Charlotte Mason Spelling Approach -success stories?

[Ting Tang]

I’m mostly interested in this approach for my rising 6th grader. He learned to read without phonics in public school. He reads well and has good comprehension. He’s been using Rod & Staff spelling (by sound and structure) since last year. Spelling has improved a bit, but I’m not sure it’s most effective. We briefly tried the CM way, but I quickly went back to a spelling curriculum. I was too afraid to give it time. So… I’m curious: have any of you tried this method and had it work well? Rod & Staff is good, but we might want to try something new. 

[mathmarm]

We used Spelling By Sound and Structure 2-6 with great success. Probably could just do levels 3-6 and not really lose out on essential instruction and practice for the students.

 

We do use the various techniques and exercises found in the TM for 2 and 3 throughout the program.

What about SbSS is not working well for you?

Which level(s) are you using?

How do you exercise his spelling skills outside of the workbook itself?

[Nm.]

You can do both… that’s what I’m doing- dictation + rod and staff.  

[Ting Tang]

6 hours ago, mathmarm said:

We used Spelling By Sound and Structure 2-6 with great success. Probably could just do levels 3-6 and not really lose out on essential instruction and practice for the students.

 

We do use the various techniques and exercises found in the TM for 2 and 3 throughout the program.

What about SbSS is not working well for you?

Which level(s) are you using?

How do you exercise his spelling skills outside of the workbook itself?

I like the curriculum, but I feel like the CM approach might help him better write with correctly spelled words.  Our writing is definitely lacking. I feel we are barely scratching the surface this year.

5 hours ago, Lovinglife123 said:

You can do both… that’s what I’m doing- dictation + rod and staff.  

That might be an option for us!  I am looking at Cottage Press, if we drop MCT.  

 

[alysee]

My oldest two have only done CM style Dictation. One is a natural speller and I could have given her any spelling book and she would have done well. My second daughter ended up being a good speller and it forced her to really pay attention. She has become a great speller because of CM dictation. We do stop dictation around grade 6 or 7. 

 

[Ting Tang]

11 hours ago, alysee said:

My oldest two have only done CM style Dictation. One is a natural speller and I could have given her any spelling book and she would have done well. My second daughter ended up being a good speller and it forced her to really pay attention. She has become a great speller because of CM dictation. We do stop dictation around grade 6 or 7. 

 

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! Are you strictly CM? Part of me wants to let go of a lot of curriculum next year. 

[alysee]

4 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

Thanks so much for sharing your experience! Are you strictly CM? Part of me wants to let go of a lot of curriculum next year. 

I was in my older kids younger years. We are more eclectic now that they are Grades 5-8. 

[beka87]

We are full on CM, grades K, 4th, 6th, and 9th currently.  We use dictation even for the 9th grader because it is great brain exercise.  If you have questions or want to chat, let me know! 🙂

[Ting Tang]

7 minutes ago, beka87 said:

We are full on CM, grades K, 4th, 6th, and 9th currently.  We use dictation even for the 9th grader because it is great brain exercise.  If you have questions or want to chat, let me know! 🙂

I’m considering it, but I just wonder if I can actually get through all the reading with four kids, or at least the older ones (rising 3rd, 5th, 6th). For various reasons (and trust issues lol), I feel I need to read with them all yet. I was thinking of using Cottage Press for grammar/composition, which might help guide me. Some of the CM free sites schedule so many books. I need to combine a lot, too, for the sake of time. But then I get afraid letting go of other curriculum. 

[beka87]

2 minutes ago, Ting Tang said:

I’m considering it, but I just wonder if I can actually get through all the reading with four kids, or at least the older ones (rising 3rd, 5th, 6th). For various reasons (and trust issues lol), I feel I need to read with them all yet. I was thinking of using Cottage Press for grammar/composition, which might help guide me. Some of the CM free sites schedule so many books. I need to combine a lot, too, for the sake of time. But then I get afraid letting go of other curriculum. 

