Reading and spelling--together or separate?

[Cara4497]

I like the idea of teaching reading, spelling, handwriting, etc. separately so he can go at his own pace if one ends up being easier for him than the others. But a program that puts them together just seems so much more efficient and possibly cost effective as he gets older. 

 

Thoughts? If it matters, my son is 5 and starting K in the fall. He is also an only so there won't be anyone else using the materials later. 

 

Thanks!

[sunshineslp]

I'm in the same boat. I think RLTL teaches reading and spelling together. So do a lot of other programs that believe spelling is the precursor to reading (SWR, etc). I think it's fine to separate them and I have in the past. I'm considering RLTL though..

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[ReadingMama1214]

Spalding teaches them all together. I believe (don't quote me) that it teaches reading through spelling and writing. So they learn them simultaneously.

[kristin0713]

We used Spell to Write and Read and Logic of English which teach them together, the children spell their way into reading. I am a firm believer in that approach (which was super fast for my DD but more drawn out for my DS) although there are some who will say that it didn't work for their child. I believe that method has given my kids a really strong foundation in phonics and spelling and we are now able to move on to a very independent spelling program.

[MotherGoose]

Separate. Both of my children can read more words than they can spell. My youngest will tolerate spelling tied to writing and reading better, but oldest had no patience for it. In my experience, with two kids, the parts of the brain that govern reading mature much faster than those governing spelling and/ or writing. You can do the reading very quickly with something like ordinary parents guide to teaching reading and pick up spelling and writing elsewhere.

Edited April 25, 2016 by MotherGoose

[sunshineslp]

We used Spell to Write and Read and Logic of English which teach them together, the children spell their way into reading. I am a firm believer in that approach (which was super fast for my DD but more drawn out for my DS) although there are some who will say that it didn't work for their child. I believe that method has given my kids a really strong foundation in phonics and spelling and we are now able to move on to a very independent spelling program.

Curious which program you preferred? I use LoE and I feel like it's not got a lot of review or spelling involved...

[MerryAtHope]

All-in-one type programs never worked here, though I know it does for some families--my kids were always at very different places in reading, spelling, and writing. I think spelling does reinforce reading, and that in the very beginning stages, it can help reading to "click" for some kids if you play around with words a lot (showing both blending and segmenting). If I had waited for mastery in spelling before moving on in reading though, it would have really held my kids back. Here's an article to consider about separating reading and spelling. Do what works for your kids.

[Ellie]

I like the idea of teaching reading, spelling, handwriting, etc. separately so he can go at his own pace if one ends up being easier for him than the others. But a program that puts them together just seems so much more efficient and possibly cost effective as he gets older. 

 

Thoughts? If it matters, my son is 5 and starting K in the fall. He is also an only so there won't be anyone else using the materials later. 

 

Thanks!

 

It depends.

 

Spalding and its spin-offs/lookalikes teach children to read by teaching them to spell, while simultaneously teaching penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, and simple composition (Spalding can be more complex reading, grammar and writing, but most people like to take a break from it, lol).

 

Other methods teach phonics first/primarily, and add in the other components of English.

 

Both teaching philosophies work well, so it's your choice. :-)

 

I love Spalding. It is infinitely flexible as far as how quickly to move, so that you can start with a 5yo and continue for two or three more years, still using the same manual (Writing Road to Reading).

[kristin0713]

Curious which program you preferred? I use LoE and I feel like it's not got a lot of review or spelling involved...

LOE was a lot easier to wrap my brain around to implement. The guide for SWR is just not written to be very open-and-go. I did have my kids write the spelling words everyday, which was not specifically stated in LOE. I think that is an important component that really helped solidify their knowledge of the phonograms and spelling rules. The first day, i would dictate the the words and we would mark them together, then through the week i would try to move them to independence in spelling and marking the words.

[Cara4497]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll go with my gut and keep them separate for now. I'm leaning toward All About Reading with a handwriting program and maybe adding in a simple writing program. I'll start another thread to ask about that.  

[8filltheheart]

We definitely do them separately. My kids have all been on a much higher reading level than spelling.

[My4arrows]

My personal recommendation would be to use AAR (since you mentioned that and we've used it and love it) and handwriting only in k. Once level 1 of AAR has been complete and you'd feel your child can read this books fluently, I'd add in AAS or another spelling program in along with continuing reading and handwriting. Once their handwriting and spelling progresses, I'd then add in more formal writing and grammar.

[Guest]

Memoria Press's most recent catalog has an article in it about Spalding (and programs similar to Spalding), and teaching spelling and reading together.  It was very interesting.  They made the case against Spalding, and prefer a more traditional Orton approach to phonics.

[sunshineslp]

What programs are OG approaches? Is AAR?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

[Syllieann]

What programs are OG approaches? Is AAR?

 

 

Homeschooling mama of 4... Preschool 3, preschool 4, 1st, and 2nd:)

AAR is OG. There are some others that are aimed at dyslexics too.

[Peaceful Isle]

We have always done those subjects separately , with the exception of my little guy this year. He just turned five and we are doing the BJU k program with him. It includes the writing in the phonics and beginnings pages.

 

My 4th grader learned cursive using handwriting without tears. It's been awesome.

[SporkUK]

I separate mostly, but I also use things that overlap but each section we're more focused on one - if that makes any sense. I don't use an all-in-one thing, more a hodgepodge mixed together so, like you said, each part can go at its own pace. You can make a pretty efficient and cheap system with different things.

 

As an example, we use Blend Phonics or Ultimate Phonics word list for phonics/early reading [both of which are free], I write the word out sound by sound on a whiteboard, they would read it and then copy it as best they could. The focus was on reading, but they'd practice writing as well. For my 6 year old who is better at writing than reading this really helped her click with things until she started doing Phonics Pathways without the whiteboard [though we go back to it when she gets stuck]. We do similar during penmanship: my 6 year old writes her alphabet, we each pick letters to work on lowercase and capital, then she breaks and reads her Ultimate Phonics word list and sentence for the day, picks a sentence for copywork and so on - the focus is mainly on writing but there is also reading practice in the middle. She practices reading in little bits before [with Phonics Pathways], during [with Ultimate Phonics word list] and after [with I See Sam readers] writing which is her favourite. I don't do spelling with her yet - we previously did Schonell's Essential Spelling List which I use for the older two after she requested it but she soon found it overwhelming so it's shelved for her until next year.