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Mary Moore
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| Posted: Sept 30 2009 at 6:49pm | IP Logged
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My 6 yo ds finished 100 Easy Lessons this past summer and we have been simply using CHC Little Stories readers and reading regular books together from the library for his reading now , because honestly, i am hesitant to get back into Sound Beginnings. Sadly, i found it to be a little more labor intensive than our schedule will permit at this point - my dd did 3/4 of it, and it seemed to be often a 45 min lesson - and after 3/4 of the way through, she was still asking me, "mom, how do you spell..." simple words that i thought SB would help with - was i doing it wrong? she is a strong reader who enjoys chapter books, and i am wondering if it is worth getting back into. anyway, i am looking for a way to get them both to learn spelling (we are presently using CHC spellers in order to avoid Sound Beginnings again, but it doesnt seem to be much more than workbook work). so a few questions:
does anyone swear by Sound Beginnings/Writing Road with 1st-2nd graders, and think i am crazy to avoid it with CHC spellers? And if you really liked Explode the Code as a graduation from 100 Easy Lessons (as i saw was the case on one particular post a while back from several moms) - has anyone tried the online version? i think my son would be super excited to be able to utilize some computer during school, and it seems a worthwhile experiment if anyone thinks that boys excell in this. and would you recommend i stick with Sound Beginnings for my dd (almost 8, grade 2) and ditch CHC spellers?
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Sept 30 2009 at 7:09pm | IP Logged
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We did and still do the online version of ETC. It was a great option for us as one of my sons has special needs that make it very difficult for him to write. So we went online, and it has been fun. All the boys (8, 8, and 6) love to do the work, and they can work on it independently. I've needed technical support in the past and they were AWESOME...spent tons of time with me try to find a glitch related to my computer. One thing I can't figure out is how they earn the "icicle", which is the highest level...even I can't get it! So, I don't know how that works. If you decide to get it and figure that out, please let me know!
You can set the program up to go to games online for a reward every so often, and most of the games are just for fun, although some are educational. You might not like all of the choices.
The online version has been a good choice for us.
__________________
In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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ekbell
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| Posted: Sept 30 2009 at 7:36pm | IP Logged
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My policy is to use what works for my children, regardless of my feeling on the matter.
I started using the CHC grammar and spelling books during a stressful time (moving across the continent). I planned to move back to something less workbooky but hit a snag when I realized my children liked the workbook and didn't want to go back to what *I* thought was a superior program.
They are learning, it's not more work for me, and it's their education so I've decided that it's not a good idea to fiddle with what's working just because *I'm* not fond of workbooks.
[I'd love to move to a simple spelling program consisting of
-collecting words I'm asked to spell during writing assignments (my dd's don't spell words incorrectly, they ask me instead)
-breaking them into prefixes, roots, suffixes
-checking for relevant spelling rules and
-practicing them over the next week
but my children aren't at all interested!]
BTW my mom would recommend
Natural Speller by Kathryn Stout.
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Explode the Code online/CHC spellers
