spelling curriculum???

Discussion in 'Homeschooling' started by tiffharmon2001, Jan 20, 2012.

  1. tiffharmon2001

    tiffharmon2001 New Member

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    I'm looking for a new spelling curriculum for my 5th, 2nd, and 1st graders. I'm looking for something with a little more to it than just a word list with a pretest on Wednesday and on post-test on Friday. In fact, I really don't care if there are tests at all. I'm looking for something that teaches the RULES for spelling and not just to memorize a list for the test. I'd like it to be as hands on as possible with daily activities. Oh yeah, and if it used words that the kids would actually NEED to spell, that would be great (my dd11 had the word fetter on her list this week. Good for vocab, but not necessarily for spelling KWIM?)

    Any suggestions?

    We tried spelling power last year and we've been using the spelling that came with The Weaver curriculum. So far, though, neither of them has clicked for us.
     
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  3. Mom2scouts

    Mom2scouts New Member

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    What about The Phonics Road or All About Spelling?
     
  4. mom2twinboys

    mom2twinboys New Member

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    We really like Rod and Staff & also BJU Spelling. Both have spelling words listed by spelling rules and explains the rules as they go. Rod and Staff does a better job of the two (IMHO) of explaining the rules to the child, but both are great. If you are looking for something more secular, Scholastic Success with Spelling does a very good job of listing words with spelling rules.
     
  5. jill

    jill New Member

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    This is a long post, only because I JUST wrote this e-mail to a friend yesterday, so I copied and pasted and changed my kids names...

    All About Spelling

    It is phonics based and uses all the “modalities” of learning. Visual, auditory and tactile.

    Lesson 1 Book 1 is the hardest to get through. It took my girls over a week and they were in 5th and 7th grades at the time. DD1 actually took longer than DD2. It involves memorizing all the sounds of all the letters…Like “G” says 2 sounds “G” and “J” …they learn them both. A lot of people I know who have tried it can’t make it through that lesson. They say it’s SO boring just memorizing! Well, it is. But it’s worth it. What I did (and still do…DD2 is in Book 6 and I’m waiting for Book 7 to come out so DD1 can do it and be finished with spelling forever!) is set the timer for 20 minutes and do as much as we can and pick up there the next time. (We only do spelling 2-3 times a week.)

    Once they do that, the lessons are pretty scripted out for you. There are flash cards, that you keep in a box for each kid, sorted by “mastered”, “review” and “future lessons.” So everybody has to be done separately. (Another reason for the timer.) There are also magnet letter tiles that they manipulate (for the tactile learners.) Doing the tiles takes longer, but it helps cement a lot of stuff. We actually don’t use them much anymore…now that they are older, they don’t need them as much, but sometimes we DO get them out if they are having trouble remembering something.

    They learn all the rules. SO AMAZING to me! I have a “reading specialist” addition on my teaching degree and I didn’t know half the stuff they’ve learned about phonics. Have you ever heard the rhyme…”when 2 vowels go walking the first does the talking”? … they beat this into our head in college. IT’S SO NOT TRUE A LOT OF THE TIME!!! This program doesn’t each it because of that. Also, Silent e at the end of the word? We assume that it’s only job is to make a vowel long, like MAD and MADE…but it actually has about 5-6 jobs and the kids learn them all.

    It has made such a difference in both girls spelling. It does involve a lot of memorizing which my girls hate, but I tried everything else, and they just COULDN’T spell things right.

    Really, it wasn’t a problem that they were a little older when they started. I think about 3rd grade would be the perfect time to start, just because of that first lesson it might be hard for the littler ones. BUT if you spend a few weeks or months or whatever it takes on the first lesson and aren’t in a rush to move on until they are ready, it would be ok for the youngers. (I think that’s the problem some of the other people I know who started and quit had…they wanted quick results and to feel like they were progressing and being stuck in lesson one is such a bummer, but it’s the key to success for this. Not moving on until they’ve MASTERED it.) The author does have some phonics based readers that might be good for younger kids that might be a good starting point then ease into the spelling program later, but I haven’t seen them. They came out after my kids were excellent readers already.

