IfIOnly Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 (edited) Considering this for next year. I'll have a 5th, 7th, and 8th grader and am not sure about placement. They've done Rod and Staff up until now. Thank you so much! Edited July 29, 2016 by ifIonlyhadabrain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 29, 2016 Share Posted July 29, 2016 (edited) If your students have been doing well with Rod & Staff (and if they are not struggling spellers), my guess is that your older 2 students probably don't need a formal spelling program. You could just accumulate misspelled words from their writing, or vocabulary words from their reading, and once every few weeks have them practice and test those words. Just a thought! :) Megawords is largely done solo by the student; about 1 out of every 3-4 pages requires the parent to take 5 minutes to dictate a list of syllables or words (in the teacher book). And, of course, time for grading, but that's quick with the answers in the teacher book. There is a rather pricey assessment book ($27), so if that's more than you want to spend, you might just look at the table of contents and sample pages of the different student book levels to see where your students would fit in. Here's a list of what each of the 8 books cover: Book 1 = compound words; VC/CV closed syllables, and then with silent-e and then with r-controlled syllables; V/CV syllabication; VC/V syllabication; -cle syllabication; V/V syllabication Book 2 = consonant suffixes and plurals; vowel suffixes; -ed sounds; common prefixes; summer of Latin Roots Book 3 = -al and -ic endings; it -ite -et and -ate endings; "schwa middle syllable; -ant -ance -ent and -ence endings; -ive -ice -ace -ine and -ain endings; accent patterns Book 4 = -er -or -ar -ard and -ward; -tion; -sion and -cian; -ous and -age; -ture -tu- and -sure; -able -ible and -le; accent patterns Book 5 = vowel combos with "o"; with "a"; with "e"; vowel sounds of y; vowel combination patterns Book 6 = sounds of "ch" "ph" and "qu; soft c; soft g; vowel-r-vowel combos Book 7 = unaccented i -- different vowel pronunciations; "ti" and "ci" endings; advanced v/v combo Book 8 = prefixes of com- ad- sub- ob- dis- ex- syn- and in- BEST of luck in your Spelling adventures! Warmest regards, Lori D. Edited July 29, 2016 by Lori D. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted July 29, 2016 Author Share Posted July 29, 2016 If your students have been doing well with Rod & Staff (and if they are not struggling spellers), my guess is that your older 2 students probably don't need a formal spelling program. You could just accumulate misspelled words from their writing, or vocabulary words from their reading, and once every few weeks have them practice and test those words. Just a thought! :) Megawords is largely done solo by the student; about 1 out of every 3-4 pages requires the parent to take 5 minutes to dictate a list of syllables or words (in the teacher book). And, of course, time for grading, but that's quick with the answers in the teacher book. There is a rather pricey assessment book ($27), so if that's more than you want to spend, you might just look at the table of contents and sample pages of the different student book levels to see where your students would fit in. Here's a list of what each of the 8 books cover: Book 1 = compound words; VC/CV closed syllables, and then with silent-e and then with r-controlled syllables; V/CV syllabication; VC/V syllabication; -cle syllabication; V/V syllabication Book 2 = consonant suffixes and plurals; vowel suffixes; -ed sounds; common prefixes; summer of Latin Roots Book 3 = -al and -ic endings; it -ite -et and -ate endings; "schwa middle syllable; -ant -ance -ent and -ence endings; -ive -ice -ace -ine and -ain endings; accent patterns Book 4 = -er -or -ar -ard and -ward; -tion; -sion and -cian; -ous and -age; -ture -tu- and -sure; -able -ible and -le; accent patterns Book 5 = vowel combos with "o"; with "a"; with "e"; vowel sounds of y; vowel combination patterns Book 6 = sounds of "ch" "ph" and "qu; soft c; soft g; vowel-r-vowel combos Book 7 = unaccented i -- different vowel pronunciations; "ti" and "ci" endings; advanced v/v combo Book 8 = prefixes of com- ad- sub- ob- dis- ex- syn- and in- BEST of luck in your Spelling adventures! Warmest regards, Lori D. Oh, thank you! Yes, my older two would just be repeating much of what they've already learned. I like the idea of making spelling list from misspelled words in writing. Maybe even some studied dictation would be good for them. For the younger two, I think I'm leaning towards Steck-Vaughn spelling workbooks now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haiku Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 Megawords cannot be done independently. It must be taught by the teacher. The teacher is actively involved with the lessons. It's an excellent program, by the way. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 (edited) I found MegaWords to be teacher intensive when I had gotten the opposite impression from reviews here. It also didn't work/stick/improve my dd's spelling. So, YMMV. We went back to what we had been using because we saw more improvement/retention that way with the same amount of teacher time as we had to put into MegaWords. (My kids are bad spellers.) Edited July 30, 2016 by RootAnn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 Megawords cannot be done independently. It must be taught by the teacher. The teacher is actively involved with the lessons... I found MegaWords to be teacher intensive when I had gotten the opposite impression from reviews here. It also didn't work/stick/improve my dd's spelling. So, YMMV. We went back to what we had been using because we saw more improvement/retention that way with the same amount of teacher time as we had to put into MegaWords. (My kids are bad spellers.) ::blush:: In thinking back, I now remember that we were using Megawords as our support supplement (which did allow DS to use it mostly independently), BUT, our own individualized/remedial spelling spine was absolutely parent-intensive -- 20 minutes a day of instruction, exercises, and practice done entirely together. Sorry for being misleading on that. And, just from my experience with a student with mild LDs who struggled with Spelling, Writing, AND Math, there is just NO way of making a "struggle subject" independent work for the student. If anything, those subjects take twice as much time and ten times the work of parent/teacher involvement. If a parent really needs a break or really needs/wants the student to do those subjects without the parent, it's GOT to be handed off to a tutor or possibly the other parent or other experienced adult. JMO. Spelling for a struggling student is not a solo subject. Alas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 I found MegaWords to be teacher intensive when I had gotten the opposite impression from reviews here. It also didn't work/stick/improve my dd's spelling. So, YMMV. We went back to what we had been using because we saw more improvement/retention that way with the same amount of teacher time as we had to put into MegaWords. (My kids are bad spellers.) Ugh. We ordered Megawords through our charter for this year because I too had read that it wasn't teacher intensive. We were switching from Rod & Staff because I wanted something secular. I am not even sure that my older son needs spelling. He seems to be naturally evolving into it. What did you use in place of Megawords? Can anyone compare MW to Rod & Staff? I wanted him to be able to do something mostly independently, which he was doing with R&S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted July 30, 2016 Share Posted July 30, 2016 What we used was/is teacher intensive, so it won't help you. There are independent spelling programs (Phonetic Zoo) and online spelling (Spelling City?) practice, but I would ask in a separate thread to get more ideas. And, perhaps MW won't be teacher intensive for your kid. Obviously, some people are able to use it in a hands off manner. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 Ugh. We ordered Megawords through our charter for this year because I too had read that it wasn't teacher intensive. We were switching from Rod & Staff because I wanted something secular. I am not even sure that my older son needs spelling. He seems to be naturally evolving into it. What did you use in place of Megawords? Can anyone compare MW to Rod & Staff? I wanted him to be able to do something mostly independently, which he was doing with R&S. Oh, bummer. Maybe you can sell it? I've decided to do Critical Thinking Company's Word Roots with my kids. It's vocab plus spelling. I haven't used it, but it looks independent enough. http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=Spelling%2FVocabulary/8&category=Word+Roots/1958 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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