sweetsouthern Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 ok. i just purchased this for my 4th and 3rd grader. i thought it might be a tad hard for my 3rd grader.... but my 4th grader is already struggling bad with it! shes gotten to lesson 4 but these words are EXTREMELY hard for her. and she hasnt had much problems spelling before this... she just wants to do it more independent. the program itself is perfect, but the words just to hard and im afraid she will get discouraged and start to hate spelling. any thoughts or input appreciated!:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 I've wondered about this myself. My dd started the program when she was 12yo, but I've had my 10yodd do Rod and Staff instead because I worried Phonetic Zoo would be too hard for her. Is your dd an auditory or visual learner? I have heard from others here that this program works better for auditory learners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIch elle Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 My soon to be 12yob is almost done with PZA and it's been perfect for him in 6th grade. His older brother did it in grades 4-5 and it was hard for him. Maybe put it aside and do an online spelling program or use a spelling list and have them record the spelling on tape & test themselves using only the recording. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetsouthern Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 oh wow! ok... my dd's are 8 & 9.... it says on there website 3rd grade and up so i even wondered about dd starting level b cause she passed the level a test with flying colors, but now shes stuck on these words..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommyX8 Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 My 5th child to use PZ is stuck at 3rd grade. I always started them later. Now I know why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetsouthern Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 oh poo... she loves the theory, any ideas of what i should do?? i could continue to deal and see how it goes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ally Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Calvert spelling cd's are easy to use independently. I love them for kids who are basically decent spellers. They are probably not the best for kids who struggle with spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland_Mom Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Maybe you could throw in a written activity for your child to do to get a little more practice. For example, after she's familiar with the list on day 1, have her put all the word in alpha order, or divide them by syllables or group the words by phonics rules. My kids like doing these type of activities on little personal size white boards that I have for them. You could slow the pace by having her "test" every other day instead of using the recording every day. Make yourself a list of helpful activities that she could do independently to give her variety. Just a thought. For what it's worth, I tried this program (level A) with my 3rd grader. It was much too hard for him, too. I'm going to try again next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda in Oregon Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 ok. i just purchased this for my 4th and 3rd grader. i thought it might be a tad hard for my 3rd grader.... but my 4th grader is already struggling bad with it! shes gotten to lesson 4 but these words are EXTREMELY hard for her. and she hasnt had much problems spelling before this... she just wants to do it more independent. the program itself is perfect, but the words just to hard and im afraid she will get discouraged and start to hate spelling. any thoughts or input appreciated!:001_smile: When you say she's already struggling bad with it, what exactly is happening? Is she getting them all wrong over and over again? Is she making any improvement from one day to the next? It can take quite awhile to move on to the next lesson. Yes, the words can be hard. It's suggested in the program to get 100% twice before moving on to the next lesson. In order to do that, it may take 10 times or more - and that's ok as long as your child is ok with that. This method works great for my auditory learner (5th grader). She doesn't mind doing the lists over and over again until she get's them right. I've also noticed that she's spelling much better in her other work she does (we've tried many other spelling programs). But, this program really bugged my natural speller (3rd grader) who might get one or two wrong and would hate to have to write the whole list over again. I guess it really depends on the child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 My 4th grader is working through this program and doing well. Everyday I expect her to either review the words or test. If I know she is going to test the next day I have her get the test paper ready, that mean name, date, which lesson, which try (as in 4th try, 5th try). The next day when she is working on something else or outside on break I will lay out her paper and pencil, maybe put the cd on where it needs to be. When I call her in she ready to go and the test effortless. She has to score 100% two times in a row before she can move on. This program is a hit in our house, my 1st grader wants to do it so bad. She will often sit and watch the testing. I think it works for us because I keep it rather painless, and quick. Plus my daughter likes things that are peaceful. The graphics and the tone of the cd's are a good match. As for the words on the list, there is usually a word she doesn't know or is confused by the spelling, so when I bring out a new card I also take out the dictionary. We love to guess the meaning of words from poetry or books we're reading, so that part is more fun than daunting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helena Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 (edited) I would put this away for next year if I were you. It's such a good program, you wouldn't want you're kids to hate it. Can you just work on spelling by correcting dictation work or whatever they write out? Even get some cute stationary and show the kids how to mail little letters to family, you can correct the spelling that way, and the motivation comes from a joyful place. Edited February 9, 2009 by helena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetsouthern Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 yeah... she gets frustrated at having to do them over and over till perfect, yet insists she doesnt want to do them with mommy anymore and loves the self capability of the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDeeMarie0 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 We had the same experience with Phonetic Zoo. My boys did not like it and were not progressing. We decided to try Sequential Spelling. They enjoy it because it is quick, doesn't require studying the words, and it seems to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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