My4arrows Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 I"m not sure what to do for my 8 yo DS. He dislikes anything to do with writing and even more so with spelling. We've tried using AAS since AAR worked wonders for him, but he struggled, didn't retain and hated it. We looked at other spelling programs for him and A Reason for Spelling stood out and he really liked it. He loves reading the stories at the beginning of the week, he somewhat likes the workbook exercises, but still isn't retaining and I don't feel like it's really "teaching" spelling. Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edeemarie Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 We have been through so many spelling programs at our house...I think it is our most frustrating subject! We have finally come up with a system that seems to work pretty well for my struggling spellers. First, we are memorizing the spelling rules, which has really helped all of us figure out why words are spelled the way they are. Secondly, I pick one longer passage for them to use as copywork for the week. I try to pick passages they will enjoy from poems and literature selections we are reading for our other school work. Usually there are a few words that are new to them, but not too many. Then on Friday we use the passage they worked on throughout the week as prepared dictation. I have seen the most progress in spelling by doing it this way. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratsche Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 We are doing something similar. I tried Logic of English last year, got overwhelmed and pared down to just the phonograms and rules flashcards. We do copywork and dictation each week and I try to spotlight words that use whatever rule we're concentrating on at the time. I've got my oldest trying out Megawords this year as well, but she's balking at it a bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 I really have no idea if this will help, but I think using a word list (from any spelling program) and then using some interactive game-playing can be a pretty painless way to do spelling. That's what we're doing this year. I start the week by doing fill-in-the-blanks on my big whiteboard (I make up crazy sentences, he inserts the correct spelling word into the blank) and then we do other games for the rest of the week, like tossing a ball back and forth to spell (after studying the word for a few minutes)--each of us saying a letter, rolling dice and then he has to write the word that many times (if he rolls a 3, he writes the 3 that many times), etc. I try to focus on studying the word and writing/saying it correctly. This is more an 'approach' than a curriculum, but it seems to work well for us for now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Frustrations with available spelling programs led me to reformat an old public domain program. See my siggie. I added cursive, explicit phonetic work, and plenty of CM style visualization technique to it. It starts roughly 2nd Grade level. One plus for a pencil-phobic child is that handwriting and spelling are both done in one lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Why does spelling have to be so hard? I've tried so many programs. So far this year our spelling choice is really going well, and I think I've finally found a keeper. A little early to tell how effective it will be, but so far we both are enjoying it. We got Spelling You See. I've considered it before, in fact I was anxiously awaiting for it to first come out and then when the samples were available, I was disappointed and dismissed the idea. I thought for sure my daughter wouldn't like it...the repeating of the same page over and over the entire week. But, really the pages are all a little different. Maybe the same paragraph, but different parts of that paragraph are worked on each day. She absolutely LOVES using colored highlighters to mark the chunks. Colored pencils come with it, but I realized that a pack of colored highlighters are the same colors the program uses...and she just loves that. I'd have to say this is the first time we are both happy with our spelling choice. This is definitely my favorite spelling I've ever tried...and I've tried a LOT over the years. Look here for samples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minerva Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 I really have no idea if this will help, but I think using a word list (from any spelling program) and then using some interactive game-playing can be a pretty painless way to do spelling. That's what we're doing this year. I start the week by doing fill-in-the-blanks on my big whiteboard (I make up crazy sentences, he inserts the correct spelling word into the blank) and then we do other games for the rest of the week, like tossing a ball back and forth to spell (after studying the word for a few minutes)--each of us saying a letter, rolling dice and then he has to write the word that many times (if he rolls a 3, he writes the 3 that many times), etc. I try to focus on studying the word and writing/saying it correctly. This is more an 'approach' than a curriculum, but it seems to work well for us for now. This is such a creative way to do spelling! I don't think it will be enough for my seriously spelling impaired dd, but I will certainly incorporate more play in our spelling routine after reading this. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My4arrows Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Thanks for the ideas! I'm going to try to do more of the play and incorporate it into the daily lessons. Maybe that will help him not dread it so much yet retain it all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My4arrows Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Why does spelling have to be so hard? I've tried so many programs. So far this year our spelling choice is really going well, and I think I've finally found a keeper. A little early to tell how effective it will be, but so far we both are enjoying it. We got Spelling You See. I've considered it before, in fact I was anxiously awaiting for it to first come out and then when the samples were available, I was disappointed and dismissed the idea. I thought for sure my daughter wouldn't like it...the repeating of the same page over and over the entire week. But, really the pages are all a little different. Maybe the same paragraph, but different parts of that paragraph are worked on each day. She absolutely LOVES using colored highlighters to mark the chunks. Colored pencils come with it, but I realized that a pack of colored highlighters are the same colors the program uses...and she just loves that. I'd have to say this is the first time we are both happy with our spelling choice. This is definitely my favorite spelling I've ever tried...and I've tried a LOT over the years. Look here for samples. I looked at it too and wasn't impressed, but maybe I'll need to look at it again or at least use the color techniques since I've seen that helping some people. He's successful with MUS so I had hope! I'll check it out again 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 I"m not sure what to do for my 8 yo DS. He dislikes anything to do with writing and even more so with spelling. We've tried using AAS since AAR worked wonders for him, but he struggled, didn't retain and hated it. We looked at other spelling programs for him and A Reason for Spelling stood out and he really liked it. He loves reading the stories at the beginning of the week, he somewhat likes the workbook exercises, but still isn't retaining and I don't feel like it's really "teaching" spelling. Any advice? I would expect an 8yo not to "retain anything." If he likes ARFS, then do that, and keep doing it until it sticks. :-) Also, be sure to correct any spelling errors he might make when he writes anything for any other Official School Subject. Sometimes children don't make that connection, even though we think they should. :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachingmomster Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 We have also used Spelling City online to practice and play games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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