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a reason for spelling?

post #1 of 6
12/23/09 at 3:15pm
Thread Starter 
use it? like it? hate it?

do i really need the teacher guide???

TIA.
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post #2 of 6
12/25/09 at 1:21am
My dd has a good phonics base and spelling comes very easy to her (as did me when I was younger.) So, I give her spelling words each week. One day I'll have her write a few in sentences or she has to look up a few, but mostly she plays on www.spellingcity.com. I don't currently test her on them.

Sorry. LOL. Not an answer to your question but I hth.
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post #3 of 6
12/26/09 at 10:49pm
My 3rd grader is NOT a good speller. He's not a phonetic reader/speller, so he's memorizing and applying spelling "rules" instead of sounding out - he cannot figure out how to spell a word by listening to it. So we do have a spelling curriculum. I do not have a parent guide since the spelling list is right there in the book and the explanation of the rules as well. By rules I mean the language/grammar rules of long and short vowels, digraphs, vowel combos, etc.

We use Spelling Workout for grade 3, he does two lessons per week. I do not quiz him in written form but at the end of each lesson I do ask him to use 5 of the spelling words verbally in a sentence and I have him write 3 times any word I know he had trouble with in the lesson itself. He really likes it, each lesson has 4 pages or so and it takes him less than 30 minutes, on his own.
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post #4 of 6
12/26/09 at 11:01pm
I'm assuming you're asking about the actual curriculum, A Reason for Spelling. We used it and didn't care for it.
1. It was EXTREMELY repetitive. The exercises were pretty much the same, day after day, month after month, grade after grade.

2. The teacher guide stories were extremely dark-- alcoholism, divorce, spiritual crisis. It was like these kids were in some kind of bizarre Christian soap opera.

3. I don't think you HAVE to use the teacher guide, but it has the vocab exercises and a few things that make it a little more interesting.

We stopped using it this year and went with Catholic Heritage Curriculum's spelling instead.
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post #5 of 6
12/27/09 at 5:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by annettemarie View Post
I'm assuming you're asking about the actual curriculum, A Reason for Spelling.
yes. i'm sorry, i thought i was clear. i am specifically asking about "a reason for spelling". the reviews i've found are really excellent, so i was hoping to read some input a little less partial to the curriculum, so i know what the cons are. thanks annette marie for sharing your experience with the program. it's helpful to read what the drawbacks are.
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post #6 of 6
12/27/09 at 6:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdavis337 View Post
We use Spelling Workout for grade 3, he does two lessons per week. I do not quiz him in written form but at the end of each lesson I do ask him to use 5 of the spelling words verbally in a sentence and I have him write 3 times any word I know he had trouble with in the lesson itself. He really likes it, each lesson has 4 pages or so and it takes him less than 30 minutes, on his own.
thanks for your thoughts. i've read mixed reviews about spelling workout, so it's nice to read how it works for your ds.

forsanda, we also enjoy spellingcity. thanks for your input as well
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