blondchen Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 My DD5 is doing K this year, and we're on lesson 120 of OPGTR. She's reading well, but based on how she has processed her phonics instruction, I'm suspecting that she might not be a natural speller like her Mama. But before investing money in a spelling program like AAS on that assumption, I'd like to start out with something cheap and simple in case it does work for her. Something like CLP Building Spelling Skills. Even if the spelling curriculum itself doesn't explain all the rules and exceptions in detail for the student (which I understand is overkill for some kids anyway), I still want to know them myself. That's partly because if I feel like DD needs some extra help with the concepts I'd have the tools to try to deal with it myself before chucking the curriculum and going to something more complicated. It's also because I am a language/grammar/spelling freak, so the "why" of spelling is fascinating to me, and I actually want to know - LOL! But being a natural speller myself, I haven't learned or applied spelling rules in over 30 years and I'm pretty clueless about that. In another thread a while back I saw a link for a list of 29 spelling rules, which I assume are at least the major ones. Is this what I need? I don't know if I could find the link again so if you know what I'm talking about, please post it! And if you have additional thoughts about how to approach this, or if I should consider another curriculum, I'm all ears. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Five More Minutes Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Maybe Uncovering the Logic of English would be helpful? (Disclaimer: I haven't read it, as I elected to go the AAS route with both of my dds.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbanSue Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 The 29 spelling rules link was probably from Romalda Spalding who wrote The Writing Road to Reading. This is a great spelling and learn-to-read and handwriting program used by a lot of us. The manual is very inexpensive and the program is easy to execute once you get a handle on what the program is doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondchen Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 The 29 spelling rules link was probably from Romalda Spalding who wrote The Writing Road to Reading. This is a great spelling and learn-to-read and handwriting program used by a lot of us. The manual is very inexpensive and the program is easy to execute once you get a handle on what the program is doing. Yes, that was the list I saw - I'll look it up. Thanks! I'm happy with what we're doing for reading and handwriting at this point, and I'm inclined to keep spelling separate (per SWB's suggestion). But since I'm new at this I'll keep my mind open about it and continue looking at my options. I'm really in a quandary over spelling, because I've heard very mixed reviews about pretty much every spelling curriculum - I know there's some trial and error involved and a lot of it depends on the child. But, I've got to start somewhere... I'll be going to the Greenville convention next week and will be able to check out some of these programs first-hand, so if there are other suggestions, fire away! If you could say WHY you think a particular curriculum would work well for my situation that would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbanSue Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I suggested WRTR because it is very inexpensive and if you end up with a mostly natural speller (I think it's probably too early to tell which type you've got) it might be handy just to have the rules there. Most of the highly regarded spelling program like LOE and AAS are very expensive iterations of the principles in WRTR. I know they work great for certain kids and I'm certainly not going to criticize programs I've never used. But I always tend to start with the cheapest version of a method and then upgrade if I feel it is needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondchen Posted March 5, 2013 Author Share Posted March 5, 2013 I suggested WRTR because it is very inexpensive and if you end up with a mostly natural speller (I think it's probably too early to tell which type you've got) it might be handy just to have the rules there. Most of the highly regarded spelling program like LOE and AAS are very expensive iterations of the principles in WRTR. I know they work great for certain kids and I'm certainly not going to criticize programs I've never used. But I always tend to start with the cheapest version of a method and then upgrade if I feel it is needed. Yes, I'm totally with you on starting with the cheapest version of something rather than assuming I'll need the bells and whistles (especially if said bells and whistles are expensive!). If AAS really does work as well as people say it does and there's a cheaper (and simpler) way to teach the same concepts I'm all for it. I really have no idea what's what with spelling curriculum - it's very confusing, even after browsing this forum for a while searching for answers. I don't know which programs take which approach, etc. - I didn't know that WRTR would be similar to AAS in any way, for example. You say that WRTR is inexpensive...what would I need if I just want to use WRTR to teach spelling? I'd really like something that's divided into lessons for me rather than having to do my own lesson plans (as a newbie I prefer open-and-go right now and I'll tweak as I need to). And I agree that it's too early to tell what kind of speller DD will be. I just have a hunch based on her personality and the way she processes phonics in reading. She is very intuitive and creative - and non-detail-oriented...like her father. DH is very intelligent and has a wonderful command of language in general, but it amazes me how he misspells words at times - nothing really bad, but it leaves me shaking my head. :-) But maybe DD will surprise me with spelling - I hope so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 I would look at Spelling Plus...one book for all elementary grades, includes rules, words grouped by rule and pattern. http://www.susancanthony.com/books/sp.html I have free spelling and syllable division rules on my website, links at the bottom of my how to tutor page, links 5 and 6: http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/howtotutor.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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