SWR problems

[HollyDay]

When my 6th grader hit list N wiht SWR and got completly stuck, I didnt think too much about it. Spelling has always been very difficult for her. After a time, we switched to MegaWords and she is progressing trhough that program.

But, now my 3rd grader who spells very well has hit list N and is having many troubles. She went from missing 1 or 2 words per list to missing half or more! Spelling used to be one of her favorites - it was quick and easy for her. She knows the phonograms and rules. In fact, she sometimes corrects big sister! But, list N has become a stumbling block. She is consistently testing at upper 4th grade in "The Red Book" spelling tests.

What now?? I love this program and would hate to abandon it. I thought we would take it all the way through the lists.

I always thought MegaWords was a "one-off" to get us back on track for SWR with 6th grader. But now I am not so sure. My oldest finished MegaWords book 1 this week and did very well on the test. She is much more confident with her spelling and is writing her essays easier. But, she is not showing much improvement with the SWR tests. we will start MegaWords Book 2 on Monday. I am beginning to think going back to SWR would be a mistake for her and I should just plan on doing all the MegaWords books instead.

Now what for 3rd grader?? It is like she has reached a wall. Perhaps she has and just needs more time reading and writing to progress farther in spelling. But, again, what do we use now?? I am planning for next year (7th and 4th) and seriously wondering what spelling to use

[KIN]

Holly,

I would advise continuing with SWR. I would ask this question on the SWR yahoo group. My advice is to keep pressing forward, but maybe slowing down just a bit. If you are doing 20 new words a week, slow down to 10. You will review these words completely again next year. That is the beauty of the program, you don't need to have complete mastery of the list the first time through, it will be reviewed again the next year.

Are you reviewing the phonograms frequently? Rule card review several times a week? Has she learned the new advanced phonograms? They are to learn the advanced phonograms by N-1. As I said, I really think you should keep pressing forward, slowing down a bit, quizzing daily, reviewing phonograms and rules frequently (maybe daily) until these seem to be solidifiying a bit more. Maybe she needs to study spelling words at another time, in the evening as homework? I always brought home my spelling words to practice at home. :) Just some thoughts, take it or leave it. :) HTH a bit!

[OhElizabeth]

The words are a lot harder at that point, and, not being as common, they're not getting reviewed as naturally in their everyday writing. I would just plow forward, knowing you're going to hit them again next year. Nuts, you're enough ahead you could go through those lists two more times if need be.

With my dd, we hit that same point (my dd is 3rd grade too) this year, where it was just all new again and more challenging, so I changed strategies. I'm not worried. Just move forward, knowing you'll repeat the words again next year.

[Peek a Boo]

....and while i *love* the concepts of SWR, if using Megawords worked well for one dd, then go ahead and try Megawords w/ your second dd! If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You should be very familiar w/ the phonograms, rules, and markings by now, so I would continue using those tools as you work through megawords. Your kids may very well need a break from one program, and you already know how to slip back in to SWR if you feel the need. I'd definitely KEEP the materials in case you want to go back to it, but feel free to keep it on the shelf as a resource. If you wanna try to keep plugging away "just in case" --that's great too!

good luck-

[kRenee]

Just wanted to let you know that as we have progressed through SWR I have had to slow things way down. In the very beginning we may have been able to do 20 words a week, but by the upper levels sometimes I didn't even do 1 new word a day! I do lots of review, missed words are practiced until mastery, and I also use word lists from the Spelling Workout series. My 2 kids have different fustration levels, but I try to give them 10-15 words per day, 8-10 that they would know how to spell, 4-5 that they should get right because we've been practicing them, and 1-2 new words that they miss.

Just today, my 6th grade dd got to word 2000 in SWR! But we are not done. I'll just back 200 words and give those for review and we're still working through the SWO lists.

[siloam]

Hmmmm...well I don't know if this is of any help, but I have noticed that both my kids seem to go through...sections where they get a lot wrong and sections where they get a lot right. It makes me wonder if SWR is either spiraling in tougher words, or is it that the kids figure it out? I don't know. Right now my oldest is in P, and the last half of O was not an issue at all, but now in P she was getting a lot wrong again, till list 4. Suddenly she got most of them right (though looking at the last quarter of the list, I bet some of those trip her up).

That said I do plan to move her to Megawords next year. Mostly because I need some of my time freed up to work with the younger dc and this girl is already pretty good at spelling.

Heather