Homeschoolers--talk to me about SPELLING

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What Spelling program are you using? Do your kids enjoy it? What do you like about it? What don’t you or your kids like about it? Are the words introduced in a logical manner?
Any recommendations for 1st grade spelling?
 
From a homeschooling graduate…

My mom used Seton for me.

She’s using ABeka for my brothers and sisters.

I recommend ABeka.
 
Instead of spending the money on another workbook or series, why not incorporate spelling into your everyday life? There is a lot out there that’s FREE on the Internet, in the way of games, lesson plans, etc. Type “spelling” into a web crawler and see the results. I’d esp. try these:
bbc.co.uk/schools/wordsandpictures/index.shtml%between%
funbrain.com/spell/index.html
onelook.com/
thesolutioncafe.com/public-spell-checker.html%between%

For little people, starting out with “cheers” to spell their names, Mommy and Daddy, Grandma, the pets’ names, can be fun. These can be done while driving in the car. Example:
“M-O-M-M-Y, Mommy, yay Mommy!”
“LE(pause)LES(pause)LESL(pause) LESLI(pause)LESLIE, yahoo for Leslie!”
“LES, LIE, who’s for Leslie, yippee!”

Through phonics, incorporate “word ladders” such as the an group (ban, can, Dan, fan, etc.).

Scrabble, Jr. and Scrabble are great inducers of correct spelling and healthy competition. Boggle, too.
 
Oh boy, if I had any inclinations towards addictions, our spelling a couple of months ago would have made me a full-blown alcoholic. I am being a smidge dramatic, and I don’t really drink at all, but still, Seton’s first grade spelling gives me fits. I think it’s just spelling in general that I find difficult to teach, but to be honest I haven’t looked into any other programs yet.

Fortunately my dh came to my aid and started doing flash cards with funny hand-drawn pictures to help dd learn her spelling words. It has really made all the difference! My oldest is 1st grade, and we have never “sent” her to a school, so we didn’t have anything to go on. But then I heard that my neice and nephew (twins) were getting a spelling list once a week and their parents had to work with them at night and quiz them. Also, while they get a spelling test once a week on Fridays, they don’t get a letter grade for spelling on their report cards. So with that information in hand, my dh started quizzing dd with her spelling “homework” at night and came up with his cute/corny flash cards that work for us.

If you find a better program out there, please share the love and let us know about it!

Jen Z.
 
It can look a little intimidating at first, and it does require the teacher doing some serious background preparation…but I really, really, really love The Writing Road to Reading (Romalda Spalding). It’s about $20, nonconsumable & will get you from preschool through 8th grade. It covers phonics, spelling, penmanship…and covers a variety of learning methods to reinforce the work.

From a teaching perspective, once you understand the phonics yourself, you can reuse this with kids of all ages without any additional effort.

This program is useful for ANY age, including remedial and ESL work for kids and adults.

The Writing Road to Reading

I’ve never done spelling as an independent subject - it’s always incorporated with others (saves time!)…you might get some ideas from “The Well-Trained Mind” (Jesse Bauer & Susan Wise Bauer) The Well Trained Mind. The message boards there have good info.

From a RC perspective, you might look at…I think they’re called the Catholic National Readers? They’re like McGuffey’s, but RC. I’m pretty certain there’s another RC series of readers…maybe looking at Kolbe Academy or Seton book lists would be helpful there. McGuffey’s (and I believe CNR) have a “Speller” volume, just lists of words arranged into lessons. They’re pretty inexpensive, too.

Best wishes,
Karen
 
The most important thing is to make sure they “get” that letter combinations represent sounds, and that individual letters can make different sounds, depending on what other letters are around them. (“e” ending makes vowel sounds long, “c” becomes “s” in front of “i” or “e” but otherwise it’s “k”, etc.)
 
My mom is a Language Arts teacher. She says the best way for kids to learn to spell is to read, read, read.
 
