Despite changing curriculum in a few subjects over our past 6 years of homeschooling, there are certain subjects where we found the perfect curriculum fit the first time.
Don’t you love it when that happens?!
All About Spelling (affiliate link) was one of those staple curricula that we fell in perfect alignment with from the get go.
There’s a multitude of reasons we stick with All About Spelling:
– We love the hands-on method with the letter tiles
– I appreciate the way the teacher guide is laid out for me
– There’s minimal planning on my part
– The spelling rules are provided in small, bite-size chunks – just perfect for my young learners
– You can easily adjust the pace of the curriculum to fit each child’s needs
However, I ran into a snag at the beginning of our homeschool year: I couldn’t find the time to teach spelling to each child.
I just couldn’t figure out how to make spelling a priority in our day due to time constraints.
Not enough time
I’ve said it a ton of times, but homeschooling your children is not for the faint of heart. Boy, it requires some work, doesn’t it?!
We’re heading into our 4th week of the new homeschool year – the period where I’m still trying to figure out how our days should run with my children in different ages and stages.
I quickly found out that I wasn’t able to get to the spelling dictation for my 3rd and 5th graders. My 5th grader has spelling 3 times each week, and my 3rd grader has spelling every day.
While we could get to Day 1 of spelling, I was struggling to find time to fit in the other days which usually included a lot of dictation from me.
Time Saving Tip!
And then I had what I considered to be a brilliant idea!
I recorded myself using the Voice Memo app on my iPhone.
I can’t even begin to describe how this one little time-saving tip has saved our spelling!
Find out the details of how my 5th grader uses our new method of dictation in my video below.
I lay out each detail of our spelling routine, so give it a try and see if this will work in your homeschool, too!
Come Visit Me on You Tube!
I just started doing this too a few weeks ago with my first grader who is almost done with Level 1. First, I record the word/phrases lists on our iPad using a free voice recording app. I start each recording with a short overview of the key things they need to remember and I also repeat the words several times and even use it in a sentence. Recording does take time for me, but it saves us time during the school day. Next, I email the recordings to myself and then put them on our iPod for her to listen to with headphones. I have all the files labeled on our computer so that I can re-use them for the next child who is able to use these independently. We do spelling five days a week. The first day I will teach the lesson and review old concepts. Then, over the next few days, she will listen to each of the word lists (Word Cards, More Word Cards, Dictate Phrases…). She currently does about 10 words or 6 phrases each day. We go over her work together when she is finished to make sure she is understanding the concepts. It seems to be working pretty well for her. Also, having headphones on helps her concentrate while other siblings are making noise. I’m so glad you are vlogging more!
Yes, I should have mentioned headphones, because they are a MUST! Thank you for sharing that!
That is so smart to save them to reuse for kiddos in the future. Super smart.
So smart! Read the article then then listen to the video between 4:15- 4:45 to hear tells what/how she does it.
Thanks, Olive! Hope it’s a good method for your homeschool, too!