question about spelling, first and second grade

[chelsmm]

I have two kids-

 

DS is 6 and just learning to read.  He's doing fine.  We are going through OPGTR, and while he doesn't love it, it's fine.  I can't remember where we are, but somewhere around lesson 58 or something.  I haven't done any spelling with him because it seems like he needs to learn to read well first.  Does that sound right?

 

DD is 8.  She reads at what I would guess is a second grade level.  She is just starting to enjoy chapter books (Marty McGuire and Ramona series).  She will read a couple chapters in a sitting on her own for fun.  Her comprehension seems fine.  Her spelling is what concerns me.  One example-

berekfest for breakfast, Should I go through OPGTR with her so that she's more aware of the blends and such?  So far for spelling we have been just doing 7 or so words a week that she practices.  I was going through the C list in Spelling Perfect (I think that's the name although I seem to always get it wrong- it's a red and white paperback book).  She took a test and got the words for the a and b lists correct, so she is on the c list now.  I didn't teach her to read.  She was in private school for kindy and first grade.  I have no idea what they taught there, and I think for the most part she taught herself.  She is home now for second grade.  I'm wondering what to do. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

Thanks! Chelsea

[Stars]

TWTM recommends waiting to start spelling until your child is at least halfway through OPGTR.  We finished the whole thing first and my first-grader began Spelling Workout A this year.  Based on my experience, I think learning to read is too much to combine with learning to spell.  I'm glad we waited.  Also, while I find Spelling Workout's phonics approach generally useful, the reality is that there are just so many irregularly-spelled words in English that it really comes down to memorizing a list every week.  We're in the B book now and our last lesson had several words like "meet" and "sea" -- where there are homophones and the spelling depends on the definition.  So... I guess in summary:

 

I'd wait till after you finish OPGTR to start spelling, if you can.

I think what you're doing with your daughter works as well as anything, but it wouldn't hurt to review phonics rules anyway.

[chelsmm]

I'm not doing much with my dd.  She reads on her own, and I give her a spelling list each week.  But that's it.  I feel like I should do more.  Maybe I'll go through OPGTR with her.  I think she'd be bored though, because she can read.  Although, I suppose it would take five min a day at most, so it won't hurt.

 

 

[dsbrack]

You could consider something like All About Spelling for your daughter.  It goes through all of the phonograms and teaches spelling rules.  That way, you could cover spelling but also see what she understands in regards to phonics without needing to go through OPGTR with her since she is already reading well.  Another option to consider would be Spalding, although it is a more complete language arts program than just spelling. The manual is Writing Road to Reading.  There is a thread somewhere on here listing spelling programs that use phonics approaches that might be helpful if you want some other options. 

 

My plan is to begin All About Spelling with my 6 year old once we get through OPGTR so it could be a first step for your daughter and a next step for your son.  HTH!

[Elisabet1]

I used Spelling Workout at this age. It is a phonics based program so it really drove home phonics. I am using it now. It is something I used 10 years ago and it has worked very well. I use it through 8th grade (level H, whenever that hits, my 6th grader is on level G, but my 2nd graders usually have been in level A because it is challenging enough).

[rzberrymom]

My DD's spelling didn't improve until I got really serious about WWE. Once she started doing copywork and dictation everyday, the spelling really started to fall into place (that was about a year after we had completely finished OPGTR)

[chelsmm]

We are doing WWE level 1.  I chose level one so the kids could do it together, and because I didn't know much about how easy or hard it would be.  It's pretty easy for her.  She is learning cursive, so she did just switch to doing it all in cursive last week.  But I'm not sure if she'll get the spelling from that alone.  Maybe.  We haven't been serious about it.  It's always the first to go when we are short on time.  Perhaps if we pick up the WWE that will help.

 

I like the idea of AAS, but I'm not sure we will (I will) make it happen.  I hear it's a lot of work on the teacher end?  And I wonder if the kids would hate it. 

 

As for WRTR- I did check that out a while back.  It was kind of overwhelming.  I wonder if dd is too young for the notebook part.  I could do that with her, but I think the suggestion is not to start until third grade.  Anyone have thoughts on that? 

[reign]

I think some kids need a rule oriented spelling program. While spelling by sight and word families works for many it doesn't work for all. I read like crazy as a child. I could not spell. For a child that is reading well but not spelling I would recommend a spelling program not OPGTR. I am spelling better now after having started spelling with my girls.

[chelsmm]

Reign,

What spelling program do you use?

[Tanikit]

I started spelling with my K'er when she was reading well. We did rule based spelling starting with cvc words and blends and teaching her to sound out the words and moved on to other sound combinations (ch, th, sh) and later silent e, endings (ing/ed) and some of the long vowels.

 

This year I am making sure she can spell all of the Dolch words - I divided them all up into their phonetic spellings - some I did not have to teach as she had already covered basic spelling and phonics for it. The rest I am teaching her a list of related words each week and she then practices them in various dictation sentences through the week that also include what she learnt last year. I use the Dolch word spelling lists that I created to teach the phonics involved and then expect that she can spell any related word I give her even if it is not on her list that week and that will also be included in the dictation. I have found that it is the dictation exercises and not the lists that actually teach her how to spell and that for new phonetic spellings she needs a great deal of repetition in further weeks dictations to remember the rules.

 

Based on the spelling she had for breakfast (berekfest) I would work with your older child on first speaking the words clearly and then being able to divide them into the sounds she hears - you may need some work on blends - is she hearing and saying them properly when reading? If she can say "br" then can she hear the sounds b and r. You would expect brekfist which would be phonetic brekfest is also possible depending on how she pronounces the word - there is a lot of further teaching to get to break and also to fast at the end and you may need to teach her that breakfast means "to break a fast" if she is to spell that one correctly and then also how break is spelled as it is also not regular.

[reign]

We use AAS. I don't think it is a lot of work. It is 100% teacher lead though. I am interacting with the girls the whole time. No workbooks! Lol. The girls both love it and think it the funnest part of the day. I think it is quite expensive but worth it for us. We use it 5 days a week about 10-15 minutes a day.

[chelsmm]

Really? AAS is fun? If it's fun, perhaps we can do it. What makes it fun?

[reign]

I suppose FUN is relative! It is pretty short. They like using the little tiles to spell words. We use white boards for the dictation. Which means they get to use multi color pens and draw a picture on the board when done. So more fun than math mammoth but less fun then a tea party!

[MerryAtHope]

I suppose FUN is relative! It is pretty short. They like using the little tiles to spell words. We use white boards for the dictation. Which means they get to use multi color pens and draw a picture on the board when done. So more fun than math mammoth but less fun then a tea party!

 

LOL! My kids used to make it fun--my son would make the letter tiles "explode" after making words, to put the tiles away. My daughter would draw pictures of the words she made. (Sometimes I had to limit the explosions and pictures to a certain number of words, LOL!)

[chelsmm]

Ok. So we could do that. My kids would definitely enjoy exploding letters and pictures. That's just soooo "them". Perhaps I'll consider it. I ordered WRTR used from amazon, so I'm going to read that first.