What spelling book have you found works well for your DC?

[momtolgd]

We have been using SWO and ETC with DS age 7...not sure if I want to continue with SWO though because he doesn't seem to retain the spelling words past taking the test. Or is this a common occurance and should we just keep plugging along?

Can you tell me what you use and why you like it? Thanks.

[King Alfred Academy]

I was having the same issues with my ds6 (although we were not using ETC). He reads at a very high level, yet not a great speller. I really like All About Spelling' (http://all-about-spelling.com)s approach. It's phonics based (auditory) and uses letter tiles (visual and kinesthetic) to reinforce the concepts learned. Granted, we are only a few lessons in, but I have that motherly feeling this is going to work well for us. Wouldn't hurt to check it out. Maybe it'll be the right fit for you as well!

Happy Homeschooling!

[hsmamainva]

Natural Speller

A book of spelling lists, divided up by spelling rule / phonetic rule.

There are lists for grades 2-8 in this one book.

It's been wonderful for my boys!!

[GVA]

We run a bit more streamlined that most, but I delay spelling until they've finished phonics and are reading easy chapter books. At that point they seem more ready and able to take on spelling IMHO. I've used both R&S and SWO, and have been pleased with both. We're using SWO now because I prefer their workbooks.

[Sandi_NC]

We've had great success with Building Spelling Skills (BSS) from CLP. We have used a bit of R&S and Spelling Power in the past, but by far, we've had the most success with BSS. My ds is 9 and my dd is 8 and they are both using a combo of ETC and BSS. My dd is a strong speller and BSS challenges her but is also a great confidence booster for her. My ds is a poor speller and BSS helps him by giving him a lot of practice but it's not overwhelming. BSS breaks each lesson into 5 daily activities and ends the week with a spelling test.

I usually give them their spelling tests myself (only takes a few minutes) but if I'm running short on time, I will read the spelling words into a tape recorder and when they are ready for their test, all they have to do is put on their head phones and listen to the tape I made.

HTH,
Sandi

[OH Lori]

We started out using SWO but I got sick of buying the workbooks. We switched to Spelling Power. With the younger ones, I'd do things like having them trace the words out in pans of rice or flour or something like that as an additional kinesthetic way to get them into their little brains. Also, allowing them to write the words on the bathroom mirrors or refrigerator in dry erase marker or in the tub with tub crayons is fun. :)

[Jenn in Mo]

We're using AVKO's Sequential Spelling (http://www.avko.org/sequentialspelling.html)and I LOVE it! I tried Rod & Staff, Spelling Power, Natural Speller, and....something else, I don't remember what. Anyway, none of it worked for my kids. They are both very good readers and I'd always read that if you give them good books to read, they will automatically assimilate the spelling, which is true for 'natural spellers'. However, only 30% of the population are natural spellers (according to some conference I went to in hopes of fixing this area.)

Someone here recommended Sequential Spelling and I am so glad they did. I have a 5th grader and a 2nd grader and they have improved by leaps and bounds since we started this. I just started them on the same lessons together and we stay on words till we've got 'em. The website give sample lessons that let you print out 2 weeks worth of spelling to give them a shot. The first lesson tells you to have the student spell the word "beginning" which was a hoot for my house. But they build on words very well, starting with "in" and "be" and "begin" and by the end of the sample lessons, my kids could easily spell beginning. I ordered the material immediately after that!

[scottie]

Sequential spelling is working very well for my poor speller - no rules to remember, just the general pattern. They start with a word like all then it goes to tall/ stall/ install/ installed/ installing etc. adding prefixes and suffixes to a root.
Sandra.

[OnTheBrink]

Dd is a natural speller so I just picked up a Spectrum Spelling workbook at B&N. She likes it a lot and it gets the job done.

[Zelda]

We're using SWO and I am starting to notice an improvement in my daughter's spelling in her work. She's always done well on the tests but then didn't seem to carry it over before. I'm wondering if part of it is getting away from the "guess and go" spelling she was taught to do in school.

I like SWO and will stick with it.

[amanda]

We are using SWO with our 7yo dd. She does 3 lessons a week with a test on Friday. It is becoming more busy work than I would like. We are currently looking for a new program as well.

[Rhonda@LivingWater]

I like the fact that one book covers grades 1-8 and I have found it very easy to use. I also like the way it is set up into spelling families.
HTH!

