Dropping formal spelling for a poor speller?

[Tree House Academy]

Is this nuts? My 9.5 year old is a struggling speller. I believe that it is, in part, due to 4 years in ps where he learned to read by sight words alone. Right now, I am doing a combo of Spelling Power and Calvert Spelling CD and it is just not making much difference. We tried All About Spelling and I just couldn't do it. We both hated it.

 

So...a few days ago, I bought him ETC books 6, 7, and 8. I think he needs the phonics instruction right now and he is already saying things like, "oh mom! This is why such and such word is spelling with such and such series of letters!"

 

I thought of doing the phonics for a bit and then maybe picking up a program like "Natural Speller" that does words phonetically for spelling?

 

Is this just crazy? My original plan was to just use Spelling Power and Spelling Workout for 5th grade, but I am leaning more toward the other now....

[hmschooling]

Have you considered doing the Spelling portion (dictation) from the Heart Of Dakota guide you're using? You wouldn't need to purchase anything to do that. Or even get the next guide up for a higher level of dictation. Or you can view Dictation Day By Day on google books if you needed Level 2 or higher (since Bigger uses Level 1). HOD's method made a HUGE difference for my poor speller! She is now a natural speller and rarely misses words in the lessons OR outside the lessons!

[amtmcm]

Here's their webpage which explains how hearing the spelling of the word in addition to seeing it helps kids become better spellers.

 

"Auditory input and then spelling the word out loud, letter by letter, ensures accurate storage of the correct sequence in the brain, which allows for correct retrieval and accurate spelling."

 

http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/index.php?q=page/getting-started-excellence-spelling

[sweetbaby]

I have a poor speller and finally realized that phonics just doesn't work with all children. He wanted to spell words just as they sounded no matter if he had learned the phonetic principles or not. I finally dropped formal spelling and began dictation. We use Spelling Wisdom and I have seen a great improvement. It's based on Charlotte Mason's approach. She believed in dictation and how the mind's eye views the word like a sight word approach. It has really made the difference.

[Tree House Academy]

That is a GREAT idea!!! I am not actually doing HOD until the fall, but that is when I am looking to start this new spelling "plan" anyway. :)

 

I think starting at Level 1 is perfect for my son. He really needs to go "back to basics" because spelling really is a struggle for him.

 

Thanks for the suggestion!

[PeterPan]

Why don't you see how it goes after you finish the ETC books? As you say, you just needed a way to repair his phonics foundation. Because he's older, he's seeing the connections. He may not NEED more formal spelling after this. Check out the workbook Spelling Works! by Jim Halverson. It's age-appropriate, engaging, and has been good for my dd this year. It covers a lot of the basic rules (doubling, suffixes and prefixes, adjectival endings, homonyms, etc.) but in a really kicked up way. It's oop I think, but there's a download version on CurrClick. It's the one thing we've done this year that my dd hasn't complained about at all. It's been just perfect!

 

Do you have any way to assess his spelling level? I have the diagnostic tests for SWR, and this year my dd's scores have been going up in spite of no formal spelling, save that workbook. I think it was just time and that things started clicking for her. That's why it's possible you won't need to beat things so hard after you finish the ETC books. Just make sure he's writing a sensible amount each day, reading plenty, and see what happens. Or consider something like Phonetic Zoo that is kind of fun and age-appropriate. Don't beat him real hard with multiple programs till you see if this gentle remediation with ETC does the trick. That's my advice. :)

 

PS. Ditto the other advice on dictation. You should be doing that no matter what. WTM says to and it DOES help spelling. :)

[MIch elle]

My dc never went to ps and are TERRIBLE spellers.

 

For our oldest, we tried MANY programs and nothing worked well. He would get ALL the words correct on the spelling test and then get them wrong in his writing. It took time, consistency and maturity to improve his spelling.

 

I've learned over the years that this is VERY common with all students.

