Choosing a spelling program: ___ is/is not for you if....

[dauphin]

I know there have been lots of commentary about spelling programs/curricula but it clearly depends a lot on what you are looking for and what you want/need out of a program. For example, ELTL might be for you if you prefer CM/integrated with other LA subjects... and so on. 

 

So I thought I'd ask for comments on spelling programs along the lines of Sunlight's "___ reasons SL might not be for you." But of course I'd also be interested in the converse, "___ reasons why ___ might be for you: If you_____" - so comment on your favorites or not-so-favorites both, please.

 

I'm overwhelmed with choices and possible "ways of doing this." I will be bringing my 1st grader home from a Montessori school next year. Part of me wants to figure out Montessori's "way" but that's a whole NOTHER ball of wax, LOL. I am drawn to LOE (according to their website, she's probably ready for Essentials) and AAS as being complete, sorta open and go, and thorough. Once we're done, we're DONE. I HATE trying to cobble something together, and I really want a scope/sequence. I tried CM and really can't wrap my mind around the entire S&S of LA and keep it in my head while trying to find ways to teach all those little points. Maybe in a few years. I want a finish line, with some opportunities for check marks along the way, LOL. I used to say I wasn't a workbook kind of person, but what is it in that siggy? "The curriculum that gets done is superior to the superior one that doesn't"..... So CLE is looking MIGHTY appealing. But I also am looking at their Bible, Reading, and Math for this student.... so...too much? She is a very strong (probably 3rd/early 4th grade?), and fairly natural reader. She is probably a fairly natural speller although she occasionally asks me to spell unfamiliar words for her but IIRC they tend to be the "exceptions." 

 

 

[Jackie]

I've only used All About Spelling for spelling, so I can only comment on that one.

 

It may be for you if you/your child:

• Likes having a collection of orderly rules to apply
• Likes having a combination of learning with letter tiles and written work
• Has 15 minutes every school day to devote to spelling

It may not be for you if you/your child:

• All those little tiles are likely to be lost or mangled/eaten by smaller children
• The memory work involved in remembering and applying the rules is more frustrating than helpful
• The cost is prohibitive

[Bluegoat]

We've been using Sequential Spelling with good results.

 

It might be for you if:

you only want to spend a small amount of time on spelling

your child resists "studying" spelling words

your child alread writes with reasonable fluency and isn't struggling to get ideas onto the paper

 

It might not be for you if:

you want to teach spelling rules explicitly

you have done a lot of spelling before and want to begin at a higher level

 

ETA - also - the parent has to administer this, but it is short.

It is pretty cheap.

[mmasc]

<p>

 

I've only used All About Spelling for spelling, so I can only comment on that one.

 

It may be for you if you/your child:

• Likes having a collection of orderly rules to apply
• Likes having a combination of learning with letter tiles and written work
• Has 15 minutes every school day to devote to spelling

It may not be for you if you/your child:

• All those little tiles are likely to be lost or mangled/eaten by smaller children
• The memory work involved in remembering and applying the rules is more frustrating than helpful
• The cost is prohibitive

We use AAS, and I second all of the above.

In our situation, I'll add that AAS might not be for you/your child if:

Need/want independent spelling work

 

My DS needs all the spelling help he can get, so this is one subject I don't mind being 'with mom' even though he's a rising fifth grader.

Good luck!

[silver]

RLTL (Reading Lessons through Literature) may be for you if you/your child:

• Like the idea of Spalding, but don't want to track down an OOP edition or read a thick manual 3 times before starting.
• Want a spelling/reading program that is open and go.
• Hate most controlled vocabulary readers and listening to "The fat cat sat on the mat" makes you want to poke sharp things into your ears.
• Want constant review of spelling rules.

It may not be for you if you/your child:

• Want games, activities, or bright colors.
• Your child does not have the fine motor skills to write yet.
• You want words grouped by spelling rule, phonograms, or words that rhyme.

[FO4UR]

Apples & Pears

 

Pros:

        Open & Go - no teacher prep.  

        Complete from letter formation, phonogram & morphemic knowledge, to sentence dictation.

        Spiral review.  Once learned, never forgotten

        It's a 4 book series that can take an older child from complete non-speller to adequate for high school in a relatively short period of time.

 

Cons:

        Teacher-intensive during the lessons.  It open & go, but not open & throw (the wb at the kid and leave...LOL).

         The phonograms & rules are not central to the lessons. (But, they are foundational kwim.) The kids aren't going to be prattling off rules for you.

         It's a lot of writing.  It's too much for some. 

         The pace can be too fast for severe dyslexics.

 

Spell to Write and Read

 

Pros:

       Covers all the phonograms and rules thoroughly.

        Covers all of the most common words in English.

        The word lists are grouped in smart ways to incorporate grammar and such.

