Cornerstone Classical Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 Could anyone tell me the differences between the two? TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbaby Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 (edited) Both are CM spelling programs but I don't use SS although I'm sure others can chime in but from what I can tell Simply Spelling -incorporates excerpts from speeches and classic literature, poems, etc. -one book is for grades 3-12 with each grade -each lesson is planned out in days. ex Day 1, Day 2 and so on with dictation on day 5 -Lessons incorporate some phonics and grammar rules -literature pieces are advanced according to levels We use Spelling Wisdom -divides grades into books (Book 1 gr3-5, Book 2 grade 5-7, Book 3 gr7-9, Book 4 gr9-11, and Book 5 gr 11-12) -Spelling is taught the CM way through prepared dictation. It does not incorporate phonics yet uses the CM way of viewing the words with the mind's eye. -each lesson is an excerpt from great quotes to classic literature, Shakespeare and poems as well. -12,500 words are learned from book 1 to book 5. -directions are in the front of the book and details list of words in the back. -literature pieces are advanced with each level also. I also have ABCs and All Their Tricks for phonic reference but haven't found the need to use it yet. My youngest twin, a not so great speller, has done wonderfully with this curriculum. He would always try to spell words according to how they'd sound with our old phonics based spelling program which threw him for loops. Now, he is picturing the words with his mind and not missing a beat. We copy one lesson 2-3x/week. We go over any words that need special attention and punctuation. Then we have a day for dictation. Edited December 13, 2008 by sweetbaby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennefer@SSA Posted December 13, 2008 Share Posted December 13, 2008 What Kysha said! I have both programs...couldn't decide until I had both in my hands. My ultimate decision to go with Spelling Wisdom over Simply Spelling was because I knew we would be doing FLL3 and that would be plenty of grammar for us at this stage. If you are going light on grammar in other areas then Simply Spelling is fantastic! It has not only the dictation passage but different things at the bottom of each passage to talk about each day - things like finding the prefixes/suffixes in the passage and so on. I just looked for my SS book and can't find it to give you exact examples. I'll look this afternoon. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions that are specific if they don't get answered in this thread. We can chat on the phone, too. I have loved Spelling Wisdom. Thatcher is learning so much from the passages - not only spelling words but from the lessons the passages are teaching: "A penny saved is a penny earned." "Be content with your lot. One cannot be first in everything." and "Don't spend your money before you earn it." Have just a few examples that have opened up great discussion for us! I have incorporated some of the ideas from Simply Spelling and we do a little activity or two with each passage before the dictation - circle the nouns, draw a box around the verb, underline the adverbs and draw a line under the adjectives. We also look for prefixes and suffixes or talk about other phonics rules - find the "chunk" (my word for blends or digraphs) that makes ...... sound. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylark Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 I've purchased both in the past and I prefer Simply Spelling because I like the selections much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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