Inspiration & Planning

Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home

A must-have book that I like to read every year before the new Church year and school year covering everything from family life, building an atmosphere & life of faith, praying as a family, celebrating the feasts, fasting, the Sacraments as a family and much more. Inspirational, practical, & very hands-on for parents with children of all ages!

I also recommend Walking in Wonder for parents of children under eight years old.

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Articles

Spelling FAQ's

By Mrs. Viers

Q: At what age would we begin to use this?

Some people prefer to co-ordinate their spelling programme with their reading programme. In this case you would start right away when you begin to teach reading.

I prefer not to start formal spelling curriculum until my children are reading fluently. For my son this was grade 5 for our girl twins it was grade 3. I believe that a child who waits will be able to progress quickly.

Q: Do I need to use the lists in the order they are presented?

In the same vein, those who choose to co-ordinate the spelling programme with their reading programme will want to use the sheets that best match the skills being introduced. Feel free to mix and match and sort and toss them to best suit your needs.

Q: Do I need to print out it all?

If your child is able to copy the word lists into their notebooks without the use of the copywork sheets please feel free to do that! Only print out the word lists you need and use them at your own pace. You can choose to print out a cover, the table of contents then have them bound with the word list sheets to make your very own non-consumable spelling curriculum.

For my younger children I have printed out the cover, table of contents, as well as the three sheets for each list. I had the front and back covers laminated and then had it coil bound. It makes a very nice workbook. Impressive actually. At least that is what our evaluating teacher said.

For my older son I have printed out the word list in cursive and coil bound them with a cover and the table of contents. He is able to copy them into his spelling notebook and doesn't need the copywork sheets.

Some children may find being presented with a thick spelling workbook overwhelming. In this instance I have printed out the sheets and given them only the sheet they are working on that day. The sheets were then hole punched and stored in a folder.

Q: Why are there three pages for each spelling list?

Originally the word lists were meant as copywork the child would copy into their notebooks until they learned them. The lists are presented in the same font-type as the handwriting they are expected to produce. After the list was learned they would take a 'test' and move onto the next.

However, in using the word lists with my young children I became aware that they were forming their letters incorrectly and I did not want them to enforce these bad habits. By supplying them with the traceable copywork sheets they were able to form their letters correctly. As they build this good habit I will be moving them onto copying out the word lists into a notebook as I feel that having to hold the proper spellings in their minds long enough to move from book to notebook enforces the spelling better.

The test sheets were just a natural progression of having the other two pages. The numbering on each sheet came from my children being unable to tell what line was the bottom, middle or top. Try covering the numbers up and seeing how confusing it was for them!

Q: We school 5 days each week and want to focus on one list per week, what do we do as each list seems to have 4 days of work?

If you are sticking to one list per week you can use the copywork sheets for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. On Thursday you can choose to simply have the children copy the word list into a notebook or you can use that day to do various activities with the words in that week's list.

Q: How can we possibly cover 40 lessons in one school year?

The 40 lessons in Level A are not meant to tie directly to one school year. We have 8 levels planned for 'Spelling for Young Orthodox'. Each may take longer than one year or less depending on each child's ability to master the word lists. The expectation is that each child can and will work at their own speed. For some children some of the lists may not require studying and can be completed perfectly in one sitting. The goal is the mastering of the materials. Other children may take a week or more of studying for each list. It is best if the child keeps studying until they are comfortable and able to spell the words correctly without the risk of guessing and having then to unlearn the misspelling.

Q: I notice there are no activities. Why?

I believe Charlotte Mason's idea that simply studying the correct spellings is enough for a child to learn. Studying spelling in this manner dispenses with the usual twaddle and busywork that is found in most commercially available spelling programmes. However, there are instances when you will want to do various activities with the words.

There are various sources for these activities. I have found 'The Natural Speller' and the activity task card set available from 'Spelling Power' to be quite wonderful. By not tying the activities to the word lists you are freer to choose just what type of activities suit your children and to choose just the right amount.