My son is in 4th grade and we use ABEKA curriculum. Spelling was his worst subject in PS (averaged a B-) and he struggles with it at home too. It surprises me because he is a wonderful reader. I don't follow the curriculum, we just choose about 15 of the words each week. We play a game and I have him copy the words several times, but he isn't learning the words well enough. I was naturally pretty good at spelling, so it's hard for me to figure out how to teach him. Does anyone know of a more fun way to do spelling? Or a more fun curriculum? Or maybe a website?
We use Spelling Power and it is already really helping with DS. And once you buy it, it will be last spelling you'll ever need.... tons of words!
My son has much better reading skills than his spelling skills. Does your son have a strong phonics background? If not, I might consider a phonics-based or rule-based spelling program. I'm using Rod and Staff Spelling right now. I've found the spelling lists to not be difficult, but the workbook activities are a phonics workout. If you are looking for a fun program, look at spellingcity.com.
Do you think your son is a visual learner or a kinesthetic learner? If he's visual, you might look at the Sequential Spelling program. It builds spelling skills based on word families. You help make that connection by writing the words on a dry erase board using different colors. For example, you may have the words 'rain,' 'Spain,' and 'main.' You'd write the first letters in blue and the 'ain' ending in red. It is, however, a very dry program. If your child responds better to kinesthetic learning, I think Stephanie's suggestion of Spelling Power might be a good thing to look at as they use hands-on activities to help reinforce spelling.
Oh, look at All About Spelling too. It has many modes of learning. Not sure what grade/age level it goes to, though.
I am still learning what his learning styles are. I know that he loves rules and he often remembers where on a page he finds information (he'll say "uuuuh, it was in the top right corner of the page"), he seems to learn things better when I read a chapter to him than when he reads it himself. He may like a phonics-based things because he loves rules--? Thanks for the suggestions! I'll check out these programs.
We use A Reason For Spelling even though there are spelling words in our languages arts curriculum (CLE). It's a bit pricey but I buy it because both kids LOVE it. They beg to do it first & every day. It's got lots of fun activities. Favorites include writing their words in shaving cream or using a q-tip dipped in lemon juice and then writing the words on a piece of black paper. I do my best to buy used TG when I can. You have to have the TG for it & the story before every lesson is another part my kids love.
Oh boy, yes, I can relate. My oldest was/is a phenomenal reader. Read anything, all the time. Fast reader. I bet yours is a fast reader too. Horrible, horrible speller. Really bad. Some of my "favorite" memories of him and homeschooling are the flying pencils and his chant: "The English language is stupid, stupid, stupid!" Fast forward: He's 19, in college, and doing great. Spelling is still not his strongest area but it has improved considerably. His writing (also a battleground) is now better than mine (when did that happen??!!!). We started using Spelling Power with him around 4th grade. I can't say that it improved his spelling any, but it gave us something to work at without feeling like he was behind because each child progresses at their own pace with no grade levels attached to it. Here's something that I learned from Spelling Power: when I would look at my son's writing, I would see nothing but spelling errors, but Spelling Power told me to only correct the ones that he had already studied. If there was a misspelling from a higher level that he had not reached, don't worry about it. When I started paying attention to that, I saw that his vocabulary was ahead of his spelling ability. Since I didn't want to dumb down his vocabulary, I let a lot of those misspellings alone. One other thought: spelling isn't all that important. I know, I know. I stressed out about it too. It makes the student look so uneducated and that is a reflection on our homeschooling. But as I look back, there were very few standardized tests that included spelling. And if they did include spelling, they only need to recognize the correct spelling which is much easier. I'm not saying to ignore spelling. I am still using Spelling Power most days with my 9th and 6th graders. But I just wanted to give you some perspective that it's not worth getting too stressed about.
Faythe, too! I had always been told that if you're a good reader, you'll be a good speller. NOT TRUE!!! I would agree with Spelling Power. Expensive, but you only buy it once.
You're right...so not true! I would second the recommendation for All About Spelling. It's good for visual, tactile, and auditory learners. My kids are 7th and 9th grade and started at the beginning 2 years ago...yes, the beginning when they were in 5th and 7th grades. So worth it though. They devoured difficult books, but their grandfather used to send back their letters with the spelling corrected. :x Their spelling has improved SO much...they aren't embarrassed by it anymore. Level 7 should be coming out soon, my ninth grader will do it then and be finished. Warmly,
You may already use this as a supplement, but I wanted to recommend Spelling City. http://www.spellingcity.com/ You can put their words in and use your own definition and sentences or use theirs. There are a lot of free activities, or you can pay for an upgraded version. We always used the free parts. My kids and tutoring students really liked that site. Happy Homeschooling, Susan
Thanks everyone! We're going to use some of stuff on Spellingcity.com and I'm still checking into your other great suggestions. Thanks again!
