Evan Moor Spelling vs. R&S Spelling by Sound and Structure

[Katydid]

From what I can tell by looking at the samples, these programs look quite similar. Has anyone seen or used both of these who can compare/contrast them for me? TIA!

[fourisenough]

I've used several levels of EM Daily Spelling and just switched over to R&S spelling. Actually, we haven't begun R&S yet, but I've purchased the next two levels, browsed it thoroughly and will begin next week. I like it so much better because there seems to be no fluff - no crossword puzzles, for instance - and there are no activities that require the child to identify the misspelled words. My daughter is a very visual learner (and a natural speller) and seeing the misspellings actually introduced new, wrong spellings she had never considered. Perhaps the thing I like most about it, however, is that it actually teaches spelling rules explicitly. EM has a 'focus' for each lesson but doesn't explicitly teach the rule behind the focus; the student is just supposed to see the pattern and be able to apply it to other similar words. With R&S, I will have her keep a stack of flash cards on a ring to record each spelling rule as it is taught and we'll add that to her memory work (we do the same thing for grammar). Hope that helps. Fire away with any more specific questions and I'll try to help.

[Katydid]

Thank you so much! I do not like the idea of identifying mis-spelled words, either, with my very visual learner. And I want the spelling rules the be more explicit, as well. So it looks like Rod and Staff it is! I had pretty much already settled on R&S, but I just saw E-M and liked the looks of it (and the ability to purchase through Amazon), but the issues you had are deal breakers for me, as well.

[fourisenough]

Sounds like we're in the same boat. Good luck!