MCP Phonics

[Wee Pip]

Ok, so I'm an MCP Phonics moron:) Please enlighten me...

MCP Phonics C - 3rd grade phonics & it looks like other stuff too - homonyms, antonyms, synonyms, dictionary skills - Does it have spelling in it or would one need spelling? Does it have Grammar, or does one need grammar? Does it have writing?

I'm trying to find all the books I need for next year that covers everything - but so far it looks like everything lacks...something! MCP Phonics looks kinda neat, but I'm wondering what I would need to go along with it. And, is it worth it for 3rd gr? Dd currently reads at an average 2nd gr level (easy easy short chapter books with lots of pictures). Phonics review wouldn't hurt, and I'm interested in the other stuff included (dictionary skills, prefixes, suffixes, etc. - things that I'm not sure if they are covered in other books I'm looking at). Just wanting to cover all the bases! TIA!

[Trivium Academy]

Would you get the Teacher Book? MCP Phonics Teacher's book is very $$. Spelling Workout covers dictionary skills, prefixes, suffixes, SWO C & D covers them. Did she use the ETC books? Maybe pick up books 4-8 (we're doing this) and work through them, you don't need the TMs.

[Wee Pip]

We're using Spelling Workout B this year, & I'm guessing we'll use C next year. I glanced thru SWO B & they have a 1 page ditty about Dictionary Skills at the end (& a spelling dictionary in the back) but no real activities or anything, so I'm wondering how much dictionary skills they are supposed to get at that age? See, that's my problem...I end up overdoing it because I think we need it and then I find out that in public schools, the teacher spends about 10 mins on one day covering a topic and says, "there, we covered it". If we used MCP, I would not get the TM (I'm going for cheap, here). She did not use ETC - every year I pick up SWR & attempt to make it work & then we ditch it after 2-3mos, so that has been our "phonics". I'm just now starting to realize how much I like cheap workbooks (and I'm probably going overboard).

[Trivium Academy]

You can incorporate dictionary skills with SWO C, you can have her look up her words and write their definitions at the beginning of the week. What I've done to cover dictionary skills is to have my dd look up words when she asks me what it means, of course I taught her how to use the dictionary first. You can also incorporate dictionary skills in science, history, and any other subject because there are new terms being introduced all the time.

[Laura in STL]

I used MCP phonics A and B for ds when he was in K/1st. We skipped C because it seemed like there was a lot of repetition and ds was doing well. We are using D now (in 2nd), which is called word study. It is not a spelling program, so for 3rd grade you would probably need something else for that. I never have used the TM. It is pretty easy to implement. We don't use every exercise, I just pick the ones that we need. I tend to skip any creative writing/reading comprehension, because we cover that with dictation and narration instead. I find that even though ds is an above average reader, it helps to review the phonics. I see him using these skills when he writes as well as during reading. HTH!

Laura