wehave8 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I see it's fairly new, but I'd LOVE to hear how it's working for you! Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I posted in the other thread, but I'll share here, too. We've been using level 2 for about three months now. We're using it as a spelling program that also reinforces phonics (rather than as a learn-to-read program). When we started, my son already knew the phonograms and had been working through the Ayers list using Spalding. That's why we started in level 2 rather than level 1 of RLTL. If you haven't done a program involving marking words, starting with level 1 would be best. My son likes RLTL slightly better than straight Spalding. He enjoys spotting his spelling words in the stories from the Elson Reader. He didn't like having spelling quizzes before--so he prefers the lack of quiz aspect of RLTL. For my son, most of the errors on the quizzes were from choosing a different phonogram (using "ai" rather than "ea" to spell "break", as an example) rather than not remembering the rules. Since the wrong phonogram can look right to someone that is still a young reader, I have to agree with the author of RLTL that quizzes can be detrimental by putting a visual and kinesthetic component to the wrong spelling. I like that it's easy to implement. I like that words aren't grouped together by phonogram or rule--my son spies patterns right away so programs that group words together don't work as well for him. He'll figure out the pattern ("these words all use UR for the /er/ sound") and apply it to his words without letting it sink into his brain. Which works fine for getting that particular list correct, but doesn't help him at all for long term retention. My son's spelling has improved while using RLTL and he has learned some new rules (we hadn't covered adding suffixes to silent e or single vowel y words before starting, and now we have). I like that it has readers tied to it. I have my son read aloud to me every day and sometimes it's hard to have enough books from the library for him, since he can go through them so quickly on his own time. The Elson Reader is for school only and I know that he'll be able to read every word in the story, because we've analyzed it in a spelling list already. A bonus to RLTL is that since the spelling lists are tied to stories and poems, that often there will be a theme tying the words together (words related to birds, for example). Our writing curriculum recommends Spalding and currently has my son writing original sentences using words from his spelling lists. Having the words be related helps my son with his sentences. For example, a recent list had "sold", "country", and "oxen". My son wrote, "A man from the country sold some oxen." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slache Posted July 16, 2014 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Bump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelticHaiku Posted December 28, 2014 Share Posted December 28, 2014 Bump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamindy Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 We are using this as a spelling program for my big girls and I really like it. Any specific questions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorisuewho Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 We are using it as a break from Logic of English Foundations. With my daughter, I used Foundations A and B and started C, but it was going too fast at that point. So we took a break. I started with the very beginning of RLTL. I like it. I like the rhythm of it. My daughter likes the Elson stories. I like the pace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wholesomemomma Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I'm considering using this for a spelling program as well (instead of AAS). I've heard some say that the words aren't difficult enough... is this true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Anyone STILL using this? Looking to see if it's a 'tried for a year and moved on' or 'tried it, use it, love it'. Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I've finished level 2 and 3 with my son, moving onto 4 next week. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Journeys Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 We are finishing level two soon and I've already purchased level 3 for my upcoming second grader. I'll start my 5 yr old in level 1 in the fall or sooner as she is begging to do lessons and has me dictating words to her all the time. As we transition to it being more of a spelling program as her fluency increases, I'm seeing her utilize the rules in her free writing and it's very reassuring that this method will be enough at least as a start as a spelling program. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorisuewho Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 We finished level one, are half way through two, and I purchased level three. So, yep, we are sticking with it for my daughter. It is well done. For my youngest child, I'm starting her in LOE Foundations because I love all the games and activities. I'll probably transition her over to RLTL after LOE b. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 We are finishing level two soon and I've already purchased level 3 for my upcoming second grader. I'll start my 5 yr old in level 1 in the fall or sooner as she is begging to do lessons and has me dictating words to her all the time. As we transition to it being more of a spelling program as her fluency increases, I'm seeing her utilize the rules in her free writing and it's very reassuring that this method will be enough at least as a start as a spelling program. What would you use after RLTL? Is it thorough? Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Where are some real samples? All I see from Lulu are the first pages that don't go past the introductory and TOC. Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Journeys Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 What would you use after RLTL? Is it thorough? Pam I have no idea. If I feel like she needs to work through more difficult words, maybe I'll look into it. But I honestly love the approach of just learning to spell as you're coming across the words in reading. There's no tests, flash cards, and all the other extraneous things. So, as the author suggests we'll move to prepared dictation and make spelling corrections as we go via a spelling journal. This link is to the sample, I'm not sure if it's what you read. But really, it's the program exactly. You'll see the phonograms (we review one a day) and the spelling lists (I dictate 2-3 a week) and the reader (she reads 1-2 a week). That's it! http://www.lulu.com/shop/kathy-jo-devore/samples-reading-lessons-through-literature-levels-1-4/ebook/product-22110510.