Spelling for students to use idependently?

[TMarie]

What choices are there for student led spelling? I know of only 2 choices, but have no experience or personal recommendations for either: Phonetic Zoo, where the student listens to the words on audio, and Calvert Spelling CD.

Can anyone review those, or give other options? Any advice would be appreciated!

I need a program that does not depend upon me leading the kids through the lesson. Teacher time is precious here. Spelling always seems to get bumped to the end of the day and often doesn't happen. :blushing:
Sequential Spelling has not worked for us this year. It is completely teacher led.
Spelling Workout has turned out to be just busy work. It is only effective for us when I am available to give each child an independent spelling test, and give assignments to work on the missed words.

[Sue G in PA]

I can't give you a personal recommendation b/c I haven't used it yet. From the description and examples on the website it looks like it could be student led or at least semi-student led. I'm planning to use this WITH SWO next year b/c SWO seems to work "okay" for my dc, but I don't feel retention is great. Perhaps a different approach would be better. THere was a thread about Simply Spelling recently if you search the board.

[Ginger]

I just got my dd10 the Calvart Spelling CD(after several failures at spelling programs). This seems like it will be a hit. I got a year below grade level, and she did the first 4 lessons quiet quickly. She really seems to enjoy it.
It was only $25 compared to the cost of Phonetic Zoo, which is a lot more....so I think it would be worth it to try it out before investing in Phonetic Zoo.

[Lori D.]

Megawords is mostly independent. It is workbook based, teaching vowel patterns and syllabication patterns through a variety of exercises. Maybe once a week you as the parent need to dictate a list of syllables from the TM to the student. Megawords is also a great springboard for vocabulary, as the word lists introduce really good vocabulary words. Unlike Spelling Workout (which was just busywork here), the exercises in Megawords really help the student see the patterns and practice them.

Megawords is for grades 4-5 and up. It can be used as a stand alone spelling program or a supplement. We use it as supplement for our struggling speller, and it has helped greatly. See Sue's terrific and detailed description/review of Megawords in this thread:

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12868&highlight=megawords

BEST of luck in finding what works for your family! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Linda...inOwasso]

I highly recommend Simply Spelling. The book covers grades 3 - 12. Each lesson is planned for a school week. The student copies the same paragraph, poem, etc... for 4 days in a row. The student also does a short activity each day after the copywork. On Friday (or the 5th day), I dictate the entire passage to dd and she writes it without the model. We just started this program this year and dd is working at the 3rd grade level. She loves it AND she's doing very well.

Here's an example from 3rd grade Lesson 4 (which would be the 4th week):

Once I saw a little bird
Come hop, hop, hop;
So I cried, "Little bird,
Will you stop, stop, stop?"

Day 2: A final y (cry) when preceded by a consonant, is generally changed to i when a suffix is added to make a new word. Write: cry -- cried

I love it for so many reasons... not only is dd learning to spell well, but she's forced to pay attention to detail, proper written form, punctuation, handwriting, and dictation. The only time required of me is to briefly check that she copied the passage correctly and then to dictate it to her on Fridays.

[Tami]

and they seem to be working well. In addition, I have my dd copy from passages of choice a few times per week. Both are independent that just require a little oversight.

[Grace]

Ginger,
You mentioned you chose one level below grade level for the Calvert Spelling cd? I am curious is the Calvert CD is above grade level or it was just the best fit for your child. If I have an average 5th grader, should I use 5th or
4th?
Thanks.

[TMarie]

Thanks for the suggestions! The calvert cd sounds like a good choice for our family.

Should I order directly from Calvert or is there a better place to purchase it?
Are the workbooks necessary?