Why doesn't CTC do spelling?

[Tree House Academy]

I just realized that CTC and maybe even Preparing do not do spelling instruction like the earlier guides. Can anyone explain to me why? Or link me to a current explanation? My older son is a struggling speller and we are having to add in spelling this year (in addition to the dictation) and he also has a spelling "word wall" type thing where he writes any word he mis-spells in his writing, etc.

TIA!

[HappyMama]

From what I understand, Preparing and CTC do spelling in the form of studied dictation... and that should be the only spelling you need.

[inHistiming]

In the guides after Bigger....only dictation is included, taking the place of spelling. Bigger... has both options. Here is a link to a bit of explanation in another thread.

viewtopic.php?p=9500#p9500

I'm sure others will be along to explain better than I have.

[Tree House Academy]

Wow! Julie's post about doing R&S Spelling and how hard it was to put the spelling book away was like ME talking!!

Okay, so this question is for someone who can help, then. Where do you start a child in dictation who literally struggles to spell common words correctly? Should I buy Bigger (since I will be using it next year anyway) and do the very first level of dictation? What grade equivalent is the first dictation level studied in CTC?

[exodus007]

Treehouse,
I am a French lady who a few yrs ago knew nothing about English ! I learn it so I can speak with my -then fiancée (now my husband ) .
How did I do it?
By studying every word I was writing him in my emails every day !
When my English became a little better , I started to read the Bible in English and other books as well . Reading a lot improved my spelling by I think what it really helped was studying EVERY word carefully and then writing it.

One of the reasons I was drawn to HOD is that it uses dictation. I believe this is the best method for a great spelling.
My suggestion is start with an easy words list and then progress . If Preparing doesn't have dictation , I'd suggest Natural speller for a great list. I use it with my 8 yo and it's great , but I admit that I'd prefer the work to be done for me

For the words my son misspells , he has a notebook . He writes them down , each letter in a grid premade by me and that's the prison for that word It has to stay in the prison until he spells it right three times consecutively .He loves this idea !

[Alison in KY]

If you decide to try a spelling program, take a look at All About Spelling.

[daybreaking]

Wow! Julie's post about doing R&S Spelling and how hard it was to put the spelling book away was like ME talking!!

Okay, so this question is for someone who can help, then. Where do you start a child in dictation who literally struggles to spell common words correctly? Should I buy Bigger (since I will be using it next year anyway) and do the very first level of dictation? What grade equivalent is the first dictation level studied in CTC?

You could buy Bigger and try the dictation, since you're going to be buying it next year anyhow. However, from your description, it sounds like your son might not be ready for dictation. One possibility is to use the second spelling list in Beyond and see how he does with that. If he struggles, I'd wait on dictation, but if he does well, I'd go ahead and buy Bigger for its dictation.

[Heather4Him]

I would say go with the HOD dictation passages at your child's level, and just watch how much they improve!

[Carrie]

Ladies,

I'll just pop-in to answer here as I believe this thread has somehow gotten pretty confusing! I was surprised to see the suggestions and recommendations for using other programs for spelling such as Natural Speller, All About Spelling, and Spelling Wisdom on this thread on the HOD Board. So, I'll just gently mention that the goal of the HOD Board is not to recommend other programs a person could use for spelling but rather to answer questions about how HOD does spelling and how that could be implemented in your home.

To that end, I will explain that in Beyond Little Hearts two spelling lists are provided including commonly used words and much of the Dolch Word List. A method of picturing these words in the mind, along with words grouped around a phonetic rule is the crux of the spelling lists. After two years of using these spelling lists (List 1 and List 2), a child is ready for the first set of studied dictation passages. A full year of first level dictation passages (labeled Level 2) is provided with a thorough explanation of how to do studied dictation starting in Bigger Hearts.

From the guides within Preparing Hearts on up, 3 different levels of dictation passages are provided, each lasting one year. Preparing Hearts includes Levels 2,3 and 4. CTC includes levels 3, 4, and 5. RTR includes levels 4, 5, and 6. Passages will be provided through Level 8. The passages get progressively harder, and include words in bold in each passage that are new. There is a distinct sequencing to the passages and additional words are also provided under the passage for further study for those who need a bit of extending. Dictation is scheduled 3 times weekly in Bigger, Preparing, CTC, and RTR.

