How fast can one get through the WRTR lists?

[stm4him]

If your child already knows at least 48 of the 70 phonograms (and probably a few more than that because I didn't do a thorough count), how many of the lists could one get through in one year? Besides quizzing the phonograms with see/say and hear/write and maybe a McCall lesson what else would need to be done? Can they just go through a list a day and write original sentences if a lot of it is review from other similar programs (SWR, AAS, LOE)? At what point does one stop and slow down and what do you do when that happens? Can I just use my LOE cards for the rules and phonograms instead since I already have those and they've been using them all year? I need to simplify!

 

By the way, I own the 4th edition-6th edition and the 4th edition is the only one that doesn't overwhelm me completely but I haven't read it all from cover to cover yet.....I'm working on it. But I do have a general idea of the methods from SWR, AAS, and LOE that I've been using for 4 years.

 

Probably more questions to follow......

[The Governess]

How old is your student? My dd8 did levels 1-3 of AAS, then we switched to Spalding and started on list O. She did lists O-S last year and will do R-X this year and will probably be done next year. She's at least a year ahead in language arts though.

[SJ.]

Check out the scope and sequence section at the back of the book. It lists what grades you should introduce, practice, and master the phonograms, rules, and word lists. For example, in 2nd grade you should have sections K-N mastered for spelling by the end of the year, lists O-Q are listed as introduce/practice, and list R is listed as challenge.

 

This is how we do spelling in a week:

Day 1 - pretest 10 words on white board with my immediate feedback/assistance, enter those 10 words in spelling notebook while talking about the rules that apply, and if there were any words he could not spell in the initial pretest have him spell them again either orally or on the whiteboard

Day 2 - review any words ds had problems with the previous day by asking him to spell them on the whiteboard, then do the same as day 1 with the next 10 words

Day 3 - same as day 2 using the next 10 words

Day 4 - review any words ds had problems with the previous three days, if he didn't have any problems test on the 30 words from the week, rewrite words he misses

Day 5 - if we did not test on day 4 then test on the 30 words and review/rewrite missed words

[stm4him]

I really like the white board idea. In the book they say pretest the first 30 words the first day. Did you decide that was too much? What edition is the scope and sequence you're mentioning in? Thanks!

 

By the way, my students are ages 4, 5, 8 (but doing 2nd grade), and almost 11 (but doing 3rd grade). My 11 year old was very close to finishing AAS 3 and my 8 year old finished AAS 2. My 5 year old knew all the first 26 phonograms but then we switched to Saxon Phonics and he may have forgotten third and fourth sounds. We can just review quickly though and get him going on the multi-letter phonograms soon.

 

Thanks!

[SJ.]

I have the WRTR Revised 5th Edition. I wish I had the 4th edition as it seems it has better guidance. The edition I have does not provide much guidance on how to set up a week's worth of spelling lessons. I am wondering if the 4th edition was the last edition before the teacher's guides were published. I didn't realize it was recommended to pretest the first thirty words on the first day, maybe we will start that. Do you also input the first ten words in the spelling notebook the first day too? I tried to model our spelling lessons after suggestions made here by Ellie. So far it is working out for us but if there is any recommended tweaking I'd be open to it! :)

[Ellie]

If your child already knows at least 48 of the 70 phonograms (and probably a few more than that because I didn't do a thorough count), how many of the lists could one get through in one year? Besides quizzing the phonograms with see/say and hear/write and maybe a McCall lesson what else would need to be done? Can they just go through a list a day and write original sentences if a lot of it is review from other similar programs (SWR, AAS, LOE)? At what point does one stop and slow down and what do you do when that happens? Can I just use my LOE cards for the rules and phonograms instead since I already have those and they've been using them all year? I need to simplify!

 

By the way, I own the 4th edition-6th edition and the 4th edition is the only one that doesn't overwhelm me completely but I haven't read it all from cover to cover yet.....I'm working on it. But I do have a general idea of the methods from SWR, AAS, and LOE that I've been using for 4 years.

 

Probably more questions to follow......

