spelling curriculum for not natural spellers

[fdrinca]

I'm looking for something that will help teach spelling with minimal teacher involvement for my 9 and soon to be 8 year olds. Both read above grade level, but are just not great spellers. Spelling errors tend to be rooted in phonics (so "trane" instead of "train"). We used ETC for phonics, and, as a result, they know a bunch of phonics "rules" but not how to apply them. I'm also not a natural speller FWIW. 

 

In the past year, we worked through a few word lists, but it's just not sticking. I had them take a pretest, then write sentences with misspelled words, then write the misspelled words 10x each, then take a posttest. They actually really liked this. (They said it felt like what "school kids" were doing.) I came up with this format because it's what **I** did as spelling practice in elementary school. 

 

But, frankly, the words aren't sticking. DS9 was a little embarrassed that he signed a big card at his gym "good luck at your State Meat!"  :mellow:  :mellow:

 

So: best open-and-go curriculum? NOT AAS, please. Thanks!

[Amateur Actress]

We liked SpellWell. Lots of different activities.

[Tita Gidge]

My kids are all strong readers, and half of them are atrocious spellers. I laughed at the "State Meat" because I could totally see mine writing that! And they're teens ...

 

Anyway, I sucked it up and did AAS with them after resisting it for years. With the younger ones I used the tiles and all of the other soul-sucking that went with the program, but with my older kids I just read the book with them and gave them the spelling tests. We moved through the first five levels super quickly, and best of all IT STUCK!

 

So my suggestion would be to use the AAS as an open-and-go ... or to find a phonics program that is (even if it's aimed for readers, not spellers). I'm sure there are even apps you can find that would work. And for review, try Junior Scrabble or Boggle - always a hit here, especially when the older kids felt babied by the ease of AAS.

 

We have an old phonics book by the McCrackens. This is what the elementary school used for my younger siblings' ESL classes when we immigrated. I don't know if it's still in print but I know there are options out there!

[kbutton]

Sequential Spelling--it goes by pattern, introduces homonyms and frequently used words, and it works on adding prefixes and suffixes to base words. You do a list every day, and you correct as soon as they make a mistake. Very open and go, no frills.

[Ellie]

I'm looking for something that will help teach spelling with minimal teacher involvement for my 9 and soon to be 8 year olds. Both read above grade level, but are just not great spellers. Spelling errors tend to be rooted in phonics (so "trane" instead of "train"). We used ETC for phonics, and, as a result, they know a bunch of phonics "rules" but not how to apply them. I'm also not a natural speller FWIW. 

 

In the past year, we worked through a few word lists, but it's just not sticking. I had them take a pretest, then write sentences with misspelled words, then write the misspelled words 10x each, then take a posttest. They actually really liked this. (They said it felt like what "school kids" were doing.) I came up with this format because it's what **I** did as spelling practice in elementary school. 

 

But, frankly, the words aren't sticking. DS9 was a little embarrassed that he signed a big card at his gym "good luck at your State Meat!"  :mellow:  :mellow:

 

So: best open-and-go curriculum? NOT AAS, please. Thanks!

 

As you have seen, phonics "rules" and spelling rules are not the same. Many people are surprised that their children who read well don't spell well; but they are two different things

 

Writing spelling words multiple times only helps [some] children memorize them. It does not actually teach children how to spell. For many children it is enough, because they have good visual memories, and sometimes they even intuitively figure out the spelling rules involved. But it is not the best way (as you have seen).

 

My best recommendation is Spalding. It does take study on your part to learn how to teach it, but once you begin teaching, it's as open-and-go as they come. Only one book to buy (the manual, Writing Road to Reading) and a set of phonogram cards, plus a sewn composition book each year for each child. That's it. Spalding is the most comprehensive spelling method I have seen. It also simultaneously does penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, and simple composition--everything for English skills in one fell swoop.

 

After Spalding, my favorite traditional spelling series is Spelling by Sound and Structure (Rod and Staff).

 

 

ETA: There is no spelling rule that would dictate "train" instead of "trane." Sometimes it's just a matter of knowing vocabulary, as you would know by context whether to write "main" or "mane." Phonics would also not address the reason that oy is used in the word "boy" instead of oi. That's a spelling thing.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Ellie

[Wholesomemomma]

Spelling You See. HANDS DOWN. Worked miracles for my 9 yo DS

[fdrinca]

As you have seen, phonics "rules" and spelling rules are not the same. Many people are surprised that their children who read well don't spell well; but they are two different things

 

Writing spelling words multiple times only helps [some] children memorize them. It does not actually teach children how to spell. For many children it is enough, because they have good visual memories, and sometimes they even intuitively figure out the spelling rules involved. But it is not the best way (as you have seen).

