Spelling

We have a pretty traditional approach to teaching spelling in our home. Mondays are pretest day for both boys. Corrections are made immediately after the test. For the next three days, we approach the words from different angles. We look at definitions, we play games, we use the SpellingCity site. On Friday we have a final test. This year EM has been using his Calvert spelling words. I have found that they are pretty on target for him as far as challenge goes. JT is a pretty advanced student in spelling. We zip through the Calvert spelling tests at the beginning of the school year, then we move on to some REAL spelling!

Have I said before how much I LOVE the English From the Roots Up flash cards? (Maybe once or twice?) I have finally worked them into our spelling routine. This week the results were evident.

Every week I pull 2 or 3 of the cards from the deck to put together a spelling list. We have used 6 cards so far. Each card has a root on the front, Greek or Latin. On the back is a list of words containing that root, complete with definition. They also identify other roots in the word that are not the focus of that card. For example, the 'tele' card has the word 'telegraph' on the back. Following the word in parentheses is (graph - write). So every week we focus on a couple cards, but also have contact with other roots. This week the cards were 'philia' and 'phobos'. All of the words for the list would have these roots. As JT was taking his pretest, he started dissecting the new words he was hearing. When I read the word, hydrophobia, he said, "That must be fear of water because it has hydro in it." Hooray, connections! We went through the rest of the list with him making similar observations.

These are the tools I want to give my children. I want them to have the ability to take their knowledge and apply it. I want them to know the satisfaction that comes when they are presented with a puzzle and know right where to start in order to solve it. I want them to feel confident that if they don't know an answer, there will be a way to find it. The best place to start is at the beginning...or maybe...the roots!