THere is only one list: the Extended Ayres List. :-)

 

Your child should be able to do 30 words a week. The McCall lessons are part of the reading lesson, not the spelling lesson.

 

If you are doing Spalding, you should use the Spalding phonograms, not those from other methods.

 

You could dictate the words in the Extended Ayres List and start working where she/he misses several in a row.

[stm4him]

My understanding in the 4th edition is that you dictate the 30 words on Monday on a separate sheet of paper. Then they enter the first 10 words in their notebook, read them aloud, and make oral sentences with them and study them. On Tuesday they are tested on 10 review words (maybe the last 10 words from the previous week) and then are tested on the first 10 words. They then read the second ten words, make oral sentences with them, and study them. On Wednesday they are tested on the first 20 words and go through the same procedure with the third 10 words. It does not say what to do on Thursday. Maybe one would test the second and third set of ten on that day and review as needed? On Friday they are tested on all 30 words. It is unclear to me what they are to do with the words they missed. I need to go back and look that up again. I can refer to my later editions for some of these answers, I'm sure. But I don't want to over do that or I will confuse myself!

 

After List L it says to review 5 words from A-H and 10 words from I-L DAILY in addition to the procedure above for the next lists. It doesn't say so (that I can find) but I'm assuming she would want them to continue giving 5 words from earlier sections and 10 words from newer sections as review daily. And when they start over for 2nd and 3rd grade she has them testing 100 words per day until they get to the list level they should be at for that year and enter the missed words into their notebooks for review. I am not sure if they are supposed to mark these words as they are doing them as well since they are review or they only mark them when they go into their notebooks. I am not sure if they are supposed to mark the words on their 30 word pretest on Monday or their post-test on Friday or if they are just to mark the words when they are putting them in the notebook with the teacher's guidance. Ellie (or any other experienced WRTR Moms.....I would love to know the answers to these).

 

It is also unclear as to whether they should continue quizzing the phonograms when working on word lists or not. I know in SWR we were supposed to but that made the day SOOOO long. I think mastering them in the beginning and reviewing them each year should be enough except for ones they seem to struggle with. Unless I am overlooking it, I am not seeing anywhere in the 4th edition where she says they need a daily quiz on these all year long. It seems that while they are learning the first 54 they quiz 30 daily and learn 4 new ones a day and later (after List H I think it is) they do the same thing when learning the remaining 16 phonograms. Once they have mastered those and move back into the lists I think it is ok for them to stop the daily quizzing. Correct me if I am wrong.......

 

I THINK I'm beginning to see why Ellie keeps saying that WRTR isn't that hard to learn. Ellie, I don't know which edition you learned from initially (or whether you took a class, etc.) but I can see how if you start with the 4th edition and then add in other layers of understanding with other editions it isn't that hard.

 

Also, with the reading lesson in the 4th edition I see nothing except for them to do the McCall-Harby or Crabbs tests (I'm assuming daily) and to read from the appropriate books on her list after certain spelling lists or in certain grades (in addition to reading the words they are spelling of course). The later editions seem to add so much to that with all the mental actions and such.

 

For writing they seem to either be composing oral sentences with the words (before H), writing 2-3 original sentences up to another certain point (I forget which list off the top of my head), and then moving into one paragraph a day to edit and then into compositions to edit. That seems so easy to me. Of course there is the strokes and handwriting in the very beginning and introducing cursive (which she does in the second half of 2nd grade along with review of all the phonograms and writing the lists in cursive).

 

So, again, daily it seems like they are doing 3 main things:

 

1. Quizzing phonograms or words

2. Learning to write strokes or letters, then compose oral sentences, then written sentences, then paragraphs, then compositions (and editing for basic punctuation/capitalization and spelling).

3. Reading words lists (as they are learned), taking a McCall test, and reading real books.

 

I would add in a short reading lesson for oral expression practice, but that only takes a few minutes. And I've explained how I would incorporate our memorized grammar into our sentences. I'm not sure how long this all takes, but at the very least it is less complicated than the other programs I've been doing and has more of a regular routine to it which can cut down on time too. When kids know the procedure and only some paper, flashcards, a notebook, and pencils are needed it can really make it much more simple than all the parts that can go with other programs.

