Spelling- by rules or word families?

[MissRubyandKen]

I'm trying to decide what approach I'd like to use for Spelling for next school year. My kids are 8 and 10 and we haven't done any 'formal' spelling instruction. They both spell well. I bought Sequential Spelling Level 1 and the Spelling Power book used (luckily!). Spelling Power insists teaching by spelling rules is the way to go. Sequential Spelling works by word families. Here's my thing, I think spelling is mostly memorization from reading the word, using the word, writing the word. I wonder if focusing on the rules might be confusing. Here's this sound and five different ways to spell this sound. Then you need to remember a list of words with some of each of the five examples of how to spell that sound and which word is spelled which way even though they all sound the same. I'm leaning towards using Sequential Spelling as our main lessons and introducing the rules from Spelling power on the side. Any thoughts? Which way do you do it? Have you tried both and prefer one or the other?

[MyLittleWonders]

We use AAS, which teaches the phonograms and the rules for usage (as well as the syllable rules). Personally, I am very happy with it - they aren't memorizing lists of words, just the general rules, so when they are stuck, I can simple say, "What is the rule for doubling "f", "l", or "s"?" or ask them to decide how many syllables are in the word, and think about whether they are open or closed. There seems to be far less rules than word families (at least at this point in time), and at least with my older two, it has definitely carried over into reading (especially multi-syllable words). Just my two cents.

[One_Girl]

I am teaching spelling by rules and it makes a lot more sense to me than memorizing a list of words. There are exceptions to the rules and dd learns some of them along with the rule, but the rules have helped her in spelling a lot.

[MissRubyandKen]

So for an example from Spelling Power-

/a/- long a(sorry can't put a line over it) can be written ay, ai, ey, ei, eigh, ea, or a followed by a consonant and silent e.

words-

they
play
came
day
sprain
away
way
baby
made
make
great
rain
grade
same
wait

Is this how AAS introduces rules as well or does it focus on one way to make the sound at a time and build upon it?

An example from Sequential Spelling by word family-

3rd day

thin
pinned
sinned
I
shin
skins
wins
twins
be
begin
chin
she

4th day

thins
pinning
sinning
spinning
shins
skinned
winning
inner
begins
chins
we
wee
bee
see
tree


Both programs have the student correct any mistakes right away. I like that idea a lot. I'm pretty sure following Spelling Power as recommended would be too much as far as the ten step study approach. I do think it is a good idea for me to introduce the concept of spelling rules. I'm not sure if I would like to do this as a group like Spelling Power does or one sound at a time, one spelling possibility at a time and then building upon it. Either way, by word family or rule, aren't you just memorizing a list of words, or recognizing a list of words?

[MyLittleWonders]

AAS tends to focus on one rule/phonogram at a time (for instance, the rule of doubling certain letters at the end of short-vowel, single-syllable words, or the use of "dge" versus "ge" at the end of words). Then there is a list of words to spell with tiles and/or spell on paper (we haven't been using the tiles at all; my boys use a small white board for their words and sentences). Then there are sentences for dictation that use words from that lesson, plus words from all the previous lessons (so they are constantly practicing already-learned rules/phonograms).

After a while, there will be a review lesson, say of all the ways to spell long /a/. The different ways were introduced separately (for instance, one lesson on a_e using the silent e to make a long /a/ sound, one on the long /a/ in an open syllable like the words April and paper, and then one lesson with "ai" and "ay" as the long /a/). After all of those have been introduced (not necessarily one after another), then there's a review lesson where all the words utilize the different ways, and the child has to "analyze" the word to determine how the /a/ is long.

Clear as mud?! It can be an expensive program (though honestly, I have found that with mine, just the books themselves are necessary, though when my ds#3 starts, we will probably pull out the tiles again for the hands-on feel of them). Even though I consider myself a pretty good speller, I am finally learning the rules behind spelling (and phonics/reading), which helps me teach them better.

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by MissRubyandKen

I do think it is a good idea for me to introduce the concept of spelling rules. I'm not sure if I would like to do this as a group like Spelling Power does or one sound at a time, one spelling possibility at a time and then building upon it. Either way, by word family or rule, aren't you just memorizing a list of words, or recognizing a list of words?

I missed this last part. From our experience with rules, we are not memorizing any lists. I don't use AAS for spelling tests (I let the dictation sentences help me figure out whether they are internalizing a rule/phonogram, or if they still need more work on it). But, there is no memorizing words or lists. As they come to words they need to spell (for instance, ds#1 just started doing some writing on his own outside of school), I'll remind them of the rule (either phonogram use or syllable use) to help them figure out the spelling.

[MissRubyandKen]

Originally Posted by MyLittleWonders

I missed this last part. From our experience with rules, we are not memorizing any lists. I don't use AAS for spelling tests (I let the dictation sentences help me figure out whether they are internalizing a rule/phonogram, or if they still need more work on it). But, there is no memorizing words or lists. As they come to words they need to spell (for instance, ds#1 just started doing some writing on his own outside of school), I'll remind them of the rule (either phonogram use or syllable use) to help them figure out the spelling.

Can you tell me what your schedule with AAS looks like? How many days a week, how long per day, teacher participation, etc? It looks interesting. I'm just not wanting to mess with what success my children are already having on their own by boring them or complicating things, yk? I do agree teaching rules is a good idea and teaching one possibility at a time and then building upon it sounds much more appealing than Spelling Power's way of listing 5-6 possibilities all at once.

Both of my big kids read wonderfully and spell well. My ds hasn't had one lick of formal phonics. My dd had formal phonics in K as we were doing a virtual academy back then. Going into K she was writing 3-4 letter words, reading 3-4 letter words, and eager for more. Enter phonics. After awhile she didn't want to read any more at all. She became resistant to reading and writing. After I stopped the phonics and completely laid off it took her over a year to willingly pick up a book on her own and read with joy (quite fluently too). I'm hesitant to have any sort of repeat of that, yk? They are actually enjoying SS, which takes about 15 minutes a day, 3-5 days a week depending.

[MyLittleWonders]

Originally Posted by MissRubyandKen

Can you tell me what your schedule with AAS looks like? How many days a week, how long per day, teacher participation, etc? It looks interesting. I'm just not wanting to mess with what success my children are already having on their own by boring them or complicating things, yk? I do agree teaching rules is a good idea and teaching one possibility at a time and then building upon it sounds much more appealing than Spelling Power's way of listing 5-6 possibilities all at once.

We do spelling 4x a week. In all, it probably takes 20 minutes a day. We don't use the tiles any more; the boys get out their whiteboards, if one of them has a new concept/lesson, I'll go over it on the chalkboard (we have a chalkboard on the wall in the dining room; otherwise I'd just use a whiteboard). Then, I take turns giving them their spelling words for the lesson. After we've done 10 words (sometimes there are additional words for that particular lesson, and so I'll extend the lesson by at least a day), we do two of the dictation sentences. If I feel we are moving too quickly, I'll back-track a few lessons and re-do them at a slightly faster pace for additional review. But the dictation sentences seem to have quite a bit of review built-in to them.

If you are doing well for now with SS, I'd recommend you keep at it. You can always modify the lessons - introduce the rule, but maybe spread out the words over a few days so each day they are focusing on one of the ways to apply the rule instead of all the possibilities at once. If you get to a point where you seem to have hit a brick wall, then branch out and try something else. But, one thing I'm slowly realizing is that if something is working, don't mess with it. You seem happy overall with SS; I'd just sit down and go through it to see how you can tweak it to better meet your needs.