Spelling

from wilber01:

I don't recommend memorizing an arbitrary list of words each week, testing, and then moving on. Typically, the words will be forgotten the following week and it has never worked for us. What has worked the best for us is 1. Working on words that the child misses in his or her writing. I secretly keep a list so that my children don't feel pressure when they are writing. Sometimes we never get the words because overtime they correct themselves. The kids, even in middle school, only work on five words at a time... they don't know the words are from a list of their misspellings. 2. Reading, reading, reading 3. Writing using Microsoft Word with the setting that underlines misspellings as they are typed. (Make sure the auto correct is not on.) This points out to the child that immediate correction is needed. I strongly believe in practicing correctly. If a misspelled word is repeated, they are practicing incorrectly. 4. Casually point out the correct spelling of words when a child is writing by hand but don't push it or make a big deal over it.... contradicting my previous statement, if they don't fix it just let it slide. We always have that emotional aspect to deal with too!

from tomandkara:

We use Spelling Power and I really like it. We've been using it for about a year now.
Another thing that was an ace in my son's pocket is that we used an EXCELLENT phonics program when he was learning to read. He learned a lot of the rules of spelling from rules for sounding out words and he's been able to carry that over into his writing now. (We used Wilson Fundations, for the record.)
I think it's important to teach spelling, but you have to include a range of skills...1. Phonics skills (because if you learn the phonics rules you can use them to read or spell)2. Directed practice for words that are misspelled (and I think it makes more sense to use a list, like Spelling Power, that is built off of the most commonly used words since those are the ones you will encounter more)3. Dictionary skills (so you can find the correct spelling the old fashioned way)4. Word processing skills (because, let's face it, computers are a way of life now)
The thing I really like about Spelling Power is that the student is able to by-pass words he already knows how to spell. There is no studying of a list of 20 words for a week even though he can already spell 18 of them.
Hope that helps!

from cl-susanmercy:
We use Spelling Power. I too like that dd doesn't have to study a word list all week and then be tested on it, even tho she already knew most of the words. It gives her a lot of confidence when she makes it thru a list with maybe only a couple of practice words...especially when she spells some hard words correctly (like "annoyance" the other day, woohoo!) We tried Sequential Spelling for a semester and she asked to return to Spelling Power. I also agree with the PP about using words that your kids misspell in their writing. Those were some great ideas, btw! I've recently come across All About Spelling and it looks pretty good, but I've not used it (yet.) Those who do use it have nothing but praise for it. It looks like you could use it with a child of any age, including remediation of an older child with spelling difficulties.