Is Sing Spell Read & Write a good purchase or not?

[plain jane]

I'm in the process of teaching dd4 to read and was wondering about using SSRW. With my oldest I borrowed OPGTTR from the library and bought some Bob Books. She found OPGTTR boring but I made us both sludge through it. Dd#2 is a whole different little character from her sister and I don't see her working through OPGTTR without a fight. I think she would enjoy the song and games approach to learning, as would her younger siblings.

 

FWIW, I have not started OPGTTR with dd4 as I think it would bore her. I guess I should try that first but perhaps I'm just looking for something to make the task of teaching reading a little more exciting (for me) the second time around.:tongue_smilie:

 

I do not know anybody who has used SSRW so I'm coming here and ask what everyone thinks of it.

 

Is SSRW a fairly rigorous program?

Is it easy to implement?

In your opinion, is it worth the money?

[rafiki]

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[klmama]

If you have younger ones, this may be worth the money. I didn't buy it for my older ones because it was so expensive. I found a used set, and my youngest loves it! I bought the older edition used and bought new workbooks from the company (they still sell the older edition workbooks, but you have to ask for them specifically). You will need new workbooks for each child.

[Jen the RD]

I used SSRW for my dd in K-1. (She's now 5th grade.) Although, she's an excellent reader, I agree with the previous poster. It really did drag on for that first 2 years. She's a very auditory kid, and quite frankly, the songs just frustrated her. They went too fast for her to keep up, so I quit using them. I thought she'd love the games, but she didn't. We quit using those too. The other big thing that I noticed was that my dd did not learn her phonics/spelling rules because there just wasn't enough review of that in the program. She could not hear the individual phonogram sounds in words so this really hindered her ability to spell. So, by 3rd grade I was searching for a different phonics approach when I found WRTR (Writing Road to Reading) by Romalda Spalding. It is similar to SWR that the previous poster mentioned. Before you spend your money, I highly recommend that you check out WRTR. Your local library may have a copy.

 

I have now used WRTR with my 6 yo ds (1st grade), and he is excelling in both reading, writing, and spelling. Several of my friends with sons similar ages are amazed at how well he reads multisyllabic words. I owe this success to our consistent use of the principles taught in WRTR.

 

HTH and I'll be happy to answer any other questions.

Jennifer

[Rainbows]

I originally wanted to try this...but the cost was a factor. Instead I ordered the McRuffy Phonics set after reading good reviews on it....it should be here soon

[Hazelt"nut"]

I used the K/1 combo with my dd. We did the K part in her PreK and the 1st grade part in Kinder. She excelled but and this is a big BUT...you must not make them do all the writing. Its way to much and will hold back your progress. Games are fun, songs are fun and the ferris wheel song is what taught my dd to read I believe. My 4 year old son is now working his way through the Kinder part and learning the ferris wheel song etc. He's not the singer his sis was but he is learning and at 4 1/2 can sound out simple three letter words. Hope this helps.

Sheryl

[klmama]

I used the K/1 combo with my dd. We did the K part in her PreK and the 1st grade part in Kinder. She excelled but and this is a big BUT...you must not make them do all the writing. Its way to much and will hold back your progress. Games are fun, songs are fun and the ferris wheel song is what taught my dd to read I believe. My 4 year old son is now working his way through the Kinder part and learning the ferris wheel song etc. He's not the singer his sis was but he is learning and at 4 1/2 can sound out simple three letter words. Hope this helps.

Sheryl

 

I agree with picking and choosing to suit the child - for my little one the witing was fine, but a lot of the coloring, cutting, and pasting in the first K book had to go! We just used it to practice writing the letters correctly and reviewing the sounds before starting the 2nd K book. The K books are just right for littler ones - the lines in the 1st grade one are just too small for first-time learners.

[Woodland_Mom]

I used the K/1 combo with both of my children. I felt it was well worth the money. Before purchasing SSRW, I had tried a couple of other programs, but they just didn't work out. SSRW is a fun, thorough and easy program to use. We liked it a lot. As a new homeschooling mom, I appreciated having a reading and writing program that held my hand as I taught my son. He enjoyed the workbook pages and the songs. I think the readers are very good and both of my kids liked them. There are quite a few phonics games included in the kit, which are wonderful. Like one of the other posters, I believe the ferris wheel song was instrumental in helping ds learn to read.

[Kathy in NC]

My dd (now in 8th) will still occasionally burst out with one of the songs. She is still a strong auditory learner. I agree with Hazelnut, though....the writing was too much. We cut way back on the writing. (Actually my dd fought writing until 4th grade.) I thought the program was well worth the money. We loved everything else about it. The Ferris Wheel son was probably the favorite activity. My dd also loved having all the "mini books" that she could carry with her and read to anyone who would listen.

[Jenileigh]

Sing Spell Read and Write had been my all time favorite program! I found mine used but would gladly purchase it new again if needed. We have taken it slow and moved through the steps at my daughter's pace and not rushed a thing, she loves most all of the songs and the ones that are too hard we skip and learned the rules, she LOVES all the games and she LOVES the game box. It's great incentive. My daughter is in 2nd grade now and she is 7 years old and its still a favorite of hers. We are almost complete finishing up step # 27. I like that the program offers music, games, readers, worksheets and crafty cutting and pasting.

 

If there is anything specific you'd like to know I'll try to help.

[ElizabethB]

It is good but a bit expensive.

 

If you want a similar program that is free online, try Rebecca Pollard's Synthetic Series of Spelling and Reading, the links to her books are just shy of halfway down this page:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Reading/phonicsandspelli.html

 

It does take a bit more work to use, but is a lovely method.

 

She might also enjoy Blend Phonics (also free online, link on page above) if you use it the way it's meant to be used, just do a handful of words from each list and have your student make up a sentence about each word. I'd also add a bit of oral spelling to whatever program you do end up using, it helps cement the sound-spelling relationship into their brain.