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? for those who don't use a spelling curriculum


JRmommy
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I've never used a spelling curriculum with my almost 9 year old.  However, I'm wondering if I should.  Our state requires testing and he has tested approximately two years ahead for the last two years.  Although he seems like a natural speller, I know he doesn't know certain rules or patterns.  I have this nagging feeling that if I don't teach him the rules of spelling, he isn't going to progress much further than a 6th/7th grade level.  I think part of the issue is he is my oldest so I question myself all of the time.  For example, he taught himself how to read right before he turned 3.  However, at 4 years old, I still went through the entire Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading book.  He read me the teacher's instructions and did the student part.  Haha!  I still laugh at myself for having him do that entire book.  I wish kids came with a parenting manual with a volume dedicated for homeschooling.  :)

 

So my question is when should you use a spelling curriculum and which one?  I would love one he could do independently just for the sake of time but am open to others.  And please don't mention AAS.  I borrowed it and tried to use it with him one day, and it was extremely too slow for him.

 

Thanks for the advice in advance!

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I never learned the rules of spelling. Ever. Until I started teaching my kids. I went on to get two college degrees, and improve my spelling along the way.  

 

If you want a simple, pattern-based but not rule-heavy program, look into Sequential Spelling.  With the DVD you can have your child do it independently. 

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Natural spellers teach themselves spelling or their visual memory automatically memorizes the spelling of words. I'm a natural speller. I can count on one hand the number of times I was caught misspelling a word in K-graduate school and I always placed in the top few spots in spelling bees. If he is a natural speller, there is no reason to expect that he will top out at 6th/7th grade words. And if he is not, you can always add some spelling in later when and if it becomes a problem. I don't think you need to use a spelling program if you have a natural speller. :)

 

 

 

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My oldest did no spelling until 3rd grade, when she saw a pre-printed space in her planner listed "spelling" and requested a spelling program. I had Spelling Power (not the free Glencoe program of the same name but the one listed in TWTM) on the shelf that a veteran HSing mom had given me. DD placed into Level G but I backed her up and did selected lists from Levels E & F. Then she finished all the levels by the end of the school year.

 

She competed in spelling bees for a while so I used Hexco Academic products with her. We stopped when she decided that she really didn't have enough interest in spelling bee competition to put in the level of preparation it takes to be successful in our region. She likes spelling bees but not enough to devote 20+ hours/week to it.

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I was a natural speller, but would have benefitted from learning higher-level spelling rules and root study. I was not a very confident speller in high school and college, even though I usually spelled words correctly.

 

As for curriculum, I probably would get him something that taught the spelling rules and phonograms. There may be an Ortho-Gillingham that is a better fit, but Spell to Write and Read can be adapted for a natural speller. He could just study the phonograms and spelling rules all at once, then use the placement test to see where he should start in the lists. If he tests out of the entire program, he'll still have had exposure to the rules and phonograms. If not, he can do a pre-test to see which words he needs to study, then focus on those until he knows them.

 

Hope you find what (if anything) works for him!

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