 

Cons:

       It's a ton of memorization (apart from the words), and that can make things difficult to stick in any meaningful way.

       The words are in order of frequency, not grouped by families or like phonograms or morphemes.  This makes it difficult to remember for many kids.

       The "Think to Spell" requires kids to logically think from sound-to-phonogram.  There are multiple phonograms that can make the same sound.  This frustrates some.

        The "Think to Spell" requires kids to guess the spelling without seeing it first. I find this backwards. I like to have the child visualize the word first, then think logically through               phonograms and morphemes.  Then they remember.

        It's a ton of writing.

 

 

Essentials of Spelling (my reformatted version)

 

Pros:

      It's all laid out, open & go, from learning to form letters, to phonogram & morpheme logic, to sentence dictations.

      The lessons are short. It's a good bit of writing to build hand muscles, but the writing is age appropriate.  Tracing and copying preparation build the hand muscles, imprint the                    spellings, and prevent mental frustration for the 2nd grader (or older child who struggles in spelling).

      The lessons spiral review.  Once taught, never forgot.  The words keep coming up in the context of sentence dictations.

       The most common words are taught via Ayers List.

       The lessons use CM style visualization techniques along with other things I've pulled from various sources.  If it worked for my dyslexic son, it's in Essentials of Spelling.

 

Cons:

     It goes at a fairly slow pace.  This is a pro for some, but a natural speller or older child might find Apples & Pears more efficient.

     Letter tiles and other manipulatives are not included. (Though Grade 2 Friday lessons are a perfect precursor to Bananagrams.)

     Rules are taught fairly late in the program (4th grade, in earnest).  I think that is age-appropriate, but some won't agree.

     The reformat is not yet complete,

 

 

         

 

 

[laughing lioness]

We've used Sequential Spelling and Vocab/Spelling City with success but hands down I love Spelling U See. My review here, with a new one coming on Monday. HERE is my updated and new review.

[dauphin]

Would love for someone to comment on LOE here. I have kind of talked myself into CLE LA and Reading for the 2nd grader because it's "comprehensive" - as in, covering all the little bits and pieces (e.g., mechanics, use of reference materials, terminology) that I just don't have a mental checklist in my mind for, so they could easily "get missed"). Clearly I'm a bit of a box-checker. 
 

[EmilyGF]

Seq Spelling is for you if you like quick lessons and learn well from patterns. It is not for you if you like rules or knowing the "why" behind words. The lessons are much shorter than SWR.

 

SWR or WRTR is for you if you thrive on rules. It is much faster and more complex than AAS, which is why some of my kids have thrived on it after hating AAS. 

 

(Two kids use SWR and one uses Seq Spelling.)

[Goldilocks]

AAS might not be for you if your child is a natural speller.  It is too expensive to buy to just learn the rules that the child is already applying.

[kirstenhill]

Would love for someone to comment on LOE here. I have kind of talked myself into CLE LA and Reading for the 2nd grader because it's "comprehensive" - as in, covering all the little bits and pieces (e.g., mechanics, use of reference materials, terminology) that I just don't have a mental checklist in my mind for, so they could easily "get missed"). Clearly I'm a bit of a box-checker.

 

I'll give LOE a try. :-)

 

LOE Essentials might be for you if:

 

-You want an OG inspired program, but want a lot of instructor helps (great teacher manual, videos for teacher to watch, etc) - maybe you like the idea of WRTR or HTTS but didn't "get it"!

-You want a student to get up to speed with exposure to all the phonograms/rules within a year or less.

-You want exposure to all the rules/phonograms in one level (as opposed to multi level programs like AAS)

-You are interested in a program that offers grammar and light composition lessons alongside spelling (but these can also be skipped if you don't want that)

-Your student is at least 7 or 8

-You want multi-sensory activities like games

 

LOE Essentials might not be for you if:

 

-You have a very small budget for spelling/reading instructional materials.

-You want a program with little to no writing (though you could buy tiles to use with LOE).

-You want a no-frills "get 'er done" program and have no interest in games or other activities - you don't have to do these in LOE, but if you don't want them at all, you could probably go another route and save money.

-You hope this will be then only spelling program you ever have to buy (maybe for some students...not for my kids that are struggling spellers and need a lot of practice)

-You want graded materials (so you can buy a 2nd grade book, 3rd grade book, etc) or you like having the satisfaction of completing multiple levels over the course of time

-You need something independent/not teacher intensive

-You are looking for a program with spelling lists grouped primarily by rule, phonogram or pattern

[Shellydon]

We've used Sequential Spelling and Vocab/Spelling City with success but hands down I love Spelling U See. My review here, with a new one coming on Monday. HERE is my updated and new review.

 

Interesting how much you liked SUS.  We were beta testers and didn't care for it.  After finishing the chapters needed for the testing, we quit and went back to Rod and Staff.

