Poor Speller and CTC

[JoyinIndo]

Hello Ladies,
I want to wish you all a happy Resurrection Sunday (it's early Sunday morning here in Indo)!!! As I am sitting here in the early quiet of the morning and praying, a question came to my mind that I want to ask.
I am getting ready to order CTC for my ds (5th grade this fall) and dd (4th grade this fall). I have not used HOD up to this point, and I did use the placement chart and both children fit solidly in CTC for skills (we have used CM methods for several years). My question is about my to be 5th grade son. His spelling is quite poor, and I'm wondering:
a) if he will get the help he needs within CTC (or will he flounder because it is far above his level and should I consider dropping back a guide over this issue)
and b) what can I do to help him between now and when we start CTC in August.

He is an excellent reader. He reads quite a bit and is also fairly adept at written narrations (minus the spelling). I have used dictation with him as well as Sequential Spelling this last year, and I have seen some improvement but not a lot. In recent writing he misspelled the words another, better, again, and reached. These are all words that, in my opinion, he should know easily by now, and I'm wondering what to do?!
Is there something deeper going on or should I just keep trucking along hoping that it comes together? In comparison, my dd (4th grade this fall), almost never misspells a word. She can write pages and pages and not miss one single word. I want that same success for my son.

Any thoughts and advice you have are welcome.

Thank you for your time, thoughts, and advice. I do so cherish it!
Blessings,
Joy

[deltagal]

Hi Joy,

And a Joyful Resurrection Sunday to you, as well. There are some posts in the archives that I think you would find beneficial let me do a little digging and I'll post the links. My first thought is he will do fine in CTC simply make sure he is placed in the appropriate dictation level. The only thing I would do in the interim is perhaps, begin dictation --- if you want to do that. Do you have any of the guides yet? My guys were all weak spellers when we began HOD and my oldest was a 6th grader when we began. He has done fine and his spelling has improved immensely. I'll post back with the links....

Okay, here's the one I was thinking of...
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5293&p=38904#p38897

[Heather4Him]

Hi Joy,

Happy Resurrection Sunday to you and your family, too!

As far as the spelling question, I think you can just match the dictation level in CTC that matches your son best. I'm not much help, because our dd is older and spelling has finally become pretty well handled at this point. But, I think just plugging along at a dictation level that fits him will eventually help his spelling skills "kick in" in his own timing.

[JoyinIndo]

The only thing I would do in the interim is perhaps, begin dictation --- if you want to do that. Do you have any of the guides yet? My guys were all weak spellers when we began HOD and my oldest was a 6th grader when we began. He has done fine and his spelling has improved immensely. I'll post back with the links....

Thank you so much for this. No, I do not yet have the guides....I'm trying to be patient. Our organization has to approve our homeschool order before we can place it, so I am eagerly awaiting their approval!!
It's good to hear that your son's spelling has improved. And thank you for the link!

Anyone else have any thoughts?!
Thanks,
Joy

[JoyinIndo]

Hi Joy,

Happy Resurrection Sunday to you and your family, too!

As far as the spelling question, I think you can just match the dictation level in CTC that matches your son best. I'm not much help, because our dd is older and spelling has finally become pretty well handled at this point. But, I think just plugging along at a dictation level that fits him will eventually help his spelling skills "kick in" in his own timing.

Thank you for the encouragement Heather!
Blessings,
Joy

[my3sons]

I really like deltagal's idea of beginning dictation as soon as you are able. Dictation has been such a help to each of our ds's spelling. It is a slow burn though - it takes some time and consistency to reap the harvest. I do not believe all dictation is created equal. The dictation HOD includes is sequential in its format, and it is the same program CM used in PNEU schools from year to year. The dictation is not random, but instead is planned out very carefully, to build spelling skills from year to year. Learning spelling within dictation teaches dc to use proper spelling within their own writing. This is much more effective than year after year of spelling list memorization, which is usually promptly forgotten after the spelling test. You can read the specifics of dictation in the Appendix of the guide when your receive it, and that should be very helpful. In general, we've found if our dc are missing a dictation passage anywhere from 1 time every other week to up to 2 times a week - that seems to be a good fit. It they have done 30 passages in a row and not missed a thing, it may be time to move them further forward. If they are missing a passage every day, or spending 3 days on a passage, it may be time to move them back. As you don't have your guide in hand yet, here are some dictation samples for you to see:

Dictation Samples:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1221
CTC Level 5 Dictation Sample:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5068&p=37153#p37153


HTH! There is real hope for poor spellers through dictation. I am so pleased with the results in my own dc (especially my oldest who received speech therapy services for several years - spelling began as a real challenge for him - and now he rarely misses words). He's had 4 years of dictation now though through HOD, so just be sure to give it some time!

In Christ,
Julie

[JoyinIndo]

Thank you Julie for the examples of the dictation. That is a great help. Can you explain to me a little about how dictation is done over the week, or point me to a place where I can read about it? Do they do a different dictation passage each day, every day of the 4-day week? If they do poorly on the dictation do they then repeat it, either right away or the next day?

We are doing some dictation this year, and I'm just wondering how to start now to prepare my son for the fall!

Thank you for the help! You are a blessing to me.
Blessings,
Joy

[my3sons]

Thank you Julie for the examples of the dictation. That is a great help. Can you explain to me a little about how dictation is done over the week, or point me to a place where I can read about it? Do they do a different dictation passage each day, every day of the 4-day week? If they do poorly on the dictation do they then repeat it, either right away or the next day?

We are doing some dictation this year, and I'm just wondering how to start now to prepare my son for the fall!

Thank you for the help! You are a blessing to me.
Blessings,
Joy

Hi Joy! I'd be glad to explain dictation here. Here are the instructions for dictation from the HOD manual...

Special instructions for the dictation passages: Each student needs a notebook for dictation. A wide-lined notebook is best. On each dictation day, your student will study the dictation passage. It is helpful to write any difficult words on markerboard or paper for the students to focus on. New words are in bold. Also, call attention to any capital letters and punctuation marks in the passage. Discuss them briefly as needed.

When students feel ready, remove the dictation passage from the students’ sight. Call out the passage one phrase at a time. Pause after each phrase for students to repeat it back to you and write it. Continue until the entire passage has been dictated.

Give students a moment to look over their passage for mistakes. Then, have them compare their sentences with the key. Students should circle any mistakes they made on the key and correct the mistakes in their own notebook. If the passage was correct, place a checkmark next to the passage in the key. All items in the sentence must be correct, including punctuation marks, before going on to the next passage. If students made any mistakes, they’ll repeat the same passage as many days as it takes to get it right.

Always begin the next session where the student left off. If your child is repeatedly stuck on passages, he or she may need to move to an easier level of dictation passages. Three different levels of passages are provided in this guide.

I hope that helps, and thank you for your kind words to me in your post as well! What a nice way to end the evening!

Love in Christ,
Julie

[JoyinIndo]

Thank you for the help Julie. I really appreciate it!
And I'm glad I could say something to encourage you....since you are the best encourager!!
Blessings,
Joy