 

I may freak out and go back to what we were doing, but I may also find that this is exactly the kind of simplicity we needed and become a big advocate! We'll see.....

[stm4him]

By the way, when I say quizzing, I'm also talking about when they are analyzing the current day's words and entering them into their notebook, etc. I just mean that they are either working with learning/quizzing phonograms or words for their lesson.

[stm4him]

I also forgot to mention the pages they make in their notebooks. In the 4th edition they don't enter those until 2nd grade (in manuscript) and 3rd grade (in cursive). It seems there are cues for this as they go along in the lists. So I am not sure if they do these on the same day as the lists or if they are done before starting the list in place of a lesson or what. If they have done them on the board along the way with the teacher in earlier grades I would think it would be possible to do them all at once at the beginning of the year, but I could be wrong about this too......

[stm4him]

Bump for Ellie :-)

[Ellie]

My understanding in the 4th edition is that you dictate the 30 words on Monday on a separate sheet of paper. Then they enter the first 10 words in their notebook, read them aloud, and make oral sentences with them and study them. On Tuesday they are tested on 10 review words (maybe the last 10 words from the previous week) and then are tested on the first 10 words. They then read the second ten words, make oral sentences with them, and study them. On Wednesday they are tested on the first 20 words and go through the same procedure with the third 10 words. It does not say what to do on Thursday. Maybe one would test the second and third set of ten on that day and review as needed? On Friday they are tested on all 30 words. It is unclear to me what they are to do with the words they missed. I need to go back and look that up again. I can refer to my later editions for some of these answers, I'm sure. But I don't want to over do that or I will confuse myself!

You're close. :-) You dictate and help the dc analyze 30 words on Monday, then study the first 10 again. On Tuesday, you give a test on those 10, then remediate any words they mispelled, then go over the second 10. On wednesday, you test on the first 20 words, remediate any misspelled words, go over the third 10. On Thursday, you test on all 30 words, remediate any misspelled words. On Friday you can give a final test, if you like, and do any remediating. The writing of sentences with the words does not occur at the same time as the spelling lesson. That's part of the *writing* lesson. :-)

 

After List L it says to review 5 words from A-H and 10 words from I-L DAILY in addition to the procedure above for the next lists. It doesn't say so (that I can find) but I'm assuming she would want them to continue giving 5 words from earlier sections and 10 words from newer sections as review daily. And when they start over for 2nd and 3rd grade she has them testing 100 words per day until they get to the list level they should be at for that year and enter the missed words into their notebooks for review. I am not sure if they are supposed to mark these words as they are doing them as well since they are review or they only mark them when they go into their notebooks. I am not sure if they are supposed to mark the words on their 30 word pretest on Monday or their post-test on Friday or if they are just to mark the words when they are putting them in the notebook with the teacher's guidance. Ellie (or any other experienced WRTR Moms.....I would love to know the answers to these).

They don't mark any words on tests. They only mark them when they first learn/analyze them, and if they need to be remediated (because they were missed on a test).

 

It is also unclear as to whether they should continue quizzing the phonograms when working on word lists or not. I know in SWR we were supposed to but that made the day SOOOO long. I think mastering them in the beginning and reviewing them each year should be enough except for ones they seem to struggle with. Unless I am overlooking it, I am not seeing anywhere in the 4th edition where she says they need a daily quiz on these all year long. It seems that while they are learning the first 54 they quiz 30 daily and learn 4 new ones a day and later (after List H I think it is) they do the same thing when learning the remaining 16 phonograms. Once they have mastered those and move back into the lists I think it is ok for them to stop the daily quizzing. Correct me if I am wrong......

Those aren't "quizzes." They oral and written drill. I don't think you need to drill all 70 phonograms every.single.day. Do the ones your dc have trouble remembering until they know them well; cycle in some of the others. The drill can be done at a different time of day.

