Name: Teach Them Diligently (Branson)
Start: 2025-05-15T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-17T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Branson, MO

This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 10 months ago by Jennifer.

Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

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June 25, 2011 at 8:02 pm
amypixie
Member
As we approach 4th grade I see that my 9yo needs a lot of help in the realm of spelling and writing (composing sentences together in an essay format, journalling, etc). I started grammar this year with some spelling but now that we are incorporating CM I’m wondering what is recommended to improve these skills. What makes it tough for me is that writing/spelling came very easy and naturally to me as a child. I was so far ahead of where he is now and since I didn’t struggle with it I’m not sure how to help him learn it.
So is there some kind of boxed curriculum for spelling and writing or do you just hope that with narration practice they will get it down. It is bewildering to me because he is an avid and advanced reader much like I was at that age but for some reason his spelling is still atrocious, despite all the reading.
June 25, 2011 at 9:13 pm
suzukimom
Participant
Have you looked at Spelling Wisdom? It is a product from SCM. I haven’t tried it yet, as my kids are younger, but it looks great!
June 25, 2011 at 9:22 pm
amypixie
Member
Thanks for the suggestion. I did just stumble upon that one. Now is this simply dictation exercises or is there more to it? The reason I ask is because one of the core curriculums I’m looking at already has dictation/copywork exercises.
June 25, 2011 at 10:04 pm
AussieMummy
Participant
In our house we use Spelling Wisdom for dictation and the majority of our English/LA. However, I’ll admit we’re also using SpellWell for my poor speller. He’s noticed how poor of a speller he is and while he’s made vast improvement since starting Spelling Wisdom, I thought that a year of SpellWell might give him a boost in confidence.
I also decided to add in a form of PLL that’s Australian so we can have exposure to Australian poems and art. 🙂
June 25, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Jennifer
Member
I, too, have a struggling speller. He is 9 years old, articulate, just finished reading the Narnia series, etc, but he is a horrible speller. All that said, he is improving as of just recently. Here’s what I’m doing:
Copy-work
Dictation (Our Spelling Wisdom is in the mail, I’m very excited because I think it’s just what he needs right now)
A spelling book. But I do not push through the spelling book. Have you ever heard of the Phonetic Zoo? A friend of mine purchased it for her struggling speller who is much older. After checking out the program I decided to implement it in my own way. What the program does in a nutshell is give the child a list of words, the same list of words, every day until they get a 100% twice. I use the spelling book a few times a week and have him do the lessons, but then I DO NOT go ahead and test and move to the next lesson. I pause in the book, and continue to give him the same list over and over each day until he gets 100% twice. But here’s another thing. You don’t just read the word, have him write it and move on. You read the word, he spells the word on his paper, and when he’s ready I spell the word out loud and he copies it down correctly. Whether he has it correct or not, he copies down the word as I spell it to him. Yes, it has taken a long time to get past a section in the spelling book at times, but he IS improving. He’s just a kid who needs the repetition.
So it looks like:
I say, “radio…The boy turned on his radio”. (He spells the word). Then I say, “Radio…R-A-D-I-O” (He writes the word again) So he has two columns of identical words on his paper at the end of the ‘test.’
I realize this isn’t CM. While my oldest is great with copy-work, dictation, etc, this particular child needs the copy work, dictation, and a little extra help. This seems to be giving us some improvement.