JenZ said:
Oh boy, if I had any inclinations towards addictions, our spelling a couple of months ago would have made me a full-blown alcoholic. I am being a smidge dramatic, and I don’t really drink at all, but still, Seton’s first grade spelling gives me fits. I think it’s just spelling in general that I find difficult to teach, but to be honest I haven’t looked into any other programs yet.

If you find a better program out there, please share the love and let us know about it!

.
Click to expand...
Hey Jenz, we are using Seton’s 1st grade spelling book too. Let me know if you find anything. DD is doing well with her phonics and can spell pretty well based on that. I became concerned when my friend was describing her son’s spelling list and tests. :eek:

Does anyone know how My Very First Catholic Speller from Catholic Heritage Curricula compares to Seton?

Autumn
 
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m wondering, Autumn, or if there is something even better than those out there. Are you also not happy with Seton spelling, then? I couldn’t really tell from your reply.

I found a spelling game that got 5-star reviews on Amazon that I think I may get. It is called Spell Time. Our school time is a little too workbook-intensive right now, so I think I’ll give this game a try.
 
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m wondering, Autumn, or if there is something even better than those out there. Are you also not happy with Seton spelling, then? I couldn’t really tell from your reply.

I found a spelling game that got 5-star reviews on Amazon that I think I may get. It is called Spell Time. Our school time is a little too workbook-intensive right now, so I think I’ll give this game a try.
Click to expand...
Ann, I am not sure if I am happy with Seton or not. I worry DD may not be getting the most out of her spelling time when I hear moms discussing spelling lists, tests, etc. However, I do know Seton places emphasis on phonics and that may prove to be more beneficial. Dose that make sense?

I looked “inside” CHC’s My Very First Catholic Speller and it looks comparable to Seton’s. This is based on a few pages and without reviewing a syllabus or curriculum.

Please share your review of teh spelling game!

Autumn
 
USCGwife said:
It can look a little intimidating at first, and it does require the teacher doing some serious background preparation…but I really, really, really love The Writing Road to Reading (Romalda Spalding). It’s about $20, nonconsumable & will get you from preschool through 8th grade. It covers phonics, spelling, penmanship…and covers a variety of learning methods to reinforce the work.

From a teaching perspective, once you understand the phonics yourself, you can reuse this with kids of all ages without any additional effort.

This program is useful for ANY age, including remedial and ESL work for kids and adults.

The Writing Road to Reading

I’ve never done spelling as an independent subject - it’s always incorporated with others (saves time!)…you might get some ideas from “The Well-Trained Mind” (Jesse Bauer & Susan Wise Bauer) The Well Trained Mind. The message boards there have good info.

From a RC perspective, you might look at…I think they’re called the Catholic National Readers? They’re like McGuffey’s, but RC. I’m pretty certain there’s another RC series of readers…maybe looking at Kolbe Academy or Seton book lists would be helpful there. McGuffey’s (and I believe CNR) have a “Speller” volume, just lists of words arranged into lessons. They’re pretty inexpensive, too.

Best wishes,
Karen
Click to expand...
Seton reprinted the Faith and Freedom readers, but the better ones are the originals by Ginn and Company. I like the 1960-ish editions. That edition comes with Ginn’s My Picture Dictionary.

If you have to have a book, Writing Road to Reading is very good. But I love the corny flash cards!!!

I wouldn’t worry about anybody else’s spelling, or lists, or what other women say. That’s the beauty of home ed, each kid gets invidualized attention tailored to him or her.
 
jmcrae said:
… that individual letters can make different sounds, depending on what other letters are around them.
Click to expand...
Technically, letters don’t make sounds. Do you hear any sounds coming from the letters on this screen? People make sounds and letters are just pictures that represent the sounds we make.