I understand.  It was a scary switch for me, too, but I am SO glad we did.  Total freedom and so rich and so fun.  I combine kids all the time with a ton, which helps.  And I don't schedule as much as something like AO, or choose "easier" books.  I build the list every year myself for each kids and for our family studies.  You can really do whatever you want. 🙂

[Ting Tang]

4 minutes ago, beka87 said:

I understand.  It was a scary switch for me, too, but I am SO glad we did.  Total freedom and so rich and so fun.  I combine kids all the time with a ton, which helps.  And I don't schedule as much as something like AO, or choose "easier" books.  I build the list every year myself for each kids and for our family studies.  You can really do whatever you want. 🙂

Thanks very much! AO has a warning that the booklist was useless if you do not understand CM. Well, I’ve learned a lot but am scared I won’t do it right. But being tied to curriculum holds me hostage for a year, lol.

[wisdomandtreasures]

I wouldn't call it useless. Just... You're less likely to scratch your head and ask "Really? One 300-page book spread over 4 years?" or "Where's the teacher guide with review questions, writing assignments, and grading rubrics?" if you've read a bit of CM.

[Ting Tang]

3 hours ago, wisdomandtreasures said:

I wouldn't call it useless. Just... You're less likely to scratch your head and ask "Really? One 300-page book spread over 4 years?" or "Where's the teacher guide with review questions, writing assignments, and grading rubrics?" if you've read a bit of CM.

With some of these curriculums, it seems hard to start at certain grades because they do that.  I think Mater Ambilis is like that.  (A free Catholic CM curriculum outline--I'm not even Catholic, lol).  I'm wondering if I should just come up with my own booklist.  I just want to make sure it is "enough."  

[Nm.]

Is there a time period you want to study? Beautiful feet & heart of Dakota have some nice booklists.  Plus I like to add in sonlight readers.  I don’t care for pure CM- the books are😝. I like heart of Dakota guides (beyond & up) but I don’t use them fully.  There is dictation included & written narration prompts.  I haven’t found anything close to what I want exactly, but it works ok.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Lovinglife123

[Homeschoolmom3]

I bought into CM philosphy about 8 years ago and haven't looked back.  It was such a transformation for our home and now for the students I teach!  I am happy to talk with you about fear!  I was there!  My oldest was mostly strictly classically educated, but my middle son did more of a CM approach and my youngest has been all CM and they are thriving!

I have a natural speller too, but dictation works so well when done right on picturing the word in their mind (like picture study) and seeing the word.  It also is great for grammar!  I am happy to chat too if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.  🙂

[Ting Tang]

25 minutes ago, Lovinglife123 said:

Is there a time period you want to study? Beautiful feet & heart of Dakota have some nice booklists.  Plus I like to add in sonlight readers.  I don’t care for pure CM- the books are😝. I like heart of Dakota guides (beyond & up) but I don’t use them fully.  There is dictation included & written narration prompts.  I haven’t found anything close to what I want exactly, but it works ok.

I have looked at BF.  🙂  I think my two middle ones need to study American history.  The oldest wants to do the middle ages.  

[Ting Tang]

15 minutes ago, Homeschoolmom3 said:

I bought into CM philosphy about 8 years ago and haven't looked back.  It was such a transformation for our home and now for the students I teach!  I am happy to talk with you about fear!  I was there!  My oldest was mostly strictly classically educated, but my middle son did more of a CM approach and my youngest has been all CM and they are thriving!

I have a natural speller too, but dictation works so well when done right on picturing the word in their mind (like picture study) and seeing the word.  It also is great for grammar!  I am happy to chat too if you have any questions, feel free to PM me.  🙂

I really like classical and CM.  I think both are so very similar.  But what if I could buy very little curriculum...hmm.... lol  This year I did away with student guides and used the teacher guides from Memoria Press for some subjects. That helped.  But I fear missing details. Is this your website in your signature?  I will have 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th graders.  An issue is the 3rd & 6th graders are quite advanced.  The 5th grader is a very slow learner---we're finishing up All About Reading level 4 just now.

 

Edited March 10, 2023 by Ting Tang

[Homeschoolmom3]

21 minutes ago, Ting Tang said:

I really like classical and CM.  I think both are so very similar.  But what if I could buy very little curriculum...hmm.... lol  This year I did away with student guides and used the teacher guides from Memoria Press for some subjects. That helped.  But I fear missing details. Is this your website in your signature?  I will have 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 6th graders.  An issue is the 3rd & 6th graders are quite advanced.  The 5th grader is a very slow learner---we're finishing up All About Reading level 4 just now.

