pjssully Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Just looking to see if anyone has used this for an extended period of time. Have you seen improvement? how much time does it take daily? pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagnfun Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 Just looking to see if anyone has used this for an extended period of time. Have you seen improvement?how much time does it take daily? pam I answered this not to long ago on a pervious post but I can't seem to find it. We used Spelling Power for my oldest. We started when she was a freshman in high school. Spelling was NEVER her thing. She actually was bad at spelling. We used the program for about 6 months and I saw drastic improvements. I want to say she started around the same spelling level as her 5th grade brother but by the end of her freshman year, she far exceded where what I'd expected. We didn't do all they suggested for her (write words in sand and such) but did have her study the words. She graduated high school this past year and placed advanced at the local community college (skipp all english classes). So, yes it worked for us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 I finally settled on SP after trying several other programs. My kids don't mind it, it takes no time at all and the abysimal speller is improving.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melmac Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 After having used Spelling Workout for 4 years with not-so-good results, we recently made the switch to SP and my ds 10 is having great results.We started it 3 weeks ago at the beginning (even though he tested higher), I wanted to be sure nothing was left out that he might need to study and sure enough that's where he needed to start. But he has zoomed through it and has 8 word lists to go before we start the next level. So, we are new to SP, but I can say that it is a great program and I am definitely seeing great results. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Anna Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 I'm watching this with interest because I'm planning to use this program all the way through (if only she takes to it!) with my first dd. Mama Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcjlkplus3 Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 We started Spelling Power last spring with my daughter who was in 1st grade at the time, so we had to use their modified approach (somewhat more traditional), but it worked great for her and we will probably be doing it the same way this year. I will be retesting her the week before we start school (Spelling is something we do not do over the summer), to see which list to start her on. Having done it, at least a little, I can't think why it wouldn't work for anyone. I hated spending $70 on it, but my husband finally convinced me- its one book that all three kids will use until they graduate. All it costs me is printer ink and paper. The new version comes with a disc that you can print the froms from (part of the higher cost) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim in ks Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 I also commented on another post? don't know what happen to it? I used this w/ my older children for 6 years, and have used it w/ my younger ones for the last 4 years, so I've used it for 10 years, both in High School and 3rd grade- 6th grade! I love the program, it doesn't take a lot of time each day w/ needless workbook pages, and they can't memorize the words, they have to learn to spell w/ the phonic rules and exceptions Here is an example of our SP week; M-X T- Level G group 1 ( or 25 words, unless she misses 5, then we stop) I use the appropriate Activity card for her to apply to the missed words W- X TH-Level G group 2 , etc..... Sidenote: at the review test I have her make a word find for me to do! Then I give her the test the next day F -X kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamato4 Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 My ds is a natural speller and likes the fact that he only gets to work on those words he missed. My two dd's are not natural spellers and it's helped them improve on their spelling in a non-painful and not-too-time-consuming way. I did have to modify the program, though. One significant thing I did was to type and print out all the rules for them in one place. They have to read the rules instead of copying it everytime we started a new group. There was no change in how they did, and it cut down on much whining and crying about having to copy the rules down. They could be very long at times. We've been using it for 3-4 years now and I love the ease and "reusability" of the program. After they got the hang of what to do when they miss a word, I started using the regular 70-page notebooks which you can get in before-school sales for 5 or 10 cents each. So aside from the expense of the book and a few of the Spelling Power notebooks, I have very, very minimal expense now when it comes to our spelling. God Bless, Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveBaby Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 This is really helpful! We are using R&S spelling right now, but this is on my list in case it ends up not working for us as we go along. I'm glad to see it's gotten such good reviews! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted August 14, 2008 Share Posted August 14, 2008 I'm glad to see all the positive reviews here. I just got my SP book and discs yesterday and dove right into the reading. I've heard lots of complaints about how long it was. I didn't think it was all that long, maybe it's a big change in the 4th edition from what it was. I then watched the quick start DVD. Today I gave my 9 year old (4th grader) the survey test and it said to start with Level C (grade level 3.2) I wasn't to surprised since last year spelling was our hs thorn. I just couldn't find anything that worked or we liked. I decided to get the record book since my son likes the color green and likes having all his stuff together. I may just print them out next year, we'll see how the student book works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margo out of lurking Posted August 15, 2008 Share Posted August 15, 2008 Just looking to see if anyone has used this for an extended period of time. Have you seen improvement?how much time does it take daily? pam After my dd learned to read (and spell!) using Writing Road to Reading through ps and a pt hs class, we switched to Spelling Power for a year. She did very well through the program and moved ahead more than a year as she continued to spell successfully each week. However, at the end of the school year, she only tested a few months higher than before. My guess is that we/she spent 15-20 mins. a day (this was 4 years ago, so my memory's faded). I ended up going with SWR, because she knew it and I could get along. Her spelling soared again and I never looked back. Based on what I know now, I do not personally believe that SP teaches valid spelling rules or proper phonograms. Their spelling reinforcement activities are helpful. I also believe that most children will be decent spellers no matter what curriculum is used--but that some will struggle with spelling in general (natural spellers vs. not so natural). Just our experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.