[rafiki]

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[JenniferB]

I'm also homeschooling a poor speller. I've tried many programs, and I don't have the answer for a really great program, because there are strengths and weaknesses to each one I've tried. However, I do not recommend dropping spelling, but just the opposite, keep trying and make it a priority subject. Without basic spelling skills it's really difficult to write or look up words in the dictionary to correct spelling. Unless he has LDs, he will improve. If you work on a list, just use as many repititions and activities as you can for that list, and work on it during his best part of the day, and review, review, review. If you use Spelling Workout, don't just sit the book in front of him, work on it with him, and even add more activities, like dictation sentences, oral practice, reviewing the multi-letter phonograms that are in each word, and the spelling rules that show up, etc. etc. Keep at it mom! I know it's tough, but you can help him improve. I believe it is an important skill. JMHO. ;)

[Tree House Academy]

PS. Ditto the other advice on dictation. You should be doing that no matter what. WTM says to and it DOES help spelling. :)

 

Yes, we do dictation and copy work and we are using WWE right now as well. :) I think dictation and his love for reading books has been what has improved his spelling the most. At the beginning of this year, he could not spell "week" properly. Today, he effortlessly spelled "decided." I have seen improvement....but I just felt like I was beating a dead horse so to speak. We were doing spelling power and the Calvert CD, but we were also doing the Spelling workbook along with the CD, Spelling words from his CLE LA 300, AND a vocabulary connections workbook that dealt with spelling somewhat. It was major overkill.

[mamaof2andtwins]

I have two very poor spellers. I have used a variety of techiques and programs over the years. I have found the most success with AAS. I am not sure what trouble you had with it, but I felt it gave the best retention of the material.

 

Other alternatives that have worked to some degree or another were dictation. This worked with my son who was in 7th and 8th grade at the time. I would give him a passage. He would copy it for 2-3 days, and then I would dictate the passage to him. This actually improved his spelling a lot.

 

He also used Spelling Power with some degree of success. Anything that looks like a traditional spelling program just did not work with my struggling spellers.

 

Jennie

[Closeacademy]

My oldest resists spelling. We did almost 3 years of SWR and never got beyond list G. So for third grade, I did something totally against what everyone believes.

 

I dropped spelling. I am not teachng it right now.

 

If she wants to know how to spell a word, I help her sound it out or refer her to her dictionary. This seems to be working. She is writing more and getting the spellings correct for words.

 

It takes a lot of effort on both of our parts but she is not throwing fits over spelling lessons any more.

 

My plan is to wait until she is in 6th to 8th grade and work through SWR a few times so that she knows all the rules.

 

Good luck!:001_smile:

[Caroline4kids]

I have a poor speller and finally realized that phonics just doesn't work with all children. He wanted to spell words just as they sounded no matter if he had learned the phonetic principles or not. I finally dropped formal spelling and began dictation. We use Spelling Wisdom and I have seen a great improvement. It's based on Charlotte Mason's approach. She believed in dictation and how the mind's eye views the word like a sight word approach. It has really made the difference.

 

 

:iagree::iagree:

[~blessedmom~]

I think Spelling Wisdom looks great, too. We haven't used it because we do dictation and copywork with our memory verses.

 

What we did do for my anti-speller was Apples Daily Spelling drills. There are no tests, just reinforcement of the spelling rules. He is also very good at memorizing for tests and then conveniently forgetting!:glare::001_smile:

 

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=727011&event=CFN

 

There are 2 volumes.

[MomZ]

Other alternatives that have worked to some degree or another were dictation. This worked with my son who was in 7th and 8th grade at the time. I would give him a passage. He would copy it for 2-3 days, and then I would dictate the passage to him. This actually improved his spelling a lot.

 

This is very interesting for me. My 7th grader is also a poor speller. Although she's improved some with just time, she still is not good by any means. I'm going to try this. Thanks for the ideas!

[ciyates]

The spelling will come around. IEW actually has a decent spelling program. My DS was a horrible speller and I just waited him out.

[Dawn in MI]

I have four kids and two of them really struggled with spelling. Sequential Spelling has worked very well for my youngest. It's quick, painless, & the repetition really has helped her nail those spelling patterns. She will never be national spelling bee material, but her improvement from the ages 9-12 has been wonderful. I know several moms with struggling spellers who found Sequential Spelling to be the only thing that worked. My opinion is that 9.5 is too early to give up on spelling. Wish I'd found this program earlier for my oldest, but he will soon graduate from college as a Photojournalist & has been on the Dean's List almost every semester at his university. Some kids are late bloomers.

 

Hope this helps,

Dawn