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 I have no idea. If I feel like she needs to work through more difficult words, maybe I'll look into it. But I honestly love the approach of just learning to spell as you're coming across the words in reading. There's no tests, flash cards, and all the other extraneous things. So, as the author suggests we'll move to prepared dictation and make spelling corrections as we go via a spelling journal. This link is to the sample, I'm not sure if it's what you read. But really, it's the program exactly. You'll see the phonograms (we review one a day) and the spelling lists (I dictate 2-3 a week) and the reader (she reads 1-2 a week). That's it! http://www.lulu.com/shop/kathy-jo-devore/samples-reading-lessons-through-literature-levels-1-4/ebook/product-22110510.html Thank you! I thought I saw this before, but I couldn't find it. Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Do you know if they have a list of their spelling rules? Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookworm4 Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 Do you know if they have a list of their spelling rules? Pam There is a list of the spelling rules (30) and 75 phonograms in the beginning of the book. Each rule is also written next to each spelling rule as applicable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 The free spelling journal (meant for use with prepared dictation) has a list of the phonograms and rules that RLTL uses. http://www.lulu.com/shop/kathy-jo-devore/spelling-journal/ebook/product-21372875.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I haven't decided what we'll do after we're done with RLTL. My son will finish RLTL in 3rd grade and I think that he'd benefit from continued work on spelling. Some of the options I've considered: Prepared dictation. I'd have him mark the dictation sentence the same way we mark words in RLTL. We use ELTL as well, so I'd just use the dictation sentences from that. Give him a Morrison-McCall spelling test to place him in Spalding/WRTR Use How to Teach Spelling (modified slightly to match RLTL rules/phonograms better) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorisuewho Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I haven't decided what we'll do after we're done with RLTL. My son will finish RLTL in 3rd grade and I think that he'd benefit from continued work on spelling. Some of the options I've considered: Prepared dictation. I'd have him mark the dictation sentence the same way we mark words in RLTL. We use ELTL as well, so I'd just use the dictation sentences from that. Give him a Morrison-McCall spelling test to place him in Spalding/WRTR Use How to Teach Spelling (modified slightly to match RLTL rules/phonograms better) All of these are great choices!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Journeys Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 <p>I haven't decided what we'll do after we're done with RLTL. My son will finish RLTL in 3rd grade and I think that he'd benefit from continued work on spelling. Some of the options I've considered: Prepared dictation. I'd have him mark the dictation sentence the same way we mark words in RLTL. We use ELTL as well, so I'd just use the dictation sentences from that. Give him a Morrison-McCall spelling test to place him in Spalding/WRTR Use How to Teach Spelling (modified slightly to match RLTL rules/phonograms better) Thanks for these ideas, we'll be done at the end of second grade. Prepared dictation starts in ELTL 3 I think, so we could go right into that. I just took a good look at the spelling journal and love it. And Kathy Jo did put flashcards in there! I think there are free ones on lulu too separately, I've just not needed them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelticHaiku Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 Has anyone used this to teach their child to read and not just as a spelling program for a child that started reading through a different program? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CelticHaiku Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 Has anyone used this to teach their child to read and not just as a spelling program for a child that started reading through a different program? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrygal Posted May 17, 2015 Share Posted May 17, 2015 I use it as a reading program. The only thing that my son would learn from was SWR. He wanted to spell things out all the time and just reading from a book like Phonics Pathways was pure torture. He was never able to transition to books though with SWR, even basic BOB books. He is half way through the 2nd book of RLtL and doing 3-4 lists a week. He is 9 and finishing 3rd grade and I am quite sure he is moderately dyslexic. I hope to finish the other 2 books by the end of 4th. I do not test on the spelling, he just reads through the more recent lists several times through the week and reads the stories a couple times and we keep moving on. It's the only thing that worked. The first book has all the phonograms underlined in the stories and the syllables hyphenated. The second book drops the underlining but still has the hyphenated syllables. This has helped tremendously. He now realizes that he can decode most words and no longer fights and struggles with reading. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyful Journeys Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I reviewed this on Amazon (mama2girls) and you'll see how this has taught my daughter to read. She was reading CVC words only and maybe 10 sight words. Bob books took foreeeeever to get through. We tried AAR and she didn't progress at all. My 5 yr old can sound out CVC words (taught herself really) but she doesnt know the first 26 phonograms cold (that a makes 3 sounds for example) and she had never completed a story on her own, so this will be the first and hopefully only program I use with her. I have the phonogram workbook for the "cute" factor and for her to practice writing easily. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammish Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Not sure if this is helpful, but we used it for a couple of months and then dropped it. DS was already a very strong reader, and I was hoping to use it as a spelling program. DS can sound out words, but we never really did phonograms, so we had to start at the beginning with learning them. We used the suggested schedule in the back for using the program as a spelling program, and got through learning all the phonograms and started doing spelling lists. But it felt like a lot of wasted effort for us: all that time memorizing the phonograms, and then starting to learn the marking rules for spelling, using words he could already spell pretty easily... in the end we dropped it, and switched over to Sequential Spelling, which is a much better fit for us. I still think it's probably a really good program, just not a good fit for our particular situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wehave8 Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 We are using this as a spelling program for my big girls and I really like it. Any specific questions? Mindy, Are you still using RLTL? Do you feel it is a solid program for spelling? Could you give a 'pros' and 'cons' review if you've continued with it? What level of spelling do you think it goes through? Pam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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