Can ETC count as spelling too?

[mountains27]

I have a first grade boy who is currently in book 2 of ETC and has also been using Spelling Workout book A. I found today that his spelling lesson wasn't matching up with the words and rules he was learning in ETC and he was a bit confused. It also dawned on me that he actually gets a bit of spelling practice out of his ETC lessons. So it got me wondering if this was enough for a first grader? Can we just count ETC as spelling too?

Has anyone else used this approach at this age?

[Momling]

Of course! Spelling really isn't necessary until they are fluent readers. ETC also doubles as handwriting practice too.

[phathui5]

I would think so.

[fourisenough]

For my DD5 (K), I count ETC as handwriting* & spelling. We also do AAR 1 (she loves the activities), but I like that ETC requires writing and can be done on-the-go (somewhat) independently. Yesterday was a whopper of an on-the-go day involving multiple doctor appointments, yet ETC got done!

 

*It does not teach letter formation, but once my kids know all lower case letters (usually by age 4, but I have girls who were born with pencils in hand) we use it as printing practice.

[Carrousel]

We did not start spelling until finished with ETC. Instead we did ETC and sight words work with a flash kids workbook, and that was the magic combination to get reading flowing over here.

[mountains27]

Cool. thanks for the confirmation :) My guy does read fairly well and is around a mid-1st grade level if I had to guess. He also does a daily one-two sentence journal entry and gets some spelling practice in there as well. He also adores writing on the dry erase board so he sometimes likes me "quizzing" him on some of his ETC words so he can try writing them on the board by himself.

[Desert Strawberry]

We don't do formal spelling at all. Phonics, copywork, writing. We tried doing spelling and it was a big failure. While my kids are not natural spellers, I have seen continual improvement with our methods. 

 

I have done some reading that traditional spelling list and tests don't really improve spelling in application. I think all of the effective spelling programs are more phonics-based than just spelling words in a list. 

[Farrar]

I tried that and it did not work so well. I think understanding a word to read it and to spell are two different levels of mastery. If you want to aim for the first one, then going slowly enough for the second may be frustrating for a new reader. But if a child already knew the reading level of mastery, then the workbook would be dull as a spelling workbook - too many easy exercises and not enough focus on the spelling rules or at least practicing the spelling. You could add practice, but then you hit against an even slower pace. That's why I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

 

That said, I'm sure there are many kids out there who are aces at reading and spelling and absorb it all much faster than either of my ETC users did, who were learning at a pretty average pace. It might work better for a child who picks up spelling really quickly.