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Not Sure About Dication as a Pure Means to Teach Spelling?
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I’m more of a phonics type person and although I know CM indicated that dictation worked to teach spelling, I have some questions and for encouragement, I would like to hear from some of the veterans who have used dictation to teach spelling.
Have you noticed an increase in spelling skills after using dictation?
Do you or how do you teach the student spelling rules while using dictation?
I feel nervous about teaching this particular method to my dd’s (5th/7th). I’m concerned that If I go this route and my children have poor spelling skills when they get older, I would have missed my chance to help or solidify their spelling skills.
Both my dd’s have learned to read in PS and we did 1-1/2 yrs of intensive phonics/spelling rules, but my 7th grader is not strong in spelling and my 5th grader still needs practice. I guess I don’t want to lose any time since I feel that I’ve jumped around a bit the last three years of homeschooling. I hope I’m making sense.
Any help would be greatly appreciated! God bless!
I really appreciate dictation as I see my kids using the method to lock in words as they read. My 11 year old has developed a photographic memory for spelling through consistent dictation.
Yes, absolutely I have noticed dramatic increases in spelling skills after using dictation. My kids were always relatively good spellers, but I have really noticed an increased confidence and they almost never make mistakes now.
Dictation is the vehicle, but you can use different STRATEGIES to help your students with the spelling. One of these is definitely phonics/spelling rules, although I find that the higher up the student goes, the least useful this particular tool becomes–the words they need help with then often are more suited to other ways of working on them. We also make use of visual memorization of words, and word analysis looking at the origin and meaning of the word. It can be of immense value to know whether a given word is from Greek, or Latin, or French . . . this has become a favorite tool around here, and one that spelling bee competitors make use of. I also point out other words that might be spelled similarly to the word we are studying in the passage, and point out frequent mistakes (I have an especial dislike of the mixing up of similar words like “accept” and “except” or “affect” and “effect” and I probably mention all that more than I need to. On the other hand, it seems to be working because I rarely see these errors in their work)
We have used dication with one daughter, with great success, but my other daughter was unable to take dication due to motor skill issues and her physician stated she should not be made to do dictation as it was way too taxing and tiring for her. What we did with this daughter was study roots, among other things and fortunately for us she is a natural speller – so she has done well. Both daughters are spending more time on roots from all languages and that is really helping with the words that are expected in senior high and beyond. I like and appreciate both methods therefore – and have had success with both. I would give dictation a try, it is a great tool for attention to detail, spelling and being accountable for the standard of their own work. Linda
I have another question. I see a couple of you study “root words.” Can you give some practical ways to include root word studies after a dictation and do you use any particular program, e.g., English from the Roots Up?
Thanks!
We have used English from the Roots Up, and Rummy Roots and we are now using Roots and Fruits by Jill J. Dixon. This course is in downloadable ebook form and is interesting in that it uses English forms of Greek and Latin Roots and Prefixes for grades K -12. Her website is http://www.edudps.com we have only just started using this and are finding it a nice change from the other programs. There is a sample you can download as well if you like. We have liked them all, but this one is simple and takes about 15 minutes a day. I am quite impressed with it. We have also used her writing program from the same website – Write with the Best vol 1 and 2 – which we also enjoyed in HS for a change in pace. I am sure others have favorite programs they use to teach roots etc. I cannot remember the program I used a long time ago, it had more than just Latin and Greek roots, it covered French and other language roots as well – if I remember the name I will post it. We just pretty much spent about 15 minutes a day or every other day with the roots and the girls found them fun, so it went very well. Since using the roots lessons in various forms the girls vocabulary has really improved in a huge way, and they have made huge strides in the words they use in their writing. So I am a fan of both dictation and learning roots etc.
We study word origins and meanings but we don’t really do a roots program per se. We do study Latin, and so we pick up all that as we go. We invested in an excellent dictionary with word origins and examples of use, and we rely heavily on that. We fiddle around with Greek when we run across an interesting word–we just look up stuff on the internet. We study French too, at least son #1, so we pick those derivations too as we go.
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