 

Don't worry about details....yes my signature has my website on it.  I really feel that those early grades should focus on making connections and not sucking the love of learning out!  I have used quite a bit of the Alveary curriculum because I love having every grade in the same time period and it has a lot of helps without having to pull it all together.  They use many of the books in the "classical" world including Bauer's books, MCT grammar, etc. but they have detailed lesson plans, dictation done for you, etc. all in one place and in a Mason fashion.   

[Nm.]

All they need is reading, writing and math… honestly they won’t remember ANYTHING.

[Ting Tang]

24 minutes ago, Homeschoolmom3 said:

Don't worry about details....yes my signature has my website on it.  I really feel that those early grades should focus on making connections and not sucking the love of learning out!  I have used quite a bit of the Alveary curriculum because I love having every grade in the same time period and it has a lot of helps without having to pull it all together.  They use many of the books in the "classical" world including Bauer's books, MCT grammar, etc. but they have detailed lesson plans, dictation done for you, etc. all in one place and in a Mason fashion.   

Thank you! Do they offer any suggestions to combine? 

[Ting Tang]

7 minutes ago, Lovinglife123 said:

All they need is reading, writing and math… honestly they won’t remember ANYTHING.

I agree they may not remember details. I’m starting to worry as my oldest heads towards middle school, though. He’s doing very little writing. I gave up this year because MCT wasn’t working out. Now I want to be done and try again next year, but I hope I am not wrecking him. He said he hates writing, I think he likes fun writing, but academic writing of any sort… he hates.

[Nm.]

I really like rod and staff for my oldest who hates writing.  It’s thorough, and as mentioned in another post, it’s enough for grammar and writing.  He’d probably do great with level 5.  It’s written to the child, which helps kids who want to be independent and get their school work done quickly.  It’s also brief.  Everything is quick and to the point.  No fluff.  I can’t imagine using anything else after using levels 2-5. It does work with Charlotte Mason, she used thorough grammar starting at 10.  I started mine around 8/9 with the lower levels of rod and staff, but it wasn’t heavy in grammar.  It really just provided them with a lot of copywork and got them used to working on their own.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Lovinglife123

[Homeschoolmom3]

8 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

I agree they may not remember details. I’m starting to worry as my oldest heads towards middle school, though. He’s doing very little writing. I gave up this year because MCT wasn’t working out. Now I want to be done and try again next year, but I hope I am not wrecking him. He said he hates writing, I think he likes fun writing, but academic writing of any sort… he hates.

I think the biggest thing is to revisit ideas and to circle back.  I have found you can't just say it once, discuss, and move on.  I love MCT but it needs to be done in a specific way in my experience for it to stick.  There are so many great ideas and his approach is so enlightening but I do feel that completing the curriculum just going through it is not the way.   We have used the grammar books and his writing books and if you go at a slower pace alternating books and using both ideas and then incorporating writing into your child's lessons and not just pulling them out and not working on them will help.

[Homeschoolmom3]

9 hours ago, Ting Tang said:

Thank you! Do they offer any suggestions to combine? 

Yes!  It takes a little time to wrap your head around because it includes all of the subjects and everything your kids would need but it was worth it to me so I had more time to devote to lesson prep instead of the curriculum planning.  🙂

[Clarita]

I was looking up narration stuff and I found this article, maybe it'd be helpful to you.

https://charlottemasonpoetry.org/spelling-by-dictation/

[LauraClark]

Is Dictation Day by Day CM? I think I'm reading that it would be? I switched to using that around 3rd grade for my oldest because the list approach was not working. The first year and a half was rough-he missed a lot of words. But he only misses one or two usually now (6th grade). The next ds (4th) is still struggling, but I'm starting to see some improvement lately-I don't think a list approach would be great for him either. Here's what we do:

Day before: I give them the list of new words for the upcoming day and they write them

Day of: I dictate their sentence(s). I correct any mistakes and they fix them. Ds4th alternates between typing the sentences and writing a silly cursive sentence using some of his missed words.

Once a week: I make silly sentences from the review words to dictate to them. It's their favorite day.

 

I mostly do the classical approach, but there are elements of CM that I enjoy and try to incorporate into our homeschool.