[profmom]

R & S works well here, but spelling seems to come easy for my kids. I spent extra time researching spelling curricula last summer and chose one that takes more daily involvement from me. (Nothing was broken, but I wondered if I needed to put more emphasis on spelling since we're judged so much by our ability to spell as adults.)

The new program wasn't getting done because of needing me to do it, and we ended up going back to R & S. I like having the kids do the pages (working with the week's words) independently and focusing my time on teaching on other subjects (math, writing, Greek, etc.)

So, just a note to say to consider how much time you want to spend teaching spelling each day, especially if your dc don't struggle with spelling.

[Rebecca in GA]

Another vote for Sequential Spelling. However, we also take words from our readings to use for impromptu quizzes at the dinner table, in the car or wherever. My kiddos love to play games like that.

[Michelle T]

It's specifically designed for dyslexic kids, although I'm sure it would be excellent for any poor speller.
Michelle T

[Mrs. Readsalot]

We have used lots of spelling programs and Sequential Spelling is the only one we have continued with for over a year. We are now on book 5 and it is working great for my ds.

[Lori D.]

7yo can be young for spelling. Also, our experience was that Spelling Workout was just "busy work", and our average speller son retained nothing from it the year we used it with him. We also tried Spelling Power, but that didn't work for us either. Just our experience, but both SWO and SP seem to be geared for "natural spellers" -- and neither of our sons fit that category.

Also, boys often mature later in the language arts area than girls, so many homeschoolers don't even start spelling with their students until about 3rd grade. One of my sons is very delayed in spelling and writing, and spelling, no matter what we used, just did not start to click for him until the part of his brain that processes spelling started to mature at about age 12. So, sometimes, patience and waiting for the child to mature into the subject plays into this as well.

While we haven't used either of the following, I've been hearing good things about both of the following spelling programs:

- All About Spelling (AAS)
Gentle, grade-by-grade program, requires a bit more from mom than SWO, but is not mom intensive. It is a fairly new program, so no long-term results yet, but a number of moms on this board have switched to AAS in the past 2 years and are extremely happy with the results. AAS is still in progress, with spelling levels for gr. 1-4, and with more of the higher grade levels expected to be published each year. (Grade 4 was just made available this month, I believe.)

- Spell to Write and Read (SWR), a lot of people here find it very effective. It focuses on phonetics and spelling patterns; it is a more formal program and does require more "mom time" than Spelling Workout. It is not so much by grade level but the student advances through the program as they learn the spelling patterns.


Another thought is to just focus on the phonics, play around with basic "word family" words (ex: can, than, fan, etc.; or big, pig, twig, etc.) from Natural Speller or from his reading; and nail down those "Dolch sight words" for his grade level. (Here's a link to an article on Dolch sight words: http://specialed.about.com/od/literacy/a/dolch.htm -- click on the links in the article to find the lists of the actual words in the Dolch list.) Best of luck! 7yo is young, so you have lots of time for the spelling to "stick". : )Warmly, Lori D.

[Melissa in CA]

We're using AVKO's Sequential Spelling (http://www.avko.org/sequentialspelling.html)and I LOVE it!

Same here! Such a simple yet effective approach to spelling. Not sure what age it is recommended for, but we are using it in 5th grade with wonderful success.

[angela in ohio]

That's still a young age to be retaining much spelling. Give it time and keep plugging away at SWO. :) At an older age, you can have him write sentences for the words; that really seems to help. Mostly, though, just time will improve this.

[stephanie]

My ds9 loved sequential spelling. He used to dread spelling, but began to look forward to it when we did sequential spelling. We now use SWO and it's working. HTH!

[ArwenA]

DD 9 really likes SWO. She's always been good at spelling but still really likes it. My younger two are doing ETC.

[susie in tx]

My eldest rarely spells anything wrong. She never has. I thought about using natural speller with her, but realized that I really didn't need to. She almost always spells their incorrectly. If she happens to misspell a word in her writing, I have her write it correctly twice.

My 9 yo has a lot of trouble spelling. She learned to read on her own, and I think that not learning phonics is a big reason that she's not a great speller. She also mispronounces many words when she is reading out loud. I have her working through All About Spelling (http://www.all-about-spelling.com). I had originally planned to use SWR, but I just can't get it together to use it on a consistent basis. AAS is much more pick up and go and it accomplishes the goals I have for spelling.

