Could we drop spelling?

[Laurie in VA]

Good morning! I have a question and hope some of you who are further along than we are can give me some advice.

My DD completed SWO-A/B in K. She is now in 1st. She finished B earlier this year and is now in C. My plan was to have her do the last half of C and all of D next year. DD seems to be a natural speller. We just started C in Jan., and when I give her the pretests, she usually gets all of the words right. When that happens I just require her to do the proofreading section and we move on.

I do not want to shortchange DD in any way, and I am (was?) fully prepared to complete the SWO series, but I wonder if spelling is really necessary. If she happens to miss a word once, she rarely if ever misses it again. Would I be doing a disservice if we quit spelling and used that time for something else? Or should we keep at it just to make sure everything is covered?

[Greta Lea]

He's 14yo *today* and he's never completed a spelling book. I bought 2 or 3 early on and he kept testing out of *every* lesson, so I finally just dropped formal spelling with the plan to pick it up again if I ever saw him beginning to struggle with spelling. Well, he hasn't. I've taught him spelling rules and exceptions to the rules via his own writing. If he asks how to spell something, I remind him of the rule or the exception to the rule and then see if he can remember the spelling from there. If not, I tell him the spelling.

My son can *easily* remember these spelling rules. It seems that if he applies it just a few times, he's got it down pat for good. Lucky boy! His younger brother has dyslexia and will probably never spell as well as him even though I've beat him over the head with phonics and spelling!

My son also has a very good visual memory of words, which I think also aids in his natural ability to spell.

I say don't waste your time on a formal spelling program. It's worked her for one of mine!

[Greta Lea]

You will be amazed at the spelling you can teach via dictation. He no longer does dictation now that he's writing his own original pieces of writing. Dictation was WONDERFUL for this son.

[Kelli in TN]

Only my two oldest used a spelling curriculum and they only used one because someone told me that we were supposed to do that!

So far, 5 of my 6 have not needed formal spelling. We incorporated spelling rules into other subjects and that has worked fine for us.

My 6th will probably need something for spelling, however.

[Laurie in VA]

You will be amazed at the spelling you can teach via dictation.

Thanks! And Happy Birthday to your DS!!! We just started dictation here and it's going well. We also still do a fair bit of copywork.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, SWO tends to become more complex in about level D or E. Does she know all the words and can she use them appropriately in sentences? I do tend to think that this program makes as good a word study as it does a spelling program.

My son is in F this year and it has really become a word study program for him. Levels G and H cover not only Latin and Greek roots, but also Spanish, French, German, etc., so I think they make very good vocab studies in preparation for higher level vocab work.

It depends on what you want from your programming, but I have found it beneficial, even for a natural speller (my older son).

Regena

[Wendy in ME]

We dropped spelling after 3rd grade for my natural speller. He is studying Latin and will start Greek next year so that will cover vocab and word study. So I guess if you are using the program simply for spelling and plan to add some sort of vocab or language then I think you could spend that time doing something else.

[Plaid Dad]

I wouldn't hesitate to drop spelling with a child who is a natural speller. In fact, we have no plans to pick it up in the first place for that exact reason! We use copywork for mechanics, usage, and spelling, and I rarely see an error in dd's writing. I'm just not worried about it.