Spelling

[Supertechmom]

Okay I am not a speller and confess that it is a horrible task for me. Is the whole point of spelling, just do it? Like the Nike commercials - Just do it

 

My kids can't spell. No shock there since we never touch spelling since I am so poor at it. However before I run out and buy another program, someone tell me the whole point is you just take a list and work it till you can spell it. There are fancy programs, basic programs but the point is to actively work a list of words you can't spell. RIGHT??? Given that I can't spell, I wasn't sure if it is simply that simple.

 

I have the following (I'm trying not to buy anything else )

McGuffey Speller

Abc's and all their tricks

a 4 th grade spelling book and workbook

Victory Drill book

 

If I just make up lists and make sure they do them and test them, won't that improve their spelling? Yea, it's time for me but I have these resources on hand. Is spelling that simple?? Do I need to group it around word families? I don't remember my spellers at school doing that but maybe that's why I have a hard time LOL!

Thanks!

[skaterbabs]

How old are your children?

[HiddenJewel]

I don't like to teach spelling just using list after list. I want a program that teaches them phonics and the spelling rules so they can apply them to other words and not just be limited to the words they learned on their spelling lists.

 

If you want to use the material you have I would suggest grouping the words by rule. But I would suggest starting with making sure they have a good foundation in phonics.

 

You can look at All About Spelling, The Writing Road to Reading or Spell to Write and Read. The second 2 have a learning curve but once you learn it, it is simple

[ELaurie]

is easy to use, and will teach your dc (and you ;)) the logic behind the way we spell, rather than simply memorizing endless lists. the link is in my signature line, and in the post above.

[ElizabethB]

I would sit down and watch my spelling movies with your children.

 

After them, you should be able to use "The ABCs and All Their Tricks" to make up your own lists of words organized around spelling rules and phonetic principles instead of just random lists of words that don't help you learn to spell.

 

I was a poor speller until I learned all the rules and patterns after teaching phonics. I went from misspelling 6 words per page to 1 word every page or two after learning phonics and phonetic spelling rules (and all that I learned is in my free online spelling lessons. A longer version of the same thing is in my phonics lessons, they cover the same material at a slower pace.)

 

Here's my suggestions for spelling, with a link to my spelling lessons on that page:

 

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On%20Spelling/spellingforsucce.html

 

Pollard's Spellers online are free and could also be used instead of making your own lists from "The ABCs and All Their Tricks" if you wanted to spend ink to save time.

[mommix3]

Look into a phonics based program. There are rules to spelling that I didn't know about until I looked over our Spelling program. We use All About Spelling and it is wonderful..:001_smile:

[SilverMoon]

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Edited June 9 by SilverMoon

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

My suggestion would be to teach them to segment words orally (if they can't do this already). Then use ABC's and All Their Tricks in one of the following ways:

use the rules to make up spelling lists

OR

use copywork/dictation and look up the rules in the book as needed

OR

use copywork/dictation that focuses on a rule or rules that you want to teach

[arcara]

Just memorizing lists doesn't work for most children. My dd's spelling program for the 1st few years was like this. She could learn the words for a test, but then she would misspell them in practical work. This year we switched to AAS. I'm learning so much!! And, my girls are, too. When they have a spelling problem, I can help them figure out how to spell the words without guessing. Learning phonograms and a few spelling rules allows you to spell so many more words than you could just memorize individually.

[Supertechmom]

Well that explains why I can't spell. :tongue_smilie: We just did words list with no rhyme or reason.

Thanks for the links and I will check out that program. I think ABC does a good layout of rules and then I could just use the others to make out the list that follows those rules.

 

Now what about phonics?

 

We did 100 easy lessons but after that i didn't find much that went beyond that. Which is why I bought Abc's and syllabication rule booklet. Is there something else? I have flashcards from 2 different places that give all these pieces of words and on the back it tells you how to pronounce it and the exceptions. Is that enough? If I actually do them (funny how things work that way) shouldn't the flashcards with a list of spelling rules work for a good phonics base? We have never really done spelling or gone beyond 100 EL. Their dad just works with them as they read outloud.

 

Oh and mine are 11 and 8

[HiddenJewel]

Well that explains why I can't spell. :tongue_smilie: We just did words list with no rhyme or reason.

Thanks for the links and I will check out that program. I think ABC does a good layout of rules and then I could just use the others to make out the list that follows those rules.