While it is up to you whether to choose to use a different spelling program, the HOD Board is not the place to promote that spelling program. If there are other questions about HOD's spelling, I'm sure that the ladies who are using HOD's spelling would be glad to help!

For your situation Rebecca, I'd make sure that your son can spell the words on spelling List 1 and 2 prior to heading dictation. I'd do the lists following Beyond or Bigger's directions to ensure that your son has the foundation in commonly used words needed to be successful in studied dictation.

Blessings,
Carrie

[deltagal]

Hi there,

We have had GREAT success with the dictation method used in HOD. My oldest advanced 3 grade levels this year in spelling - using dictation exclusively this year. Also, my 9 yo who has been slow to get on board with dictation has finally been able to make that leap this year and we are both quite excited. I did start him with the word lists in Beyond until he was able to begin to focus enough to do dictation. With one of my dc we began the dictation lists but it quickly proved too simple for him, so upon Carries recommendation we jumped ahead 1/2 a year and that has been a great fit.

[Alison in KY]

Woops, sorry, I didn't know .

[Heather4Him]

Carrie, I'm sorry that I mentioned the other Charlotte Mason spelling we had used before finding HOD. I wasn't recommending the program, just referring to it to say that using only dictation as your spelling method (like in HOD) IS an awesome way to have your children become great spellers. (from our own experience).
I ended my post by saying that the OP should just use the HOD dictation and see how great the results can be. I didn't mean to mislead in any way, and am sorry for breaking the board rules unintentionally. I have edited my post to remove the other reference. Please forgive me!

I just wanted to say that we just finished our first week of HOD, and I can tell it's going to be wonderful!! It's exactly what we needed in so many ways!! Thank you for making an awesome curriculum and blessing SO MANY families, including ours!

[2littleblessings]

I was just looking at this thread the other night, and I was so glad to find the link from InHisTiming to a previous thread, and there finding Carrie's links to several discussions on the subject. We started Bigger this year, and I quickly saw that we no longer had spelling lists available because we had done the second lists last year (all of them, actually, in one semester). My dd had struggled with spelling, and we ended up taking a break from it in the first semester. (Albeit, we continued with copywork, knowing that this would be beneficial.) Something must have clicked in her brain, because when we picked spelling back up in second semester, she flew through, asking for more! So this year, I was disappointed (at first) to see that we had no more lists. I hadn't really looked at what dictation was for exactly, but I thought for sure I needed lists. I kept thinking that now I needed to add spelling to my list of things to do, when I remembered the post I've been working my way through - why HOD does things the way it does. That has been an amazing read for me. While I've loved HOD from the beginning (for us, LHFHG), I'm not really well-versed in Charlotte Mason's philosophies. Sometimes I need to be reminded!

So in reading the links that I was directed to in this thread, I was sold on doing dictation with my dd. We started at the end of the week this week (our first week in Bigger), and I can already see the benefits that she will derive. Carrie, I appreciate the time you take on this board, and I especially appreciate the information of what is to come in the later guides (such as which levels of dictation we will find). Sometimes I wish I could afford to just buy all the guides at once so that I can look things up and see what's coming! It's probably a good thing that I can't afford it, because I'm sure I'd have a hard time keeping myself from just diving in to those guides with my daughter. We'll be there soon enough!

So thank you all, for a timely post. Thank you, Carrie for an awesome program. I can't even imagine doing anything else.

Pamela
DD (7) - Bigger
DS (3) - Soon to start LHTH

[Carrie]

Ladies,

Thank you so much for your gracious replies! I'm so glad that it helps to see the path HOD is taking for spelling and that it helps you as you plan for the future for your kiddos. I know dictation can take a leap of faith to implement, but it works well both for kiddos who are great at spelling and for those who don't have a natural ability in that area. It is a customizable spelling/grammar/usage/mechanics lesson in a nutshell. We've been thoroughly blessed by this simple-to-implement way of doing studied dictation. We pray you will be too!

Blessings,
Carrie

[Kathleen]

Rebecca -

You probably already figured this out from Carrie's reply....but if you already own the Beyond and Preparing guides, you would not need to purchase Bigger for the spelling/dictation this year. Beyond contains list 2 (which is also in Bigger), and Preparing contains the 1st set of dictation passages (called level 2, and also contained in Bigger).

Kathleen