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My ds will most likely be starting HOD in the fall in 3rd grade. He pretty much has all of his spelling rules down pat, coming from Abeka. I have to say, I never had any inkling that my ds would be such a good speller (my dd on the other hand, was just made for Spelling). I say that to say, that I have attributed his ability to spell, largely from learning his rules in Abeka. Those rules have been so ingrained in all of his papers that he could not help but know them by now. I am seeing the fruit of that in his creative writing. Words that I did not think, apart from the workbook pages, he could spell, he is surprising me and spelling correctly. Does the HOD way teach spelling rules? Is it effective in the Spelling area? If not, how do the dc learn these general spelling rules, like doubling a final consonant when necessary before adding a suffix, dropping the "y" and replacing it with an "i" when necessary? My dd, who will be starting LHFHG soon, is the one I am concerned about. The other 2 had such a firm foundation in Abeka, and I want my dd to have a firm foundation in the area of reading and spelling as well. Any input?

I have to say that my dd who has struggled with spelling outside of her spelling workbook has improved by 1000% using the methods in HOD. She always mastered all her spelling lists, but when it came to free writing or any writing outside of that, she couldn't spell worth a flip! And she's way advanced in reading, so I found that odd.
Now after using the level 2 spelling list in Beyond, she has become a master speller, not just with those words, but with words even much longer than those! I am SO SO impressed! After we would complete a list, she would notice the common factor (long e spelled y at the end of a word, etc.) without prompting-- therefore, she has remembered them much better. She just knows what looks right even if she can't quote the phrase for the rule-- she knows the application of the rules very well. Instead of asking her "what rule applies here?", I ask "Does that look right?" and she knows exactly what to do on the very rare occasion she misspells a word now.

I know it's hard to let go, as most of us have been there! I did both my program for spelling and the HOD way of spelling for several weeks until I determined which was working best and which my daughter preferred...by far, HOD was the best! I'm sure you'll find many other ladies on here that had a hard time leaving the spelling workbook approach


Welcome to HOD--- no matter what you choose, I know you'll love it here!!! I've found all of Carrie's suggestions to be perfect for us once I gave them all a chance. You might find the same thing

You're right. It is so hard to let go of those traditional ways of teaching that we are all so used to, especially for me being a graduate of the educational program at Pensacola Christian College where I was trained (indoctrinated) in using Abeka curriculum (very traditional). I can see the value of the CM ways but it is so difficult to let the old ways go. I find myself trying to use some of the CM methods once in a while, but because of my uncertainty, I always use the traditional approach as well, doubling up our work. Logically, the CM way that Carrie presents just makes sense, but I am too fearful to just "dive in" so to speak, and go totally in that direction. Thank you Mom2monkeys for the encouragement. I would like to see how it is faring for some more HOD users. I need a lot of reassurance. Thanks!

Well as a non speller.. Dyslexics of the world untie!!!!!

I'm am grateful fro carries CM approach which is let the child visualize the words. My DD1 is a A+ speller. she wanders around the house spelling words for the shear pleasure of it. Now as you may know I popped dd1 into Public school due to Adoption issues in January... the traditional spelling homework comes home each week, and my kid does it but can't always spell those words. (I'm still trying to figure out how finding the word backwards helps them spell it?) We pull out the 3x5 cards and the next day those words are spelled right.

We are using All About Spelling which includes dictation, practicing the words with tiles then spelling them, and rules. We are in the middle of level 2 and since it is working so well I really don't want to let go of it. It seems similar in it's approach to HOD but with a little more teaching involved and rules. Does anyone else use this and should I really give it up? I too am having trouble letting go.
I was once very good at spelling just by knowing if it looked right, but now with old age my memory is fading. I am just not sure when things don't look right any more and have to go back to the few rules that I know. I am learning new rules and patterns that I never knew which are helping me now. Anyone else notice this? This is why I really need to be convienced!

Gina

We add Rod & Staff Spelling by Sound and Structure because my son likes it. He is a good speller and loves to do spelling tests.

My son also was an advanced reader in 1st grade (using Beyond) but he could not spell at all, and really struggled with the spelling lists. We just kept plugging along, however, without seeing much improvement that year. He really disliked writing, so that was part of the issue. He did better spelling the word out loud than he did writing it for some reason. But this year there has been a complete turn around. He is in 2nd grade (using Bigger) and is breezing through the spelling list each week. He has even started spelling words as he is talking just to be funny and to see if he knows how to spell something he is trying to say. He still gets a few words misspelled when he is writing sentences (apart from his spelling lists) but the fact that he is even trying to spell words is just such a difference from last year. So, for us HOD methods have worked! The only supplement we use is he likes to play games on SpellingCity.com with his spelling lists each week, and he also takes a test on there for fun. Hope this is encouraging to you!

I actually posted about this exact thing - playschool! I could have written your post word for word a few years ago. Rather than retype it all here - I'll just link you to my post - but let me also say, hands-down, CM-style spelling taught with HOD's guidance is the best approach to teaching spelling I've ever used (and I've used a lot ).
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1246&p=9550&hilit= ... ling#p9550

I have a challenge for you - do just the spelling in HOD for a year, and see the results for yourself. I think you'd be a convert.

In Christ,
Julie

I think my boys have learned it better since they have to sort out the "rules" for themselves-as someone else already mentioned.

I would also put in a plug for dictation-my high schooler is doing a dictation based spelling curriculum, and I've seen him learn so much from that. Seeing his success actually made me work much harder on making sure we do the dictation exercises in the Bigger curriculum we are using with the middle boys!

Thank you for all of your reassuring comments and sharing your experiences. I think that next fall, we will take the plunge, and try using the dictation in the HOD manual as our "spelling". I think that because I tend to be more anxious in general, it is hard for me to relax and let go of something that we have used for so long. Thanks again!

gestep wrote:We are using All About Spelling which includes dictation, practicing the words with tiles then spelling them, and rules. We are in the middle of level 2 and since it is working so well I really don't want to let go of it. It seems similar in it's approach to HOD but with a little more teaching involved and rules. Does anyone else use this and should I really give it up? I too am having trouble letting go.
I was once very good at spelling just by knowing if it looked right, but now with old age my memory is fading. I am just not sure when things don't look right any more and have to go back to the few rules that I know. I am learning new rules and patterns that I never knew which are helping me now. Anyone else notice this? This is why I really need to be convienced!

Gina

All About Spelling is what we laid to rest to pick up HOD's CM approach and I am SO SO glad I did. Memorizing the rhyme or line for the rule helped my dd for "spelling class" but outside of that, it was hard work sorting through the rules. Now that she's doing it the HOD/CM way, she knows the rules b/c she recognizes them in the lists and doesn't have to sort out these lines, rhymes and phrases to remember how to spell it-- she just applies the rule! I don't really know how to explain it, but even though I thought AAS was great for us, HOD has been so much better and much more effective! I also used Spelling Power, R&S, and the "parts to whole" like Sequential Spelling but on my own, and some other "no name" that I can't remember. I am SO glad I just went with Carrie's suggestions!

Tamara,

That is exactly the reassurance I was looking for Goodbye AAS!

From your blog-I love Fedor and the picture of Nathan in his princess dress-you have a wonderful family

Gina