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Will I regret LOE?


SFM
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I think I might just bite the bullet and purchase this as a last ditch effort for my DS8. He cannot spell at all and have little to no retention when it comes to writing outside of spelling. We have tried R&S (while I like this program and intend to use it in the future he needs more "remedial" assistance right now). We tried Spelling Power, Spelling Wisdom, and of course, All About Spelling. We tried going back to the first level of AAS and he just isn't retaining anything. We have tried all different things for the course of a year. I purchased Apples and Pears and think it might help but the more I am reading about LOE and reading the book Uncovering the Logic of English the more I am realizing that maybe I should just take the plunge.

 

Thoughts? He is a great reader but his spelling is really holding him back as he is afraid to write for fear of misspelling things and he will purposefully only spells words he knows how to spell. Maybe just an intensive 16 weeks or something would work, right? We also use ETC books for some remediation. I just want to give him the best start I can and I suppose after this I am willing to just accept it and move on but I want to feel like we gave it a shot to learn spelling.

 

? Should I do it? Also, I purchased SWR and while I LOVE the idea of it , it just wasn't working out for me in a teacher friendly way. I also have Spalding at our library and while I again, LOVE the idea of it, it's just not open and go enough for me. I have two children coming up after my son as well and could reuse a lot of the materials with them...

 

Dare I?A

 

Also, suppose I wanted to do something a little more cost effective; couldn't I just buy all the phonogram flashcards, the games, and the spelling rule flashcards?

 

I could then have him memorize and then I could just use it with out regular spelling? Has anyone tried this before?

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My daughter reads well but is an atrocious speller. I bought LOE and we just finished lesson 5 ( doing 1 per week), so I can't say how well it's helping yet. But with the weekly review, she is remembering the rules we've covered so far, and I see her stop and think to try to apply them in her writing, so I have hope. The flash cards are easy to make on your own (I did), so if you're looking to save $, don't buy those. And you can buy the lessons digitally a few weeks at a time, so you can try the program w/out making the full investment. We did not buy the games book. There are a few game instructions included in the teacher/student pages and we've done those. If I find she really needs that fun reinforcement, I might order the extra games. My son who is a natural speller is enjoying LOE, too.

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You could also supplement with the phonogram flashcards you got for All About Spelling. I doubt they're that different. (You probably just got the first level, not the complete set of AAS, right? But that includes all the single-letter phonograms, at least.) Here are AAS's phonograms; here are Logic of English's; here's the list of what LoE adds to the "base 70" of Orton-Gillingham, while AAS seems to add nk and our.

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...

Also, suppose I wanted to do something a little more cost effective; couldn't I just buy all the phonogram flashcards, the games, and the spelling rule flashcards?

 

I could then have him memorize and then I could just use it with out regular spelling? Has anyone tried this before?

 

 

I don't know if there is a point in memorizing only the rules and phonograms and not doing any spelling words.

 

If you want open-and-go and cost-effective, I'd suggest instead to get the TM and workbook only, then use your AAS phonogram cards with it. You can do without the spelling rule cards.

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Thank you all for your responses. I am currently reading The Writing Road to Reading, the manual for the Spalding method. And while I realize that this will take time to understand and to implement effectively, I see it as invaluable. I was talking to DH and he and I both were referring to the way that we read all the books ABOUT the Bible but many people never really get to the SOURCE, the actual B-I-B-L-E, you know what I mean? I thought, hm, maybe instead of trying Spalding, O-G spin-offs why not just pick up the manual(s) that got some of the spin off's started and hear it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. So, here's to a journey. Who knows? I might read the whole manual a few times and still be leaning towards LoE, SWR, or something of the like...it won't be AAS, THOSE TILES DRIVE ME NUTS.

 

So, thank you for your advice. Has anyone read and/or tried to implement the Spalding methodology before getting LoE or the likes?

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I tried to implement Spalding with my ds, who has dyslexia. This was 5 years ago. The whole thing made my head explode. It was just way too confusing for me. Now, I was using this for reading not spelling so I don't know whether that makes a difference. Also, this was 5 years ago, Spalding might make more sense to me now that I have a few years of teaching under my belt.

 

I use LoE with my 9 yr. old dd as she is dyslexic as well. This is the first program in which I have seen progress in M's reading. I love this program and think it is excellent for older children who struggle with reading. My ds is now reading quite well but gets hung up on big words and his spelling is atrocious so I will be using LoE for him for spelling in Jan. When I bought LoE for dd, I just bought the TM and the student book plus the phonogram flashcards. I made my own cards for spelling rules. You could also make up your own phonogram cards as well.

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My previous reply got erased, so I'll try again:

 

I'm using LOE (pdf of TM and advanced spelling lists only, no workbook, cards or anything) as spelling remediation with dd10, who is an excellent reader and writer but a poor speller. We had previously tried Spelling Workout, which she hated and didn't seem to improve her spelling when writing. Then we tried doing spelling lists from her misspelled words. Again, it had no discernable effect on her spelling when writing - she'd shove the words into short-term memory, then promptly forget them.

 

I think there are two reasons why LOE is proving effective. The first is the spelling rules - helping dd to understand *why* language works the way it does is helping to engage dd's logical, puzzling brain. She's *thinking* about the words, not just trying to get through a boring exercise. I have her write down each spelling rule in a notebook, and we review all the rules each time we do a lesson (once a week). I also refer to them specifically when she asks me how to spell something, or when we run into interesting challenging words during reading other subjects.

 

The second main strength of the program is the method of the spelling lists. Instead of giving the kid a list of words to "memorize" for a test, you are having the kid use the list to practice applying the spelling rules. This engages them in reasoning, thinking through the rules and the logic of the language. And it doesn't set up a situation where they are "failing" to spell correctly - my dd used to get so upset when she spelled a word wrong on a test, I lost her engaged brain to emotion, and it drove me nuts!

 

Spelling is now a pleasant and fun exercise we look forward to each week, instead of a dreaded chore. I am so grateful for this!

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So, in LoE is there any marking of or analyzing the words? Like in Spalding where you use syllables, brackets/braces, underline and number?

 

Yes, you divide by syllables, you underline multi-letter phonemes, you mark the long and broad sounds of the vowels, and you number which sound is being used in the word (I don't know if it's the same as Spalding or not, b/c I haven't seen Spalding. I haven't noticed that we use brackets or braces for anything yet . . . )

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So, in LoE is there any marking of or analyzing the words? Like in Spalding where you use syllables, brackets/braces, underline and number?

 

A lot of the braces and brackets are not Ayres, but Spalding, so are not copyright free. I'm seeing important content that isn't even in SWR, that is in my Spalding 4th edition. LOE doesn't even try to do the notebook pages. The LOE spelling journal is not notebook pages. Spalding is making me tear my hair out this week, but every time I look at the other options I am equally disappointed, so just keep plugging along in the Spalding. Some of those braces and brackets are critical and not copyright free to copy.

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