    Here’s a link to use- if you get anything, I’ll get credit…: http://allaboutlearningpress.net/go.php?id=233 But if you can find stuff used, I’d try that first. Like I said, I sell mine as soon as I’m done and people snatch them up.

    Best wishes!
     
  6. Shelley

    Shelley New Member

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    Sequential Spelling is good. They have 25 words each day. There is no studying. You read the words, and the kids do their best to spell them. You go through the words, writing them on a board for them to see and self-check. There are no tests, although they do offer a cumulative test if you want to use it.

    The program builds on word families, with sight words and homophones/heteronyms/etc. built in. It doesn't spend a lot of time on spelling rules; however, I do recall seeing them on their website. Having taught English in the classroom, I usually just fill in with rules as we go.

    I've also heard good things about All about Spelling.
     
  7. TeacherMom

    TeacherMom New Member

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  8. snkarpowicz

    snkarpowicz New Member

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    Spelling Power is great...it is used for K-12th grade, so no need to get separate books for each child. The book explains exactly how to test your student so that you start them where they are 'at'..so no guessing what grade level to buy. It teaches spelling rules, works for all types of learning styles, and has tons of ideas for supplemental, fun activites to help teach.
     
  9. bigreys5

    bigreys5 New Member

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    No one has mentioned this yet, but I can't be the only one who has done this. I found old spelling books at the Goodwill, garage sales, etc. I use them because even though they are older books, the rules do not change. I have my boys write out the words two times on Monday, write them out on incex cards and read definitions of the words on Tuesday, Do all of the questiond for those words the next days, and then on Friday, I do the test.
     
  10. Tara

    Tara New Member

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    We use A Reason for Spelling. You do something different everyday, then on Friday there's a test.
     
  11. Sea

    Sea Member

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    I agree with Jill- AAS and start at level 1- because there are rules they may not have learned. You don't focus on one list- and it's great! My son is in 3rd grade and we are working on level 1 (and my first grader I just started but we are taking our time- very slow) and it really makes him think about his spelling and I hear him reviewing the rules as he writes- it's great and his spelling is improving! We will be moving onto level 2 soon, but I hesitated to do level 1 but it is worth it- and another note Jill said I never learned some of the rules either and so I let the kids know "I never knew that!" and it excites them! Good luck! :wink:
     
  12. Embassy

    Embassy New Member

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    All About Spelling may be a good fit. It teaches rules and uses hands-on tiles. It does require memorization of rules and repetition until a child is successful.
     
  13. tiffharmon2001

    tiffharmon2001 New Member

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    Thanks for all the suggestions! I will look into all of those ideas. I knew I could get some good suggestions here! :)
     
  14. SenseiMitch

    SenseiMitch New Member

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    No one mentioned 'Wordly Wise' while more of a vocabulary text, it has a better word selection than many spelling books while honestly just seemed to easy. The kids *love* 'wordly wise' and the weekly activites really reinforce the learning of the words, spelling and meaning. Hope that helps.
     
  15. pecangrove

    pecangrove New Member

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    I don't know if this was mentioned, but we started with Spelling Power just before Christmas. At first I didn't think it was really helping, but all of a sudden he seems to be remembering harder words with ease. (By the way, he is in 4th grade, but when we tested him for placement, he was at about a 2nd grade spelling ability.)
     
  16. Samantha

    Samantha New Member

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    I know it's already been mentioned but I had to say we LOVE AAS here. My oldest is a super logical thinker and does well with learning the reasons for WHY we spell things the way we do.
     
  17. ERue

    ERue New Member

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    We just got A Reason for Spelling, and I like it quite a bit so far.
     
  18. Mattsmama

    Mattsmama New Member

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    Can't add anything new about All About Spelling that isn't already written here, but I just want to share my vote for it too! It has helped my ds sooo much with his spelling. He actually does think about his spelling now.
     

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