MCP Plaid Phonics or Spelling Workout?

[JudoMom]

Ds6 is reading well. He's working through HOP's Master Reader, and will attempt to read anything (he's got fairly good comprehension), but when he reads aloud to me I notice that some of the harder words he mispronounces or mumbles/glosses over and keeps on going. He's been doing ETC (he's halfway through 5), but doesn't like it anymore so we're dropping it. The reading and answering questions aren't challenging to him, but the spelling portion (in at least the past 2 books) has confounded him (he can spell 3/4 letter words without much trouble, but anything beyond that is interesting, to say the least).

I'm trying to decide if I should just move on to Spelling Workout (A or B?) with him or if I should go with Plaid Phonics C.

[Ellie]

Neither. I'm thinking AlphaPhonics, which is stronger phonics than Plaid Phonics, would be better. Actually, Spalding (WRTR) would be best, but AlphaPhonics is good :-)

[JudoMom]

Neither. I'm thinking AlphaPhonics, which is stronger phonics than Plaid Phonics, would be better. Actually, Spalding (WRTR) would be best, but AlphaPhonics is good :-)

It needs to be in workbook form, and something he can do mostly independently :001_smile:. We've already done much of Phonics Pathways.

[gamommy]

I use a combo of MCP Plaid Phonics and AVKO sequential spelling (the latter at a slowed down pace). I think we're getting good results with my almost 7yo 1st grader.

[Chris in VA]

Definitely not A--Spelling Workout A would be way too easy. Check out B or even C. I added in Adventures in Phonics (got it from WP)--it isn't secular, if that's an issue for you. It challenged dd and gave her review at the same time. I thought it was excellent. We used MCPlaid A for a while in 1st grade, but she rocketed ahead and I dropped it. I found AiP really helped her with the spelling rules, and with syllabication and other things. It's great.

[swellmomma]

We use both of these products with the kids. They get totally different things out of them. The phonics books switch to word study after book C (which is considered 3rd grade level). IF you are going with these books I would start at book B based on what you have said here for both products. The spelling book B is not that hard, but even my big kids enjoy it because it is reinforcing words they knew, or in the case of my dd helping learn them the first time (she is an aweful speller). We do se sequential spelling as well, which is a great program, but my dd needed more remedial work, and ds got jealous of her workbook so he got one too.

We started using plaid phonic when I started hsing the kids because that is what they were using in ps, and they enjoyed it and were learning lots from it.