 

I THINK I'm beginning to see why Ellie keeps saying that WRTR isn't that hard to learn. Ellie, I don't know which edition you learned from initially (or whether you took a class, etc.) but I can see how if you start with the 4th edition and then add in other layers of understanding with other editions it isn't that hard.

I started with the first edition. :-)

 

Also, with the reading lesson in the 4th edition I see nothing except for them to do the McCall-Harby or Crabbs tests (I'm assuming daily) and to read from the appropriate books on her list after certain spelling lists or in certain grades (in addition to reading the words they are spelling of course). The later editions seem to add so much to that with all the mental actions and such.

The teacher guides (and 5th and 6th editions) reflect what actual Spalding teachers have been doing all along, and which is alluded to in the 1-4 editions. It just gives people like us more to work with, if we want to do the reading and writing lessons in addition to the spelling lessons. If you want to do the reading and writing lessons, you can schedule those for whatever suits your schedule best.

 

For writing they seem to either be composing oral sentences with the words (before H), writing 2-3 original sentences up to another certain point (I forget which list off the top of my head), and then moving into one paragraph a day to edit and then into compositions to edit. That seems so easy to me. Of course there is the strokes and handwriting in the very beginning and introducing cursive (which she does in the second half of 2nd grade along with review of all the phonograms and writing the lists in cursive).

It is easy. :-)

 

So, again, daily it seems like they are doing 3 main things:

 

1. Quizzing phonograms or words

2. Learning to write strokes or letters, then compose oral sentences, then written sentences, then paragraphs, then compositions (and editing for basic punctuation/capitalization and spelling).

3. Reading words lists (as they are learned), taking a McCall test, and reading real books.

 

1. Hmmm...they drill phonograms daily *as needed* once they have mostly learned all 70 phonograms. They don't really quiz words.

 

2. I wouldn't lump learning to write the phonograms with composing sentences and whatnot. The writing of the phonograms is an integral part of the spelling lesson, from which they begin reading with little effort. The sentences and paragraphs and all are a separate "class." Many of us don't do the writing and reading lessons (y'all understand that the "reading lessons" are separate from the "learning to read" that happens during the spelling lesson?).

 

3. It makes my mind twitch a little when you put "reading word lists" in the same category as "taking a McCall test and reading real books." When the children have started keeping spelling notebooks (which is optional for first and second grade), they will study the words they have written in them, and refer to them if necessary to check for correct spelling when they're writing something; that has nothing to do with the McCall tests or reading good books.

 

I may freak out and go back to what we were doing, but I may also find that this is exactly the kind of simplicity we needed and become a big advocate! We'll see.....

We'll see, indeed. You will be assimilated; resistance is futile. ::cheeky Spalding grin::

[stm4him]

Ellie,

 

What does "as needed" mean for drilling the phonograms once they've mostly learned them? Does that mean the ones they've missed you keep working on after you get into the word lists? Or do you just do 30 every day no matter what?

 

I just grouped them that way because I think in terms of 3 categories: phonics/spelling/grammar, writing, and reading. I know that is not exactly how they are grouped in the manual. I just think each day my children will do some of each thing:

 

4 year old:

-Phonics/Spelling: working on phonograms by saying them and eventually writing them after learning the strokes

-Writing: learning the strokes (because that is the only writing she can do so far)

-Reading: none yet

 

5 year old:

-Phonics/Spelling: working on phonograms by writing them as I say them and then reading them back to me

-Writing: Reviewing manuscript he learned this summer from WRTR until we get to the lists. I'll probably give him some copywork.

-Reading: none until he gets into the lists but since he is reading some I'll probably continue with Bob Books until we get to the lists.

 

8 year old:

-Phonics/Spelling: working on phonograms by writing them as I say them and then reading them back to me

-Writing: continuing cursive until we get to the lists, probably writing a paragraph a day to be dictated back the next day

-Reading: McCall test, reading real books, and reading a McGuffey lesson aloud to me

 

10 (almost 11) year old:

-Phonics/Spelling: working on phonograms by writing them as I say them and then reading them back to me

-Writing: writing a paragraph a day to be dictated back the next day, continue copywork

-Reading: McCall test, reading real books, and reading a McGuffey lesson aloud to me

 

I haven't figured out the rest of the reading lesson as outlined in the 5th and 6th edition. I may decide to add that in once I get a feel for the rest of it. I do have the comprehension guides as well and will review them. I read the first one once and highlighted it all up and then never used it except as an answer key.

 

I will probably not keep a spelling notebook in 1st grade, but I will have my second and third graders do it (first time in manuscript, second time in cursive). Can you do those at the beginning of the year or do you have to do them as you go along?

 

One thing I don't understand about the 30 words a week is that according to the way you have it laid out they test the first ten words five times, the second ten words four times, and the third ten three times. Doesn't that make it uneven?

[Ellie]

What does "as needed" mean for drilling the phonograms once they've mostly learned them? Does that mean the ones they've missed you keep working on after you get into the word lists?

Yes.

 

I just grouped them that way because I think in terms of 3 categories: phonics/spelling/grammar, writing, and reading. I know that is not exactly how they are grouped in the manual. I just think each day my children will do some of each thing:

Huh. Well, it makes for more coherent conversations if we're speaking the same language, lol.

 

4 year old:

-Phonics/Spelling: working on phonograms by saying them and eventually writing them after learning the strokes

-Writing: learning the strokes (because that is the only writing she can do so far)

-Reading: none yet

It's your school and all, but *I* would not teach the phonograms without writing them. The writing of the phonograms is an integral part of the method. She can write them with her finger in the air, or with her finger in chocolate pudding; she can learn to draw/write circles beginning at 2 on the clock, vertical lines from top to bottom, horizontal lines in the direction that we read and write (left to right). She can do that before she begins to learn the actual phonograms, but once you begin teaching the phonograms, she should be writing them in some way. Pages 9 and 10 in the sixth edition of the manual addresses this.

 

5 year old:

-Phonics/Spelling: working on phonograms by writing them as I say them and then reading them back to me

-Writing: Reviewing manuscript he learned this summer from WRTR until we get to the lists. I'll probably give him some copywork.

-Reading: none until he gets into the lists but since he is reading some I'll probably continue with Bob Books until we get to the lists.

There's only one list. There are *sections,* but there's only one *list.* Personally, *I* wouldn't give him copywork until he begins writing words in the Extended Ayres List. Again, the correct writing of the phonograms is an integral part of the *spelling lesson.* I know you're grouping things the way you seem them, but really, you'll get more out of the method if you understand more clearly which thing is which thing. :-)

 

8 year old:

-Phonics/Spelling: working on phonograms by writing them as I say them and then reading them back to me

-Writing: continuing cursive until we get to the lists, probably writing a paragraph a day to be dictated back the next day

-Reading: McCall test, reading real books, and reading a McGuffey lesson aloud to me

Both oral and written drill are important on a daily basis. With the oral drill, you show the phonogram card, and the child says the sound. With the written drill, you dictate the sound and the child writes the phonogram. With the written drill, you have to teach the child to ask "which one"? when you say a phonogram that can be spelled more than one way (such as ay, ai, and eigh; you say the sound, the child asks "which one," and you say /A/, or "/A/ never used at the end of a word," or "/A/ the four-letter")..

 

 

10 (almost 11) year old:

-Phonics/Spelling: working on phonograms by writing them as I say them and then reading them back to me

-Writing: writing a paragraph a day to be dictated back the next day, continue copywork

-Reading: McCall test, reading real books, and reading a McGuffey lesson aloud to me

But you're not doing the spelling words? There's no point in just reviewing the phonograms. It is the writing of the words in the Extended Ayres List that makes the difference, not just practicing the phonograms.

 

I will probably not keep a spelling notebook in 1st grade, but I will have my second and third graders do it (first time in manuscript, second time in cursive). Can you do those at the beginning of the year or do you have to do them as you go along?