My 6 yo is also using AAS. We're loosely using it as a reading program, along with Bob books and an Abeka 1 Reader I found at half price books.

[susie in tx]

AAS is still in progress, with spelling levels for gr. 1-4, and with more of the higher grade levels expected to be published each year. (Grade 4 was just made available this month, I believe.)


Level 3 just came out this month and I received it yesterday. I've just scanned it, but I love what I see in it. Actually, there is very little in any of the levels that I don't like. The author responds personally to emails and is very receptive to helping parents with their children. The current plan, from the website, is to have a new level out every 6 months until completion. I can't remember where I heard it from, but I thought I read/heard that after the spelling program is completed the author plans to write a learn to read program.

This will be fantastic and I hope it's done in time to reach my 4 yo. Though, I doubt it. :(

[Crissy]

We have always used Rod and Staff (http://www.rodstaff.com/cgi-bin/ras/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=thispage&thispage=spelling.html&ORDER_ID=923872893).

[Leslie in TN]

Can you tell me what you use and why you like it? Thanks.

We've been using Simply Spelling (by Shoelace Books) for over a year now.. it uses the copywork and studied dictation method. Each day there is a spelling or grammar rule to review that is taken from that week's passage/poem/quotation. Spelling time takes about 10 min on Monday to copy the passage, then less than 5 minutes to review the rule and "study" the difficult words in the selection (my dds do this independently). Then I'll give them the dictation of the passage on Friday.

I have seen amazing growth in both their spelling ability and attention to detail from using this program. It is non-consumable and one book can be used from 3rd-high school.

We've used everything from Spelling Power, SWO, Sequential Spelling.. this is the first program that has shown me great results; the fact that it is not parent-intensive is a great bonus.

:)

[LizzyBee]

Calvert Spelling on CD

Elizabeth B. in NC

[mcconnellboys]

I found that my younger son had difficulty retaining words long-term when he was that age. Now that he's almost 10 and we're in SWO level F, he's becoming a pro.

Regena

[4pillars]

We just started using Spelling Wisdom. It is still too new to see results.
Jen

[momtolgd]

Thank you all...you have given me a lot to look into and consider.

[Rhondabee]

I love Rod & Staff Spelling by Sound and Structure.

It has a workbook that basically teaches the phonemes (or sounds) step by step, just as if it were a teacher walking them through the steps. It teaches how to use similar sounds to build other words. It teaches exceptions, homophones, and how to add suffixes and prefixes correctly. And, it teaches dictionary skills.

There are not as many words in the "official list" as SWO for 3rd and 4th grades, but there are more words in the lesson than *just* the words in the list. It is using the list words to teach how to build LOTS of other words.

[JenneinAZ]

We are using Spelling Success, a book I got a teacher supply store. It is working for my son. We just finished book 2 and will be starting book 3 next week.

http://www.didax.com/shop/productdetails.cfm/SubjectID/2/TopicID/19/Sort/Item/Order/Asc/StartRow/21/ShowAll/No/ItemNo/2-5151.cfm

[Faith]

Spelling Power for us.

[Amy loves Bud]

We use Spelling Power and love it. It's very straight forward and they don't have to spend a ton of time on what they already know. Paula's Archives has a lot of good information and tips on using Spelling Power.

[Trivium Academy]

Spelling Workout is the only spelling program we've used and I'm very happy with it b/c of all the activities which allow skill practice in other areas. It is manageable within our day and if retention of the words/rules is a priority then I suggest teaching study skills with flashcards. My dd7 loves to have the words on flashcards to flip through each day and say the word, spell the word and say it again.

This is one area that we're following the WTM suggestions.

[janainaz]

I have used SWO from A-C and we are starting D. My son is a natural speller. Personally, I believe if you have a child that is a natural speller, it really does not matter too much what you use as long as it is phonics-based. As for a child that is not a natural speller, I'm not sure how this curriculum would work.

This is how we break down the lessons:
Monday my son does the workbook lesson (which includes an oral pretest). Tuesday he does the writing assigment for that lesson (which incorporates the spelling words for that week), Wednesday we do a written spelling quiz (he writes the missed words 5 times each) and Thursday we do a final spelling test. If he has trouble with any of the words after the test, we stick on that list, reviewing the spelling rule (listed under the "Pep Talk" section) until he has the complete list mastered.