 

My best recommendation is Spalding. It does take study on your part to learn how to teach it, but once you begin teaching, it's as open-and-go as they come. Only one book to buy (the manual, Writing Road to Reading) and a set of phonogram cards, plus a sewn composition book each year for each child. That's it. Spalding is the most comprehensive spelling method I have seen. It also simultaneously does penmanship, capitalization and punctuation, and simple composition--everything for English skills in one fell swoop.

 

After Spalding, my favorite traditional spelling series is Spelling by Sound and Structure (Rod and Staff).

 

 

ETA: There is no spelling rule that would dictate "train" instead of "trane." Sometimes it's just a matter of knowing vocabulary, as you would know by context whether to write "main" or "mane." Phonics would also not address the reason that oy is used in the word "boy" instead of oi. That's a spelling thing.

 

I think this is where I'm stuck with discerning a good curriculum for them. There is a discord between phonics and English spelling. The kids can sound out long words, but are tripped up on irregular words. (Lots of "wus" and "ov" and the odd "where" for "were.") The have a good phonemic base, but when three different phonemes make the long e sound, how do they know other than memorization?

 

Does Spaulding explicitly include memorization? I looked at the website and couldn't see what the methodology would be. 

[fdrinca]

Sequential Spelling--it goes by pattern, introduces homonyms and frequently used words, and it works on adding prefixes and suffixes to base words. You do a list every day, and you correct as soon as they make a mistake. Very open and go, no frills.

 

I bet my kids would respond well to this, as they did enjoy ETC. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

We've made good progress with Apples and Pears.  My son's spelling is much, much worse than yours.  :-)  But it has come a long way with A&P.

[Ellie]

I think this is where I'm stuck with discerning a good curriculum for them. There is a discord between phonics and English spelling. The kids can sound out long words, but are tripped up on irregular words. (Lots of "wus" and "ov" and the odd "where" for "were.") The have a good phonemic base, but when three different phonemes make the long e sound, how do they know other than memorization?

 

Does Spaulding explicitly include memorization? I looked at the website and couldn't see what the methodology would be. 

 

Spalding (notice the spelling, lol) teaches children to read by teaching them to spell. They learn to read and write 70 phonograms, and they use those phonograms in context by reading, writing, and analyzing each word. English spelling is hugely phonetic :-) but there are rules and conventions and whatnot that determine whether to use oy instead of oi in some words, for example. Spalding teaches those. The process of learning to read is different from the process of learning to spell.  Some children learn to spell almost by osmosis, but most children will benefit from direct, specific instruction. That's what Spalding does.

 

Spalding does not teach all the different phonograms that make the same sound. It teaches the phonograms, and any reasons that multiple-sound phonograms might use *this* sound instead of *that* one. So, children would not learn all the ways to say or spell /E/. They learn and study each word on its own, analyzing it for phonograms used and why *this* one instead of *that* one (if there is a reason; sometimes the reason is just that this phonogram has four sounds, and they are listed in the order most commonly used).

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

My son improved with Sequential Spelling.  He did about 3 levels and then I was pretty happy with his progress.  After that he used Calvert's Spelling.

 

For my daughter who struggled EVEN more more, we used Apples and Pears, and may finish the final level this year.  She improved so much, it was astounding, but it was a lot more work than Sequential Spelling.

[OneStepAtATime]

I think this is where I'm stuck with discerning a good curriculum for them. There is a discord between phonics and English spelling. The kids can sound out long words, but are tripped up on irregular words. (Lots of "wus" and "ov" and the odd "where" for "were.") The have a good phonemic base, but when three different phonemes make the long e sound, how do they know other than memorization?

 

Does Spaulding explicitly include memorization? I looked at the website and couldn't see what the methodology would be. 

A program that teaches the WHY of using certain spellings as opposed to other choices may work much better for your kids than memorization.  There are reasons for different ways to spell something.  Are there exceptions?  Yes, but fewer than you may be aware of.  Until I did Barton Reading and Spelling with my own kids I thought most spelling had to be rote memorized because there were too many exceptions to the rules for English.  I was wrong.  And it is so much easier for the kids to spell correctly now even if they have never seen a word before because they are learning the WHY of the different ways to spell something.

 

The program we are using would not be appropriate for your kids since they read well (it is designed for dyslexics) but several of the suggestions made already might help.

 

Do you not want it to be teacher intensive because spelling is not a strong subject for you or because you have very limited time or ...?  I ask because I have found that the areas my kids struggle frequently are the areas they need a lot MORE one on one with me.  Sometimes I can provide it and sometimes it is a subject I am not strong in myself and need some outside assistance...