I don't have second-graders do the spelling notebook. That is, they might write their spelling words in notebooks, but they don't do the rule pages as third grade and above does. I don't see how you could do the spelling notebook at the beginning of the year in one fell swoop. o_0

 

One thing I don't understand about the 30 words a week is that according to the way you have it laid out they test the first ten words five times, the second ten words four times, and the third ten three times. Doesn't that make it uneven?

It isn't the testing that's important; it's the analyzing the words that's important. You dictate 30 words and analyze each one, discussing markings and rules (if applicable), syllables, etc., and evaluating the formation of letters. After each test, you remediate any missed words. It doesn't matter that some have been tested more than others. Eventually, the children will also be using their spelling words in their own sentences, so they will be writing them more.

[stm4him]

Ellie,

 

In the fourth edition she talks about teaching 3 year olds to say the sounds so I thought that meant that they could go ahead and learn to say the sounds when seeing the cards before they have the fine motor skills to write. My 4 year old is working on the circles. She can do the lines but I haven't taught her the slant line or extended line yet.

 

I'm sorry I keep calling it lists. I think maybe that is a carry over from SWR or I'm just remembering wrong or something. I meant to say sections....

 

I knew about the oral drill but I was hoping that if they are actually reading back the written phonograms to me as they check their answers that that would count as seeing them and saying them and would prevent overlap in that way (mostly to save time). I actually don't remember her talking about doing the oral drill in the 4th edition and was surprised I didn't see that but I will look again.

 

The reason I wasn't going to have the 10 year old start the list yet is that she only knows about 48 of the phonograms and I thought the 4th edition said for older beginners they should go ahead and do all 70 before starting the lists and then do 100 words per day. My son is in the same boat. When they do the 100 words do they mark them and go over the rules since they've never done them before?

 

I was thinking the rule pages done all at once (like one per day) would be easier than stopping mid list to make a chart in their notebook (or on the board) but maybe not....

 

Since my 5 year old is already reading some I just thought it would be good for him to continue handwriting practice with simple sentences using words he knows how to spell and read but maybe I'll wait on that.

[Ellie]

In the fourth edition she talks about teaching 3 year olds to say the sounds so I thought that meant that they could go ahead and learn to say the sounds when seeing the cards before they have the fine motor skills to write. My 4 year old is working on the circles. She can do the lines but I haven't taught her the slant line or extended line yet.

Ok, I finally found the stuff about pre-school. You're right, although you are supposed to at least let the littles see you writing the phonograms correctly (p. 256)..

 

I'm sorry I keep calling it lists. I think maybe that is a carry over from SWR or I'm just remembering wrong or something. I meant to say sections....

Probably a carry over. :-)

 

I knew about the oral drill but I was hoping that if they are actually reading back the written phonograms to me as they check their answers that that would count as seeing them and saying them and would prevent overlap in that way (mostly to save time). I actually don't remember her talking about doing the oral drill in the 4th edition and was surprised I didn't see that but I will look again.

No, the two drills are different: oral and written. You do both.

 

The reason I wasn't going to have the 10 year old start the list yet is that she only knows about 48 of the phonograms and I thought the 4th edition said for older beginners they should go ahead and do all 70 before starting the lists and then do 100 words per day. My son is in the same boat. When they do the 100 words do they mark them and go over the rules since they've never done them before?

Ah, more information. :-) IOW, you'll be teaching the phonograms (including both drills) daily until both dc know all 70, and then you'll begin teaching the words in the Extended Ayres List. If they have never done Spalding before, I'd teach 30 words a day, from the beginning, analyzing each word.. The early words will be very simple for them; I tell older dc this is practice for the more difficult words.

 

I was thinking the rule pages done all at once (like one per day) would be easier than stopping mid list to make a chart in their notebook (or on the board) but maybe not....

There is a pattern to writing the rule pages. Directions for teaching the rule pages are interspersed in the EAL itself (Ch. V, especially p. 127 & 128, which gives instructions for writing Rule Page 1 and the headings and whatnot on the other pages; note that children 3rd and up have learned all 70 phonograms).

