Spelling Wisdom questions

I can tell you how we use it, but others will have ideas for you too.  We have done the studied dictation, but my kids seemed to do better in the long run if we copy it first.

So – we have a spiral notebook:  On the left side page they copy the lesson carefully and neatly.  Underneath that they write new/unfamiliar words they don’t know how to spell from that SW lesson.  We also go over some punctuation issues as necessary.  They spend time going over their unfamiliar words, trying to picture it in their minds.

The next day, on the right side page they do the dictation of that same passage.  (So one lesson is one double-page spread).  And since it is a spiral notebook, they can fold the book backwards so that they cannot see their copywork when we do the dictation.

Hope that helps.

-Tanya

In our house, the whole point is that they learn all the words in the passage by memorizing it through copywork, picking out the words they are uncomfortable with and practicing those.  Once they are feel that they are ready, we do dictation.  Mine are to remember the puncuation and capitols as well.  When they get a word wrong, we re-write it correctly and re-do the passage after additional study, b/c I have one dd with APD, so it takes some repetition.  If she is getting frustrated we either look in the index for another passage containing the word, or find one in our readings. The neat thing is that I reall hardly ever have to even look for an additional practice because we don’t dictate until we feel ready, usually after a week, sometimes two depending on the passage. 

The whole passage is our spelling “list”. At the beginning of the week, we go over the passage underline and talk about the words they don’t feel comfortable with. Then we pay special attention to punctuation. They copy the passage that day and the next. On the third day I dictate the passage. They are expected to get the whole passage correct; spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc…