Is there any reason to get A&P spelling if I already have Spelling Through Morphographs?

[forty-two]

In a fit of winter-induced spending last year, I impulse bought Spelling Through Morphographs, because I could get a used copy of that cheaper than buying all the levels of A&P new (and threads here seemed to indicate they both do more or less the same thing and end up in about the same place). Haven't used it yet, but was planning to start it with dd9 this year (who needs some intensive spelling work). However, Apples & Pears keeps calling my name, probably because it seems somehow to be easier to implement - more open & go.

 

I mostly want to be talked out of getting the shiny new program to replace the probably-perfectly-good one I already own ;), but open and go is a real consideration here - if A&P really shines there over STM, it might be worth considering.

 

TIA :)

[8filltheheart]

I can answer the question in reverse.....it was not worth buying StM after completing A&P.  A&P obviously moves at a much slower pace and therefore spends more time building the connections and reviewing.

 

I guess the answer depends on your student.  My ds was (and still is) a horrible speller.  A&P helped a lot, but there was not anything new in StM.  He wouldn't have been able to use StM as successfully b/c he needed the extra.  But for my other kids, A&P would have been too much.  Does that make any sense?

[sbgrace]

I only own Apples and Pears, but in your place I think I would try the StM. If we stalled, student pacing or teacher follow through, I would consider AandP. It is easy to implement, but the idea of moving through material faster if possible and avoiding extra expense would make me want to try what I owned.

[...................]

It really depends...

 

Is your dd9 a terrible speller?  She can't see the patterns inside words and has not had any real success with spelling?  Does she memorize a word for a test only to forgot it permanently the next week? Does she tend to "flub" new long words when she's reading? Does she feel frustrated, confused and even anxious about spelling?  Do you sometimes suspect a mild LD or even dysgraphia?  If the answer is yes to some of the above questions, then I really think the slow pace of A&P and significant over-learning/repetition alongside the excellent and so easy to use TM with lots of writing practice, would be what you need.

 

If you just haven't covered much spelling and that's why you feel she needs some extra work, then I think any intensive phonics or morpheme based spelling would work.  :o)  

[forty-two]

It really depends...

 

Is your dd9 a terrible speller?  She can't see the patterns inside words and has not had any real success with spelling?  Does she memorize a word for a test only to forgot it permanently the next week? Does she tend to "flub" new long words when she's reading? Does she feel frustrated, confused and even anxious about spelling?  Do you sometimes suspect a mild LD or even dysgraphia?  If the answer is yes to some of the above questions, then I really think the slow pace of A&P and significant over-learning/repetition alongside the excellent and so easy to use TM with lots of writing practice, would be what you need.

 

If you just haven't covered much spelling and that's why you feel she needs some extra work, then I think any intensive phonics or morpheme based spelling would work.   :o)  

 

Yes and no.  Dd9 loves to read, reads for hours a day, but is entirely incapable of picking up spelling from her reading.  However, she learns words she is explicitly taught to spell with just 1-3 repetitions.  She *does* notice patterns in words, but she has to be explicitly taught a pattern first before she starts noticing it; once she *has* learned to spell a given pattern in a few words, then she automatically starts applying it to other words (and gets frustrated when what she thought was a pattern doesn't apply).  (She was the same wrt learning to read - had to explicitly practice each and every possible CVC pattern to learn it, but one or two repetitions was all it took to stick.  At some point she had enough patterns in her head to generalize.) She can read any word in her spoken vocabulary, no matter what the length, but long words that aren't in her spoken vocabulary are invariably mispronounced, but generally once she learns the correct pronunciation it sticks.  She definitely feels frustrated and confused about spelling and I've suspected stealth dyslexia and dysgraphia.

 

I was a natural speller, and it's taken me a while to wrap my brain around a kid who loves to read and has a phenomenal visual memory who just *doesn't* remotely pick up any spelling beyond CVC words from her reading.  (Her auditory discrimination is bad, though, and it shows when she tackles words she hasn't explicitly learned to spell; also her ability to order things in time is bad.)  So while I've done bits and pieces with her (and attempted LiPS, which did help, but was hard for me to keep up with), we haven't done anything truly systematic.  She is very visual and meaning focused, which is why I thought to do morphemic spelling.

 

So, basically, she's complete crap at spelling - she naturally sees words as wholes and has to be explicitly taught to break them down and see their parts, with fairly small steps and no implicit assumptions - but once taught she remembers it easily, she doesn't need much repetition.  And if her spelling is anything like her reading, once she gets a big enough storehouse of patterns, she can start to figure out the rest on her own.  I'm thinking of starting StM and seeing how it goes - it's very explicit, and has a moderate amount of repetition - see if it works or if it goes too fast.

[Shay]

We successfully completed the StM book last year (12 yo 6th grader) and it is certainly open-and-go and simple to implement. StM was excellent at teaching my ds rules he didn't naturally pick up (or hadn't been taught in ps). My ds is certainly a MUCH better speller now, though we aren't done with spelling. I've struggled with where to go after StM.

 

With a young 9yo, I do think A&P would be appealing to me. Either way you go, you at least are working with a younger student than I was. I felt like an intense 1 year remediation was in order. You have time to work through several programs if you see the need to, and both of the ones you mention would be top on my list. I think either will be a winner.

 

This was no help, huh?!? I'm feeling foggy, but wanted to offer up what I could since I may not get back to the forums (not too many StM users!)