Should I drop spelling? (6yo)

[Syllieann]

I am not sure spelling is a good use of ds's time or physical writing stamina. He will be 1st grade next year. We are using bible heroes this year, and he typically asks me how to spell any words he's unsure of. Next year we're using mbtp la 7-9. The spelling is lame, so I figured I'd just keep on with our current spell to read, but maybe I should just quit. He usually knows how to spell a word after being told once or twice. He is about halfway through the 5th grade list right now, and has already mastered the words on the mbtp list. He hasn't needed the phonics aspect for quite some time, so that is a non-issue.

 

My only concern with dropping is that he could still use reinforcement on syllabication, but maybe that would come on its own in time. Dh thinks ds needs to go all the way through the 12th grade list before dropping it, but idk that a 1st grader is going to be using a lot of 12th grade words in his writing. What says the hive? Would I kick myself in a year. Has anyone just done spelling orally, correct the word once or twice and call it good, or is that crazy?

[Jackie]

I refer to it as a hiatus from spelling, not dropping it :)

 

We stopped, but will go back to it in the future if it is helpful or desired. Perhaps taking a hiatus until your child is more in need of the words he would be learning to spell and then reassess?

[Halcyon]

why not just study the challenging words from Spelling Power? That's what we did with DS9 when he was younger, and we stopped spelling lessons when he was about 7 as he made it through just about the whole book with only a couple errors here and there (we started with harder words, not at the beginning). He rarely misspells words today and I don't regret accelerating it and then dropping it. 

[AnniePoo]

I have a 6yo who can spell about anything too.  I had to drop it, because spelling that was appropriate difficulty-wise tended to use words that he didn't understand and it became a pointless exercise.  We took a break.  No regrets.  

 

I've found copy work to be awesome for him.  I have him copy random sentences from his animal encyclopedia and draw a picture about it.  He ends up learning more complex words from that, but is able to grasp the meaning through context.  And if he copies it once, it's set in his brain.  

 

You could finish the 12th grade list later, but right now he probably won't understand what the words mean.

[Runningmom80]

We never did spelling.  DS is a natural speller so I never felt the need. 

[Arcadia]

I drop it for both my boys. You can always add back spelling later if the need arise but so far I haven't seen the need even for my non-natural speller.