Spelling program...decisions, decisions...

[Melinda]

I have an advanced 5yo who will officially be in first grade for the 2009-2010 school year. He does not need a lot of repetition, but I would like him to have a little. I have narrowed our program choices for next year down to Spelling Workout, Spelling Power, and Sequential Spelling. We follow the curriculum suggestions laid out in WTM pretty closely. Which of these programs would you choose and why? Which is most teacher intensive? Which is least? Please help me decide!

[KIN]

I love, love, love Spell to Write and Read.

[JudoMom]

I like Spelling Skills for a workbook. It's not teacher intensive at all. It's similar to Spelling Workout, except it's a bit cheaper, I can get it locally, and it's in full color.

 

I also like Spelling Power, but it is more teacher intensive. It's my favorite Spelling program, but I just don't have the time to give 3 tests everyday.

[mamaof2andtwins]

I would not chose Sequential Spelling as I did not see my child apply the words that he was learning to his writing. In my opinion if a person is learning to spell it is so they can spell correctly or at least recognize incorrect spelling in their written work. If they identify incorrect spelling they should be able to fix it.

 

I did use Spelling Power, but it did take time on the teacher's part to learn the program and time each day to implement it. My natural speller didn't care for it, but my struggling speller did the best with this. He used it before some of the newer programs were published.

 

So, of your choices, that leaves Spelling Workout. This is a very traditional workbook spelling program. It is fine. My natural speller used it for about half of a year before we dropped spelling altogther. It would probably be my pick of the 3 you selected.

 

Jennie

[bethben]

All About Spelling--all the way. LOVE IT!

Beth

[Mama Anna]

Spelling Power is working for my 5-year-old natural speller, but the book says that you're not really supposed to use it before 3rd grade. (Age . . . 8 . . . is it?) It is not intuitive to just pick up and go; you really have to figure out the system - and then (likely) tweak it for a young one - but once you establish a routine it makes a nice comfortable "rut" to run along. I picked it up purely because I got a good deal on it used and wish to stick with one book until she's finished. I love the way that you go as fast as the kid needs, without "pages" to complete each day. I also like the way that it seems a pretty comprehensive list so that I feel sure most everything will be covered by the end of it. But it took a few weeks of reading, processing, and figuring things out before I was able to actually use the program.

 

HTH!

 

Mama Anna

 

(Sorry for any lack of clarity in the above - I'm suffering from what our homeschool circle calls "placenta brain" at the moment . . . :-)

[mommynluv]

Spell to Write and Read!!!!!!

[Melinda]

Spelling Power is working for my 5-year-old natural speller, but the book says that you're not really supposed to use it before 3rd grade. (Age . . . 8 . . . is it?) It is not intuitive to just pick up and go; you really have to figure out the system - and then (likely) tweak it for a young one - but once you establish a routine it makes a nice comfortable "rut" to run along. I picked it up purely because I got a good deal on it used and wish to stick with one book until she's finished. I love the way that you go as fast as the kid needs, without "pages" to complete each day. I also like the way that it seems a pretty comprehensive list so that I feel sure most everything will be covered by the end of it. But it took a few weeks of reading, processing, and figuring things out before I was able to actually use the program.

 

HTH!

 

Mama Anna

 

(Sorry for any lack of clarity in the above - I'm suffering from what our homeschool circle calls "placenta brain" at the moment . . . :-)

 

I know it says for 8 and up, but I borrowed it from a friend and he placed in level A as ready to begin. I feel like I should start him on something, just not sure what. KWIM?

[EKS]

I would not use Sequential Spelling with a child that young, no matter how advanced. For my advanced student who is a natural speller (my 7yo), we are using Spelling Workout simply because I hate teaching spelling and SWO is straightforward. He gets most of the words right on the pretests that I give, then he does one page of the workbook each day with a test on Friday. It is low stress for both of us. I personally don't think that an accelerated child needs to be challenged in every aspect of his/her education.

 

I have reviewed Spelling Power extensively and it seemed too complicated to me.

 

I have used Sequential Spelling for the past 3.5 years with my 12 yo who has dyslexia and it has been great for him.

 

I don't know if we will continue with SWO, but for this year it has been a good choice.

[FO4UR]

Spell to Write and Read!!!

[patchfire]

We are absolutely loving All About Spelling. Now, dd1 has some issues with spelling, and that's how we found it, but I (who am a natural speller) wish that I had been taught spelling this way! I am definitely going to use it with ds & dd2 - even though so far ds seems to be a natural speller. Yes, it's teacher-intensive. It's scripted. But from this perspective of finishing up third grade, I wish I had done MORE teacher-intensive basics, kwim?

[Matryoshka]

I didn't start any of my kids with an official spelling program till they were in 2nd grade, but I think they did get a lot of spelling when they wanted to write things and would ask me how to spell something - I always made them sound it out (I'd help with complicated stuff, like "in the word 'eight', the 'a' sound is represented by the letters 'eigh'), but I didn't give them lists or tests or workbooks.

 

Starting in 2nd grade we use Sequential Spelling, which I love. Now, my natural speller probably didn't need it at all - I think she'd've done just as well with no spelling. Worked wonders for her twin sister whose spelling was a mess. My 3rd kid is doing well with it, but with her it's true I'm seeing less transfer to her other writing. I've added WWE for dictation to help with "in context" spelling. I'm going to give it another year before I panic and try something else.

[Mama Anna]

I know it says for 8 and up, but I borrowed it from a friend and he placed in level A as ready to begin. I feel like I should start him on something, just not sure what. KWIM?

 

Yep, I get it! Dd hates doing something wrong and since she was writing a few things on her own already, I wanted to make sure she had a chance of learning the right way of spelling words. That's why I started her at 5 years old in it in spite of the "age 8" rule. The author gives a method for using Spelling Power for younger children or those with learning delays, but I found that it didn't work for my dd. I had to tweak it our own way, starting at the beginning of Level A and not making her study the words before testing her on them. She's not fond of doing the "10 Step Study Guide" at all and was getting frustrated by me asking her to do it for each word. So now we just go through each list, repeating the rule involved several times, and she only does the 10 steps for words that she misses. It works for us!

 

Mama Anna

Edited February 16, 2009 by Mama Anna

[Starr]

lol What a lot of varied advice. :) We used spelling workout and one of my children is a good speller and the other is not. Most programs work for natural spellers.

[Lakeside]

We started with Spelling Workout and I wasn't really happy with it. I've switched to All About Spelling and I think it is great. It seems to be reinforcing the phonics rules my son learned.

[sandra in va]

We use SWO 1st-3rd grade then switch to Phonetic Zoo because it is easier for me as the teacher. PZ is basically independent.

[Lovedtodeath]

Starting from the beginning, AAS is the way to go! I can't imagine not reviewing phonics with spelling. I have heard that it includes dictation as well, which I think is a must.

[Veritaserum]

I like All About Spelling. :) I think it would work well for a young child. My 4yo will be starting level 1 as soon as my 6yo is done with it.