I liked Sequential Spelling. The sequences are based on building from easy words to advanced words as from all, tall, stall, install, installment, installation.

avko.org/Webstore/Sequential_Spelling.htm

There are samples on the site. --KCT
 
USCGwife said:
It can look a little intimidating at first, and it does require the teacher doing some serious background preparation…but I really, really, really love The Writing Road to Reading (Romalda Spalding). It’s about $20, nonconsumable & will get you from preschool through 8th grade. It covers phonics, spelling, penmanship…and covers a variety of learning methods to reinforce the work.

Best wishes,
Karen
Click to expand...
I love the WRTR too but prefer the WISE Guide to Spelling by Wanda Sensari. She was trained by Spaulding and her version is just a little easier to use at home, in my own (non-expert) opinion.

Another good choice (and cheaper) is the Catholic Speller series at Catholic Heritage Curriculum. They are very logical, low in teacher time and broken down into nice, bite-sized lessons.
 
On the other hand:
I don’t give a d*** for a man that can only spell a word one way. --Mark Twain

😃

DaveBj
 
KCT said:
Technically, letters don’t make sounds. Do you hear any sounds coming from the letters on this screen?
Click to expand...
Amazingly enough, yes, I do - the reason is that when I was little, and first learning to read, I was trained to “hear” the sounds that they represent in my mind’s ear, so the letter combinations actually do make “sounds” in my mind that translate to spoken words that I can hear in my head.
 
I’ve found 3 things I’m going to try for now. The game called Spell Time that I mentioned, a Disney workbook (it has princesses…hopefully ds will appreciate that it’s cartoon characters and not notice it’s really girly LOL) on Spelling, and a dry erase book called Thomas & Friends Spelling. I chose these because I wanted something fun that he would enjoy, and then the game doesn’t require writing which, while he is good at writing for his age, it’s just not the best way for him to increase his spelling knowledge right now. He really enjoys a dry erase math book he has, and he LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine.

Here’s the miraculous part…I found these three items at 3 different places online. I didn’t want to pay 3 shipping charges. So I went to Dollar General tonight to buy some goodies for a soccer party…and I find the Disney Workbooks. $1 each!! (I was going to pay about $4-5 on ebay…so I spent the same amount but got 4 or 5 different workbooks!) and then I went to Target for some other things. I found the game (not in the game aisle) and the Thomas & Friends book (never would have expected them to have this!). It was just amazing that I would find ONE of these things, let alone all 3! They are not common items!
 
There is a great book used in schools in some places and by my home-schooling sister, called Words Their Way, which gives you the sequence to teach spelling in, assessment tests, and gives you the stages of spelling, tells you basically how to teach it, provides everything you need, including activities and games. Fabulous. I use it in my class.
 
I am a public school teacher, and I just love the program the district here has newly adopted. It’s called Word Study or Developmental Spelling Analysis. Best of all, the children absolutely love it. It involves learning to spell by learning features of words (short vowels, diagraphs, etc) instead of rote memorization of words. The children do word sorts and just love it. Each child is instructed at his or her level. There are many levels beginning with initial consonants and going all the way to derivational constancy which is the level of many adult spellers. You pre-test the child to see on which level/features they need instruction.
I think any good, phonetic, developmentally appropriate program should be fine for first grade (which is the grade I teach.) I think the book Word Journeys gives more info on DSA/Word Study
Good luck!🙂
Holly
 
spellingmadesimple.com/

This is a really good program and they offer a 1 month free for a fully functioning copy. It allows you to use your own spelling words, dictates the words to him, keep track of his progress, and automatically creates an error list.

I love it. My son learned to read and spell over 1000 words in 2 months because of it. You can set it to show the word as it is dictated briefly or not have it shown at all. I have him do both.

Tabitha
 
I also highly recommend The Writing Road to Reading. It can be helpful to use one of the books written to help the teacher implement it, but it’s certainly not necessary. You can adapt the program to fit your needs and schedule, and it really shouldn’t take much time out of each day. It’s certainly not a glamorous, “fun” program, but in the long run, it’s definately beneficial for the kids to learn the phonograms and spelling rules.
 
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