Spelling Wisdom guidance

HI, Pamela –

Here’s how we use the exercises: I print out the exercise and we look at it together to identify any words that the child is not certain she knows how to spell. If you’re “on level” there should be no more than about 3 or 4 words to study per exercise. The child studies those words either independently or with you, depending on how much guidance she needs. When she is certain she knows how to spell every word, you take the book and dictate the exercise a short phrase at a time and she writes it. Keep watch as she is writing and try to cover up any misspelled words with little Post-it notes. Hopefully, if she has studied, there will be none. If she does miss one, have her go back and write it correctly on the Post-it note. You can then use the index in the back of the book to find another exercise that uses the same word if you want to.

That’s the quick overview. It’s a lot like how we were taught spelling with lists, except this method uses a passage that contains a great idea instead of a list of unrelated words. Charlotte did dictation once or twice a week.

I think I would have her look at the word and copy it, to make sure she’s seeing it correctly. Then find another passage that includes that word for next time. A second option that comes to mind would be to help her study that word until she’s sure of it, then have her re-write it in its spot in the passage.

Copying the passage is one way of helping a child study it, yes. It’s nice to have options to work with however each child learns easiest. My two daughters who are doing dictation now learn best by looking at the words without writing them. They just want that mental picture of the words and they’re good to go. Some children will find that copying helps them learn the words; others might like to say the letters aloud as they look at the words. Use whatever tools work best with each child in the studying phase.

Right, SweetMarie. During the earlier grades the child is still cementing his decoding skills. He is also building up a mental storehouse of correctly-spelled words as he sees them in his reading, copywork, etc. So when he gets to the formal spelling/dictation lessons, there should be only 2-4 words per exercise that he doesn’t already know how to spell.

The skill that you’re trying to encourage is seeing how words are spelled as he reads. Once that skill is established, a person can continue learning to spell new words his whole life.

We love that Spelling Wisdom references some great literature, as well as quotes from famous people in history. We’ve had our curiosity sparked so many times just from passages out of SW!  In fact, all three of my kids have read a lot of Sherlock Holmes now as a result.  Fabulous!