[sbgrace]

My son really did know and apply the spelling rules. It didn't make him a good speller. He would still pick the wrong phonogram, even though he was spelling phonetically.

 

Apples and Pears worked well for him. It is a sit with the child program, though, for the 15 minutes or so lessons. I did half a lesson per session with him all through the 4 book program. My son still struggles, but Apples and Pears helped with the visual memory of words and application of the few spelling rules that always work.

[Pistachio mom]

I really like the Spelling program from BJ Press. It is designed to teach spelling pattern and general rules. You're not just memorizing a bunch of words, you are learning patterns that help develop good spelling skills. I like the newer edition much better than the older edition. It is really well written! It also includes weekly dictionary activities.

 

Since my younger children are more right brained global type learners, I do still work directly with them teaching them the general spelling patterns from the lesson, but also we work on tricks to just remember some of the exceptions using color, drawing, humor to rewrite the harder words in a memorable way. Adding visual images to an already strong curriculum has worked very well for us.

 

https://www.bjupress.com/store/SearchView?type=product&q=spelling&size=20&start=0&sort=score

 

Many times, BJ press books are cheaper from CBD, etc. or you can buy a new workbook and used Teacher edition. The TE is not absolutely necessary, but it does have many helpful features.

[fdrinca]

A program that teaches the WHY of using certain spellings as opposed to other choices may work much better for your kids than memorization.  There are reasons for different ways to spell something.  Are there exceptions?  Yes, but fewer than you may be aware of.  Until I did Barton Reading and Spelling with my own kids I thought most spelling had to be rote memorized because there were too many exceptions to the rules for English.  I was wrong.  And it is so much easier for the kids to spell correctly now even if they have never seen a word before because they are learning the WHY of the different ways to spell something.

 

The program we are using would not be appropriate for your kids since they read well (it is designed for dyslexics) but several of the suggestions made already might help.

 

Do you not want it to be teacher intensive because spelling is not a strong subject for you or because you have very limited time or ...?  I ask because I have found that the areas my kids struggle frequently are the areas they need a lot MORE one on one with me.  Sometimes I can provide it and sometimes it is a subject I am not strong in myself and need some outside assistance...

 

I'd like it to be open-and-go because I'm holding out hope that our copywork and attention to misspelled words in other writing will be enough. 

 

Also, we have so many little ones that cause distractions that I like to keep teacher-intensive materials to a minimum. Math gets most of that one-on-one focus, and then literacy skills. 

[fdrinca]

Spalding (notice the spelling, lol) teaches children to read by teaching them to spell. They learn to read and write 70 phonograms, and they use those phonograms in context by reading, writing, and analyzing each word. English spelling is hugely phonetic :-) but there are rules and conventions and whatnot that determine whether to use oy instead of oi in some words, for example. Spalding teaches those. The process of learning to read is different from the process of learning to spell.  Some children learn to spell almost by osmosis, but most children will benefit from direct, specific instruction. That's what Spalding does.

 

Spalding does not teach all the different phonograms that make the same sound. It teaches the phonograms, and any reasons that multiple-sound phonograms might use *this* sound instead of *that* one. So, children would not learn all the ways to say or spell /E/. They learn and study each word on its own, analyzing it for phonograms used and why *this* one instead of *that* one (if there is a reason; sometimes the reason is just that this phonogram has four sounds, and they are listed in the order most commonly used).

 

:blushing:  :blushing:

 

Thank you for explaining in more detail; I'm even more curious to see the curriculum and also to see how my phonics training has failed me :)

[Pistachio mom]

For BJ Spelling, teacher prep is super minimal. If you choose to use the Teacher Edition, the lesson is scripted for you in colored type. I usually skim through this and teach it myself summarizing their discussions. Their teaching discussions include examples, and a variety of approaches to account for different learning styles, and spelling homophones correctly. Spelling is usually a 10 - 15 minute activity in our house. This year, I am not using a TE (money is tight). But I have had one for the last several years. I just taught the 4th grade level last year, and it went very well for us. Sometimes, I emphasized whatever spelling principle the lesson was built upon, other times learning the "rule" was not necessary. It is like phonics, you don't have to know all the rules to spell well; we learned most of them - but other times learning the words made more sense to my learner.

 

I have taught all 6 years of this spelling program, the newer edition is definitely better. The old one is good, but the newer edition has more relevant comprehension activities for 4 days per week.

 

Another thought, Evan Moor has a spelling program in their Daily series. I have used this series for other subjects like geography and grammar review, it might be worth checking out. I love their products!

 

Good luck!