miracleone Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Help! My dd8 (almost 9) is using Spelling Workout B but her spelling is horrible. Last year, we tried Sequential Spelling and she didn't like it. I don't expect perfection but she doesn't seem to retain what she is doing with Spelling workout book. Is there a non-parent intensive spelling program that will work for her? Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Spelling Wisdom? It's spelling in context, which is helpful for some kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shred Betty Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 We very quickly switched from SWOA to AAS 1 and my dd7 loves it and I'm already seeing progress in her spelling, which lagged far behind her reading ability at the beginning of this year. It was worth the higher price and I hope we get through level 1 and 2 of it this year. Such a different approach. So much variety. Mastery based. I loved the " use it for the year and return it if unsatisfied "guarantee when I was deciding whether to Shows they respect the results of their own product. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mohop Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Phonetic Zoo is totally self directed and not parent intensive, and kids are required to take the same spelling test over and over again until they get 2 100% in a row, so I think kids are more likely to retain what they learn. I was put off by the price for while, but then I looked on ebay and got a good deal on a used set of CDs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miracleone Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 Thanks for all the input so far. Has anyone check out Spell Well? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 My kids are not natural spellers. I did a few levels of AAS with them and then needed something more independent. Rod & Staff worked ok, but I still didn't feel dd was learning the rules and therefore not applying what she was learning to her writing. Ds tried phonetic zoo nod while I loved the independence, it was a flop for him. He would go for three weeks on the same list and still be missing the same words. Crazy. We switched to Megawords this year for both kids-- it is not completely independent, but mostly is. So far it is going really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 We are approaching spelling differently with mine and it's helping a lot. He does cold dictation (not prepared) from Dictation Day By Day. The words rotate through, and as soon as he starts to make a mistake we correct it. He focuses on 1 spelling rule a week with an old spelling book (I don't even think the title matters, it was a public school book in the 70's). We then also take that rule and apply it to writing pieces throughout the day. If he does dictation, we go over the rule before we start. If he does copywork, we point out the rule. If he fills in the blank on a worksheet, we point out the rule that applies to the word. It is constantly being hammered in what the rule is and how to use it. There is no 'subject and be done with it'. It's taking every opportunity to make sure he understands how he's writing and why. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amateur Actress Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 We have used Spell Well and liked it. This was awhile ago, as I have middle- and high-schoolers now. Lots of variety to the activities and easy to implement and pretty independent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Every study done on spelling shows that every type of spelling curricula and method studied did not improve student everyday spelling. The students that NEED a spelling curricula the most are the least likely to improve from using one. There are natural spellers just like there are natural gymnasts. At this blip in history, a LOT of attention is given to spelling. Much more so than gymnastics. That hasn't always been the case. So, okay, we live in THIS blip, right, and I need to stop with the theory bullpoop and give some concrete advice, right? :grouphug: Do choose a curricula that you can afford both the time and money. Do not overextend yourself in something with so little chance of payback. Get a little something. Spend a little time on it. Do not make it a hill to die on. If I'm not sure the student has learned basic phonics, copying and talking about Alpha-Phonics is where I start and do it pretty stealthily by using the copywork as intensive handwriting practice and adding grammar lessons in as we go. Alpha-Phonics is free now. May Sam, my hero, rest in peace. http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/ I prefer to teach Spalding manuscript and cursive because I had so many lefties thrown at me when I needed to choose my default style to teach, but Don Potter has written excellent slanted traditional cursive lessons for Alpha-Phonics. And quite a bit of other support, too. http://www.donpotter.net/reading_clinic.html If the student has prefect handwriting and knows their phonics and still cannot spell, ME, we are talking about me, I'm just not going to stress over it, and give spelling maybe 10 minutes a day and a maximum of $20.00 and probably not even that. Good luck! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miracleone Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 Every study done on spelling shows that every type of spelling curricula and method studied did not improve student everyday spelling. The students that NEED a spelling curricula the most are the least likely to improve from using one. There are natural spellers just like there are natural gymnasts. At this blip in history, a LOT of attention is given to spelling. Much more so than gymnastics. That hasn't always been the case. So, okay, we live in THIS blip, right, and I need to stop with the theory bullpoop and give some concrete advice, right? :grouphug: Do choose a curricula that you can afford both the time and money. Do not overextend yourself in something with so little chance of payback. Get a little something. Spend a little time on it. Do not make it a hill to die on. If I'm not sure the student has learned basic phonics, copying and talking about Alpha-Phonics is where I start and do it pretty stealthily by using the copywork as intensive handwriting practice and adding grammar lessons in as we go. Alpha-Phonics is free now. May Sam, my hero, rest in peace. http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/ I prefer to teach Spalding manuscript and cursive because I had so many lefties thrown at me when I needed to choose my default style to teach, but Don Potter has written excellent slanted traditional cursive lessons for Alpha-Phonics. And quite a bit of other support, too. http://www.donpotter.net/reading_clinic.html If the student has prefect handwriting and knows their phonics and still cannot spell, ME, we are talking about me, I'm just not going to stress over it, and give spelling maybe 10 minutes a day and a maximum of $20.00 and probably not even that. Good luck! That was a well thought out answer. I have Alphaphonics and we're actually still using it for reading. I never thought about using it for copywork but I am going to start with that and do reviews while I wait for the Spellwell to come. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miracleone Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 We have used Spell Well and liked it. This was awhile ago, as I have middle- and high-schoolers now. Lots of variety to the activities and easy to implement and pretty independent. Thank you. I ordered Spell Well to give it a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaquitita Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Apples and Pears often works well for poor spellers. I have two poor spellers (one dyslexic), and I have yet to see a great spelling program that doesn't require me to work directly with them (not saying it doesn't exist). I think that's hard to do with spelling. I do agree Spelling Wisdom is good for working on skill transfer, but I'm using it with my poor spellers after they have completed most of Apples and Pears, so they have some good spelling strategies taught before going to that method. I'm using different programs, but a similar approach. I use RLTL to teach spelling strategies, and eltl for copywork and dictation to work on getting it to crossover to their own writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Every study done on spelling shows that every type of spelling curricula and method studied did not improve student everyday spelling. The students that NEED a spelling curricula the most are the least likely to improve from using one. There are natural spellers just like there are natural gymnasts. At this blip in history, a LOT of attention is given to spelling. Much more so than gymnastics. That hasn't always been the case. So, okay, we live in THIS blip, right, and I need to stop with the theory bullpoop and give some concrete advice, right? :grouphug: Do choose a curricula that you can afford both the time and money. Do not overextend yourself in something with so little chance of payback. Get a little something. Spend a little time on it. Do not make it a hill to die on. If I'm not sure the student has learned basic phonics, copying and talking about Alpha-Phonics is where I start and do it pretty stealthily by using the copywork as intensive handwriting practice and adding grammar lessons in as we go. Alpha-Phonics is free now. May Sam, my hero, rest in peace. http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/ I prefer to teach Spalding manuscript and cursive because I had so many lefties thrown at me when I needed to choose my default style to teach, but Don Potter has written excellent slanted traditional cursive lessons for Alpha-Phonics. And quite a bit of other support, too. http://www.donpotter.net/reading_clinic.html If the student has prefect handwriting and knows their phonics and still cannot spell, ME, we are talking about me, I'm just not going to stress over it, and give spelling maybe 10 minutes a day and a maximum of $20.00 and probably not even that. Good luck! Yup. For my struggling speller, we use Apples Daily Spelling Drills (designed for older kids than the OP's child) because we have it and it is helping somewhat. However, my observation is that the words she routinely spells well are the words she sees and writes a lot. A few years ago she was really into the band One Direction. To this day she spells "direction" flawlessly but apple will come out appel half the time. ::sigh:: Because of my observations of her, I've become a fan of learning spelling in context, which is more or less what Spelling Wisdom tries to accomplish. But first I'm making her finish the Apples books. I think it would have been as good or possibly even better if I'd started with SW, but we're staying the course for now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 OP, you could drop formal spelling and just focus on memorizing the most important functional words: calendar words, numbers, colors, prepositions, etc. You could also play games that work on building visual memory. Strong visual memory is more important than phonics for spelling English words. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Honestly, when I was in that position I chose to find ways to make some other things independent so that I had time to work on spelling with my kids. We used All About Spelling (which is only 15-20 minutes a day), and it made a huge difference in my kids' ability to spell, and gave them more confidence in outside writing, note-taking, and so on. One of the most worthwhile things I did in my homeschool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abeilles Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 You've received some good responses. We have used AAS 1-5 and Rod and Staff Spelling to supplement over the years. One child is a decent speller (DS 12) but my DD (11) who is very artistic and creative has atrocious spelling. I think it is one of the ways she expresses her creativity???? I have loved both programs but can't say whether or not they have helped my children. As a child I had spelling lists each week but was never taught formal phonics - I remember only one rule ever being taught the I-before E rule - and yet I have decent spelling. I think I agree with Hunter's assessment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knitgrl Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 We very quickly switched from SWOA to AAS 1 and my dd7 loves it and I'm already seeing progress in her spelling, which lagged far behind her reading ability at the beginning of this year. It was worth the higher price and I hope we get through level 1 and 2 of it this year. Such a different approach. So much variety. Mastery based. I loved the " use it for the year and return it if unsatisfied "guarantee when I was deciding whether to Shows they respect the results of their own product. Ditto. This was our experience as well. AAS is a curriculum I love, love, love! My daughter's retention of spelling has improved SO much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wholesomemomma Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Spelling You See. Improved my son's spelling dramatically! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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