 

Now what about phonics?

 

We did 100 easy lessons but after that i didn't find much that went beyond that. Which is why I bought Abc's and syllabication rule booklet. Is there something else? I have flashcards from 2 different places that give all these pieces of words and on the back it tells you how to pronounce it and the exceptions. Is that enough? If I actually do them (funny how things work that way) shouldn't the flashcards with a list of spelling rules work for a good phonics base? We have never really done spelling or gone beyond 100 EL. Their dad just works with them as they read outloud.

 

Oh and mine are 11 and 8

 

If you have flashcards with the phonograms and cards with the spelling rules you are well on your way.

 

If you go with a spelling program that has phonics as its basis, spelling and phonics can be covered in one subject.

[Ellie]

None of the above. :-)

 

Oh, and FTR, Victory Drill Book teaches reading, not spelling.

 

For really bad spellers, my recommendation is Spalding (Writing Road to Reading is the manual). There's a learning curve for you to prepare to teach Spalding, but it is amazingly effective.

[LUV2EDU]

Site to help with Phonetic sounds for spelling. Click on the Phonics category.http://candohelperpage.com/index.html

 

Free Spelling Word site

 

http://www.zaner-bloser.com/spellingconnections/practice-pages.html

[mom4him]

I am using R&S for my third grader and like it. One thing I have learned, a child needs to be ready for spelling just like they need to be ready for reading. I started her in this spelling program 1 1/2 yrs ago and she was really struggling. I just restarted her and she is flying through without a problem. I had started my 2nd grade son in the spelling that was built into the LA he was using last fall. We would work through the words but when I would go to give him the words to 'test' him he would look at me with this blank look. I suspect by this time next year I will be able to do spelling with him without a problem.

As a side note, one of the things we do with spelling that seems to really help my dd is spell the words with magnetic letters. I am sure it has to do with the way she learns but this seems to 'lock' them in for her.

[Sara R]

Spelling Plus is a great curriculum for poor spellers, and the basics are available for free online here. Click on the links on the left to read the transcript of her workshop that describes the program in detail. The handouts provide the 1000 word spelling list,

 

The list focuses on spelling the 1000 most commonly used words in English, which accounts for over 90% of the words used in English. Once they have these words down, poor spellers can use dictionaries and spell check for the rest. But without mastery of these core words, it's difficult to use dictionaries and spell check. Spelling Plus also emphasizes the use of dictation with spelling words. Memorizing a word on a list is just the first step; they also need to know how to spell it correctly in writing automatically. Dictation helps students get to that point.

 

My daughter is a poor speller, and I don't like spending lots of money on curriculum either. We are using the overteaching spelling method that Laurie4B from the Special Needs board developed. I combine this with Spelling Plus. Each day my daughter has a spelling test, and spelling practice following the Spelling Plus method. I also give her dictation sentences from the Spelling Plus Dictation book (which is a handy resource). If she gets a word correct 5 days in a row, that word goes on a review list, and it is reviewed weekly, then monthly. If she makes any mistake on that word, either on a test or in dictation, it goes back on her list. This way I can be sure that she is actually retaining what she is learning. This takes about 5 minutes per day on my part to keep track of the word list in Excel, but it saves effort on both of our parts. Before this she would study words and then promptly forget them. At least this way I'm sure that our effort in spelling translates into results.

[Amy in KS]

I like sequential spelling. It teaches kids to listen for spelling patterns. The words change daily (no weekly test), but the word patterns are re-visited again and again.

 

Super simple.

[Alison in KY]

I picked up spelling fairly easily, but my son, now 9, certainly hasn't. I looked at Spelling Workout but it had to much writing for my non-writer (he was 7 or 8 at the time). I've since had Natural Speller and Sequential Spelling, now I have All about Spelling. Regular programs, like SWO, were just to standard schoolish to work for us, natural speller required my using list after list, and sequential spelling was the same.

 

With AAS I just do it and I'm seeing a bit of improvement. My ideal plan would be to hand my kids a spelling workout book and have them do it, but that hasn't worked with two of my kids, so AAS to the rescue. I don't enjoy teaching spelling, but I'm just basically, like the Nike commercial, doing it. I think AAS would work for you. Just follow the instructions and go for it. We review 10 wordcards every lesson, so we're constantly going back over words we've studied previously.

 

Good luck,

Alison in KY