Spelling via Dictation

[alisha]

Spelling has been a big challenge for us. I just found Charlotte Mason's Spelling Wisdom. I like that idea, and will probably try it. But I usually try to look at a couple different "brands" of the same type of curriculum before making my choice. Are there any other books similar to Spelling Wisdom (that use prepared dictation)? Or is that the only book/type of its kind?

[Holly]

We have used Spelling Wisdom for years.  My oldest two loved it— one  was a natural speller and one was not.  Both did well with it.  My 3rd child is not a fan because of the writing.  I am trying Spelling Workout with my younger ones and we’ll see how it goes.  

We have also used Dictation Day By Day from the public domain before SW.  Whatever dictation you choose, I recommend watching SCM’s videos on how to implement SW.  You can use those methods with any dictation program.  Like OKBud mentioned, you can just use their regular school books as well.  Just pull a passage for them to study and dictate a few sentences to them from the passage.  I preferred SW because the passages were already chosen and more systematic than random passages (she includes the 6000 most frequently used words).

[HomeAgain]

We use a free cold dictation program called Dictation Day By Day.  It rotates through words in context with 1-3 new words being added each day.  For example, at the end of the second grade book are these:

49. Last Wednesday I found the nest of an owl. It was in an old tree.

50. In the nest, which I found, were four little eggs. Shall I show them to you some day?

51. Some owls are gray and some are white. They never make much noise when they fly.

52. The claws of the owl are very strong. He eats both mice and small birds.

 

Underlined words are new, and written out for the student to copy.  You can see how the sentences will use the new words from the previous days to cycle through the story of the week.  It is light on teaching specific rules, but it does give a review day each week of spelling words if needed.

 

If you want something in the other direction, you might look at Spelling You See.  It uses prepared dictation in conjunction with spelling study.

[Melissa in Australia]

All About Spelling has prepared dictation as does LEM though I think you would not be interested in LEM as it is all Australian pronunciation

[nixpix5]

Spelling You See is another that fits in this category. 

[wehave8]

I'm looking at How to Teach Spelling.

Maybe you'd like to take a look, too?

 

Pam

[alisha]

Thanks everyone! I'm still doing research trying to figure out what to do. But all your suggestions are SOOOO helpful. Thanks!