Spelling

[Janelless]

I'd like to start dd on spelling next year (she'll be 6 in April). She's reading several levels ahead, catches onto math way quick and has spelled words already that floored dh and I. I heard about All About Spelling, but read that if your child is a good speller it will be boring for them. What other spelling programs are out there for advanced kids? Her motor skills haven't caught up with the rest of her skills yet...so nothing writing intensive or maybe something I can have her do her letter magnets with. Any suggestions?!

Thanks
Janelle

[LisaDSB]

Spelling Power is good because you can test them into the level where they should be (rather than keep them at grade level). The program includes large motor writing (they have to use a piece of sandpaper and trace the word) which I know Montessori uses for learning letters when the fine motor skills aren't there.

[Lori Di]

Has anyone heard of the program Word Journeys by Kathy Ganske?

I am looking into this program and would like some feedback from anyone that has used this program.

[Karin]

Spelling Power is great for natural spellers, but not so great for gifted dc who aren't good at spelling.

[nitascool]

First we use Phonics Pathways as a spelling book in K once they've finished learning to read with it. I do all the words orally with them. Having them write any words that they consistently miss. When they finish with this about 1/2 through 1st grade we begin Sequential Spelling.

With a 1st grader I would cut the list in half and do book 1 in two years unless she is exceptionally good at spelling and extremely patient (I've got wiggle bug boys).

It starts our easy and gets more difficult fairly quickly. With my reluctant writer we did the words orally (with Scrabble letters to help, did you know you can get the letters in lowercase?). If you are one of those fill in the blank, don't leave anything blank kind of teachers, you could act as scribe for your dd.

So I would say the list words from say list 9: up, cup, pup, sup, good, wood, stood, could, would, food, mood, brood, out, shout, bout, lout, clout, flout, pout, spout, rout, grout, route, should, eye. And he would spell each word orally. List 9-16 are all the same words with variations such as, ups, upper, pups, puppy, puppy's, puppies, etc. I then have him do list 16 the last list of the sequence written. If he misses any we go back and do just those missed words and their variations. It takes about 5 min. to do each lesson and I like that my children can spell words orally (I have to write words down to "see" if they look right).

Every once in a while we'll come across a word that he doesn't know and that is a perfect time to work on our dictionary skills. We do this together in 1st, but by 3rd they are on their own. I don't have them write it down because it can become frustrating... besides I don't find myself doing this when I look up a word. Some time later in the week we'll discuss the word and use it in our sentence game. We build silly sentences using new words we know. Our most recent: "A dripping diaper is the method whereby we learn to correctly channel our urine". :lol: That's a direct quote from my 5yo. Hope this helps.

[Jen in PA]

We like Calvert Spelling. DD works ahead of grade level on most things but can't handle large amounts of writing, and Calvert is all typing. Students are pre-tested and only work on the words they miss. I love that it's something she can do independently -- I just work on something nearby and try to pay attention if I see a pattern to her errors.