 

Since my 5 year old is already reading some I just thought it would be good for him to continue handwriting practice with simple sentences using words he knows how to spell and read but maybe I'll wait on that.

If they are words he already knows, that would be fine. But he'll also be getting handwriting practice just from writing his phonograms daily (new phonograms plus written review).

[SJ.]

Does the 4th edition of WRTR really advocate going over 100 words a day until you are on your grade level's section? That seems like A LOT. Is it done like a pretest to see what your child remembers? All at once?

 

This year I looked through the list and we reviewed the words I thought ds1 may have problems with, we then started on the section that matched his grade level.

[The Governess]

The teacher's guide contains assessments that can be used for placement. They contain 50 words, with a few words chosen from each section of the list. You could probably duplicate these assessments by randomly choosing 3 spelling words from each section (exclude base words) and testing your student on these words. Place your student in the first section where 2-3 words in a row were missed. If your student is new to Spalding, you can back up 1-2 sections and use easier words to teach procedures before you start words at their instructional level.

 

I love Spalding, but I have modified the typical schedule for my use. Here is what I do with dd8:

 

I don't spend as much time on testing. Days 1-3 we put in 10 words per day and study them, explain rules and markings etc.. Day 4 we pre-test and study the words that were missed. Day 5 we do a final test. Once a month I do a 50 word all-levels assessment to make sure the words we've studied are sticking and spelling level is continuing to advance. Once or twice a week I will do a quiz on a few previous words, she must spell them, mark them, and then explain the rule application.

 

For phonograms, i do the oral review every day until 95 percent accuracy is achieved, then we drop to twice a week. For the written review, we do it daily until 95 percent accuracy is achieved, and then we do a written quiz of all 70 once every 3 weeks. If more than 3 are missed, we increase the frequency of written review. Dd8 rarely misses any now; I'm pretty sure she could do the quiz in her sleep at this point. :D

 

We spend 20 min or so a week on the other components. First, we go over handwriting. Then we put in the rule pages. Once those are done, we work on syllabication. Then we start vocabulary study of the words (prefixes, suffixes, roots). We only use Spalding for spelling/word study, and it takes about 30 min per day.

[Ellie]

Does the 4th edition of WRTR really advocate going over 100 words a day until you are on your grade level's section? That seems like A LOT. Is it done like a pretest to see what your child remembers? All at once?

 

This year I looked through the list and we reviewed the words I thought ds1 may have problems with, we then started on the section that matched his grade level.

 

 

P. 262 of the 4th edition:

 

 

Second Grade

 

If the class has not been taught the Spalding method in the first grade, it is necessary to give them the entire first-grade work before going further, but this can be done more rapidly than with a first-grade group of children.

 

 

For classes who need only review, this can be done in the first few weeks. The teacher dictates about 100 words a day from the Extended Ayres List and the children write them on separate sheets a a test. Those missed are taught as in Chapter V and put into the notebook.

 

 

This and constant testing and review should be carried on until the class has learned to write correctly the words through Section Q in the Extended Ayres List. They find few words wich are not already in their understanding and speaking vocabulary.

 

 

This chapter continues with instructions on teaching in the different grades.

 

If I were starting an older child for the first time with the Spalding Method, I would probably spend more time with the words earlier in the EAL, so that he would become familiar with the method, rather than just jumping into it with more complex words.

[SJ.]

Thanks. I need to get my hands on a 4th edition copy of WRTR.

[Cynful]

STM4HIM, I'm sorry to hijack, but Ellie's zeal for Spalding is catching.

 

Ellie, I'm just wondering if Spalding would work well for a dyslexic? I've never read any of the books, just your posts which have caught my attention. :)

 

Thanks,

[Ellie]

STM4HIM, I'm sorry to hijack, but Ellie's zeal for Spalding is catching.

 

Ellie, I'm just wondering if Spalding would work well for a dyslexic? I've never read any of the books, just your posts which have caught my attention. :)

 

Thanks,

 

Yes. :-)

 

I really am a Spalding geek. Weird but true, lol.