Can anyone tell me about Megawords?

[Stacey in MD]

Hi,

I am trying to find a better spelling program for next year for my soon-to-be 4th grade ds. He is currently using A Beka and it is just seeming like busy work, as he is not challenged at all. I was considering Spelling Workout, but I'm afraid it will just be more busy work.

I've been reading the recent thread where everyone was listing their hits and misses for curriculum this year and saw Megawords on the hits several times. So can anyone give me their review or experiences with Megawords?

Thank you so much!

Stacey

[chai]

I'm curious about this too.

[HollyDay]

I'll tell you what I can. We started MegaWords this year. IT is a series of workbooks, and yes, you do need the TM. You give a placement test at the beginning of the book to determine where the weaknesses are so you will know which lists to do. Each list has about 10 lessons. Some are independent, some require teacher participation. I am told most folks do 2 books a year and that is what we are doing this year. I do plan on doing the program next year. It is a very "technical" approach to spelling. It breaks the words down into different patterns and combinations. It is not a phonogram type thing like SWR (which we also use). Book 2 is all about suffix and prefix rules which builds on words from book 1. You can see some samples at cbd.com I think it has really helped my dd. She is spelling better than she was at the beginning of the year. It is however, very workbooky. If you want something not so workbooky, you might consider SWR. It is not as hard as it looks!

[Sue in St Pete]

We have used Megawords 1, 2, and 3 starting in 5th grade. It took us 2 months to complete Megawords 1, 2 ½ months to complete Megawords 2, and 3 months to complete Megawords 3. We generally did 4-5 pages a week. He tested out of a lot of the reading, so we skipped a bunch.

Megawords 1 focuses on the different types of syllables and syllabication rules. Different types of syllables include:
- closed syllables have a short vowel sound and end in a consonant (ex. sub)
- open syllables end in a vowel, usually long (ex. re)
- silent-e syllables have a vowel followed by a consonant followed by an e which makes the preceding vowel long (ex. mune)
- etc.

Different syllabication rules show how to divide up words:
- VC/CV divide between the consonants (ex. puppet)
- V/CV divide after a long vowel (ex. human)
- VC/V divide divide after a closed vowel (ex. rapid)
- Etc

Megawords 2 focuses on prefixes and suffixes. It points out the meaning, many from Latin, of prefixes and even gives the Latin for some root words so that the students can figure out the meaning of different words (ex. transport = across+carry). It teaches the rules for adding suffixes (no change, double a consonant, drop the e, and y rule).

Megawords 3 focuses on the schwa sound, which is a vowel sound that sounds like the letter u in up. It can be made by any vowel. Ex. final, silent, animal.

The books work on a list of words that are grouped together in some way. There are around 15 pages for each list that cover reading, spelling, and vocabulary. There is a variety of activities to help the student learn how to break up and read or spell or determine the meaning of the words in the list.

At the start of the book, the parent gives a pre-test which helps to determine which lists need attention for reading and/or spelling. This is nice because you can focus on the pages that your child needs work on and you can skip the pages that your child has already mastered. At the end of each list, you can test your child to determine if they have mastered the material or not. At the end of the book, the pre-test can be used as a post-test.

I have been happy with the Megawords series and plan to continue with it. I like the pre-test and post-test and the variety of activities. It is easy to follow and it is not an overwhelming amount of work. My son has made steady progress in spelling. Here is my experience with testing. In FL, homeschooled children have to be evaluated once a year. My son took the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement in the middle of Megawords 2 (at what was the late fall of 5th grade) and scored 4.8 grade level. He took it again 6 months after we completed Megawords 3 (at what was the fall of 6th grade) and scored 6.1 grade level.

Sometimes, people ask if the teacher’s book is necessary. For me, it is completely worth it. It has the pre-test and post-test. It has which pages correspond to reading, spelling, and/or meaning which helps to streamline the work that needs to be done. It has some words that you have to dictate to the student for the odd worksheet. And, it has the answers to every page.

I just have to use the new smiles now :lurk5:

[Stacey in MD]

for all of the time taken to let me know about this curriculum. I think it seems like it would be a good fit for my son.:hurray:

Thanks again!

Stacey