in the Wise Guide is next and do the preliminaries. Reviewing phonograms requires no prep except for separating which ones you are working on. And the reference pages have detailed lesson plans and pictures of the pages, so no prep there. Then I just start dictating spelling words, and when we finish a list, I give a test.

 

I does get a whole lot easier. It is very helpful to lurk on the Yahoo Group. There are some YouTube videos demonstrating dictation for different ages. Have you seen those?

[SFM]

Thank you all so for all of the help. Yes, this has been a very expensive learning curve. Partly because this is our first year and we took our son out in the middle of second and were/are still thinking there might be some mild dyslexia going on. As well as we live in Japan and I cannot "sample" these things so I have to order them and compare. My son needed some remedial help...so I tried looking at them all. Ah, man! :lol:

 

My husband jokingly tells people we got out of debt so I could become a curriculum junkie. :D

 

Now, I am just trying to find what really works for our family and stick with it, because this is becoming tiresome.

[kalanamak]

 

 

The problem with SWR is that Red Book!:glare: It is confuddled and confusing!!! Make a spelling notebook for yourself. Use the brown Wise Guide and only consult the Red Book as needed. The basic program is much simpler than it appears....teach phonograms, spelling rules, and words. Build a spelling notebook as you learn. Enrich lessons with the activities at the bottom of the page in the Brown book.

 

 

 

No kidding. I am going to predict as more organized and user friendly material becomes available, SWR will fade like the Victrola. The FIRST thing I did was read through the red book and put a line through the swaths and swaths of unedited, unneeded extras. In the midst of important info there is suddenly a side story of a teacher who really couldn't write, or some slightly paranoid rantings about dictionaries (no, Webster's current editors are not trying to undermine the American way via an attack on traditional spelling, but are putting words in that people might encounter in reading and need to actually look up!)

 

Once you put on your blinders and stick to the meat of the material, it is rather straightforward, but aside from the momentum of being an early product (and perhaps some of the Stockholm Syndrome as well :lol:), I'm not quite sure why this is still afloat.

[FO4UR]

 

(and perhaps some of the Stockholm Syndrome as well :lol:)

 

 

:smilielol5::smilielol5::smilielol5:

 

 

 

:iagree:

[fraidycat]

I have not looked at SWR (it sounded WAY too complicated for me to even consider it, really :D), and was considering AAS - right up until LOE came on to my radar.

 

LOE is very open & go and she has sample lesson plans listed in the book on how to accelerate (finish in 8 weeks with olders) or decelerate (finish in 80 weeks starting as young as age 5). We all had fun playing the first game yesterday, and the kids thought it was awesome that *I* was the loser of the game. I am using it with my 1st grader and my 5th grader.

 

I chose LOE over AAS because I bought ONCE and am done. Yes, it is a bigger upfront $$ output, but I'm lazy. I'd rather spend more once, have everything I Need to complete the program and be done with it.