[SnMomof7]

CLE LA is very good, and very phonics based in 1st and 2nd. We're waiting for our level 3 to arrive, but I think it is still a bit phonetic. Spelling in the first edition Sunrise (4th and up) is not phonetically organized. It is simply topical lists. We substitute Rod and Staff spelling at that point. The series is still being redeveloped and I, amongst others, have recommended that the series include more phonics in the series. We shall see when the 2nd edition 400s are released.

[laughing lioness]

Interesting how much you liked SUS.  We were beta testers and didn't care for it.  After finishing the chapters needed for the testing, we quit and went back to Rod and Staff.

 

It's been a perfect fit for my smart, mathy kid who couldn't spell worth beans. Sequential Spelling did the trick for my now 20 yo, but when I introduced it to my now 12 yo a few years ago, she cried. SUS has done the trick. I honestly think the colored pencils and color coordination are key for her. 

[nukeswife]

It's been a perfect fit for my smart, mathy kid who couldn't spell worth beans. Sequential Spelling did the trick for my now 20 yo, but when I introduced it to my now 12 yo a few years ago, she cried. SUS has done the trick. I honestly think the colored pencils and color coordination are key for her. 

 

You've got me thinking about this now.  My dd is 13.5 and still struggles with spelling.  We've tried them all, and although I love AAS, the rules didn't help her at all.  She could spout them off but it just didn't transfer to her writing outside of spelling.  I'm wonder if Spelling you see would end up being the same, or if she'd internalize the chunking more.  She is an artist at heart so I'm wondering if the colors would work better for her. 

 

[MotherGoose]

CLE LA is very good, and very phonics based in 1st and 2nd. We're waiting for our level 3 to arrive, but I think it is still a bit phonetic. Spelling in the first edition Sunrise (4th and up) is not phonetically organized. It is simply topical lists. We substitute Rod and Staff spelling at that point. The series is still being redeveloped and I, amongst others, have recommended that the series include more phonics in the series. We shall see when the 2nd edition 400s are released.

Do you know when 400 will be released?

[SnMomof7]

Do you know when 400 will be released?

They were aiming for this fall, but are behind schedule. Other than that, I couldn't say. Sometimes if you call them, they will give you an estimated completion date.

[jaderbee]

Has anyone used Spelling Wisdom from SCM or Wheeler's Speller or graded studies? Has studied dictation worked? I like lists and rules so Natural Speller (what we use on Spelling City) and the Spelling and the Brain method make total sense to me. WRTR, what I've seen of the samples of RLTL and the new Treadwell Companion just seem so random in the order they teach words that I don't see how the rules are retained. The idea of my children mulling over beautiful literature, inspirational quotes, proverbs, poetry and scripture while learning to spell just sounds lovely. Does it work though?

 

Edited to fix correct opgtr to wrtr

Edited April 30, 2015 by jaderbee

[SnMomof7]

LA300 arrived today from CLE and I love it. Spelling may not always be strictly phonetic, but it is tightly integrated into the lessons being taught. So when days of the week are being taught along with abbreviations, capital use, etc. one is sure to be on the list. When syllabificaction concepts are being taught, they show up in the spelling, etc. it will work for us.

[woolybear]

I have nothing helpful to add as I've never used any spelling program. :) However, I can't believe how hard it has been to decide on spelling. So I have a few more names to throw out and if anyone knows anything about them, jump in.....

 

Building Spelling Skills--there are two programs with this name. One by Evan Moore and the other.....I can't remember who it's from just now. They both looked interesting, but it was the second I was considering.

 

The Grammar of Spelling

 

Anyone???

[Doodlebug]

AAS (1-3):

 

Pros: Very engaging and colorful, clear structure and format, pick up and go (once you get into the rhythm of it)

 

Cons: Teacher dependent, lots of fiddly bits (tiles, cards), time consuming because of the various exercises, expensive.  Our experience was that this method of spelling is very effective, but when rule-based spelling is the only tool a child has in their spelling tool box, it can make the prospect of writing daunting.

 

 

Spelling Workout C: 

 

Pros: Rule based spelling lists with an emphasis on whole words/ less syllabic strategy.  Cumulative review every 5 lessons.  Interesting lead-in stories utilizing list words -- my DS loved these, though I'm not sure they really helped his spelling.  Spelling done in 15 minutes.  Less teacher involvement.  Inexpensive.   

 

Cons:  Enough errors in directions/ spelling rule application to make it frustrating for DS and I.  Out of four spelling exercises per list, only one was truly helpful in cementing spelling concepts.  Thus, this curriculum was more teacher dependent than I had initially hoped.      

 

And not to be ignored... the pages fell out of the student work book one month in.  

 

 

[Mrs. Tharp]

Calvert Spelling might be for you if there is a need or desire to type and your child does well with a basic spelling program with cumulative review.

 

It might not be for you if your child has significant problems with spelling.