Annette0409 Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hello! I'm new to this forum, but not new to homeschooling. I hs'd my oldest from 4th grade all the way through (she is now in her 2nd yr of college). I hs'd my youngest the first half of kindergarten, but circumstances dictated a need to put her into regular school for the rest of K and now through 1st. But now I get to hs again! I'm set with everything except spelling. I'm not too concerned about it, to tell you the truth, because I know it's not life or death right now, but would love to hear some opinions on the following 4 curriculums that I've narrowed it down to... 1. Simply Spelling 2. Spelling Wisdom 3. All About Spelling 4. Tricks of the Trade, How to Teach Any Child to Spell Can you give me pro's/con's based on your experiences? I've researched the individual websites, but would really like to hear from those who have "been there done that". It looks to me that Simply Spelling and Spelling Wisdom are very similar. Any important differences? All About Spelling looks very hands on and fun, but is it too filled with games that chew up time and does it justify the price tag? Tricks of the Trade, et al looks fairly common sense, but requires more prep time. I will be starting her on Prima Latina so I'm not bothering with additional individual grammar and vocab, but perhaps I really don't need to worry about additional spelling either for now?? I know many love Spelling Power, and I used it for quite awhile with my oldest, but I didn't find it to be effective - at least for her. Just never really clicked for either of us. Here's my criteria: 1. I am a single parent who is launching 2 businesses and handling everything by myself, so time is of the essence. I need something that is pick up and go. I also don't have an hour a day to spend working through spelling games (intended exaggeration ;)) 2. I also do not want something that is just drilling list after list, merely rote learning in an isolated manner. Learning the why's of spelling would be great, yet there are so many exceptions to the rules so I'm not dogmatic about this. Thanks for reading this lengthy post. I look forward to hearing from you. Blessings, Annette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 (edited) Simply Spelling sounds like right up your alley as it's short but sweet. Check out the samples on its website and visualize yourself doing a lesson with your dc and see if anything clicks. It should be either an "Aha" moment or "I can do this" type of feeling. Or of course, "Oh no" or "too much time" or "nah". I'm very attracted to this program and I may end up using it in Third Year (third grade) if my gentle, no-curriculum CM Spelling approach is not up to my standards. Edited April 20, 2009 by sagira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette0409 Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Thanks for your response. I was also considering a "no formal spelling program" approach to start with, but came across these and thought it might work. I am drawn to the Simply Spelling, as you recommended. Just wondering if anyone who has used it found it to be effective, etc. I have searched past threads seeking info, (which is how I found out about a couple of these curricula) but couldn't find anything that actually made comparisons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in St Louis Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hi, Annette! Welcome! Is you daughter going to be in 2nd grade? Or am I reading it incorrectly? We tried Simply Spelling for a bit and as much as I WANTED it to be great, I wasn't thrilled. The first 2 lessons (weeks) were perfect for what we wanted, but then the rest of the lessons were all VERY long -- 3-4 sentences PER DAY to copy. That may work well for you guys but it caused a mutiny here! :tongue_smilie: The samples online only show the "short" sentences to be copied, so I had no idea they would get so long so fast. Love the idea of this curriculum, but unless you have a child that is happy to write quite a bit, you may not be able use it as intended. For "pick up and go ease," how about something she could do independently on the computer? We did Spelling Time for a while and loved it, and I've also heard great things about Spelling City. http://www.spellingtime.com/ http://www.spellingcity.com/ Hope this helps! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liltrees Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 :lurk5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagira Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 We tried Simply Spelling for a bit and as much as I WANTED it to be great, I wasn't thrilled. The first 2 lessons (weeks) were perfect for what we wanted, but then the rest of the lessons were all VERY long -- 3-4 sentences PER DAY to copy. That may work well for you guys but it caused a mutiny here! :tongue_smilie: The samples online only show the "short" sentences to be copied, so I had no idea they would get so long so fast. Love the idea of this curriculum, but unless you have a child that is happy to write quite a bit, you may not be able use it as intended. Hmm.. thanks for writing this, Melissa. My ds will be in third year by the time I consider this, but since we'll be doing copywork and dictation already it may be redundant. Better focus on reading quality literature and harvesting the goodies in Living Memory for copywork, dictation and visualization and spelling practice. My plan is also to create personal spelling notebooks of the words ds commonly misspells and have him work on his own lists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arcara Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 We're using AAS. I'm not sure what 'games' you are referring to in this program??? You can spend as long as needed each day on this program. Most of us spend 10-15 min/day. It's open and go. There's no planning on your part. And it's worked very well for my girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette0409 Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 Thanks for the feedback. That's good to know about the length of the sentences in Simply Spelling. Hmm... perhaps I could use that also for handwriting practice and kill too birds with one stone. I don't want her to feel overwhelmed though since I'm also going to be using the Writing With Ease program. Perhaps it would be overkill on copywork to do both? Maybe not if I break it up into some into morning and some afternoon sessions. She actually does like to write. She comes home from school now and does writing on her own for fun, so maybe it would be just fine. The AAS sounds good too. I didn't realize it could be done so quickly. I'll also check into those online programs mentioned. If anyone else has feedback I'd love to hear your opinions! Yes, she's going into the 2nd grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annette0409 Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 Update: Based on the feedback from this thread and another one I've been reading, here's what I'm thinking... Since I'm going to be using Writing With Ease for an approach to composition and that uses copywork/dictation, perhaps the combination of WWE and Sequential Speller - ESPECIALLY on the new DVD format would accomplish what I'm looking for and the DVD format would allow her to work semi-independently in between our "sessions" together during the day while working on business stuff and my own schoolwork. (Finishing my degree!) Anyone have any experiences to share about Sequential Speller? This may not be the forever solution, but I'm thinking it could be a great approach for the next couple of years. Do you see any blind spots in my thought process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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