The Good and the Beautiful Spelling Problem
Our main curriculum is The Good and the Beautiful. I love it for just about everything. However, I don’t feel like the spelling is quite where it should be. For some of the spelling words each week or month or so the designers of the curriculum focus mostly on hard to spell words instead of words that have similar sounds or letter patterns. However, they do have some word pattern practice. The hard to spell word practice doesn’t seem to work for my kids because often, even after practicing the spelling words, they would get them all wrong. A fellow homeschool mom who used the same curriculum said she had the same problem with her children. She decided to use Sequential Spelling with her children. I decided to use Spelling Connections.
Spelling Connections
I had a Spelling Connections book that a friend game me that she didn’t want. I loved the way things were laid out in that book. For a whole week they work on the same words using different exercises like antonyms, synonyms, and spelling patterns. There is also a page that includes a writing prompt and proofreading each week. This has been an amazing fit for our family.
Do you still do the spelling in The Good and the Beautiful workbooks?
Yes, I do still have my kids do the spelling. Do I think the Good and the Beautiful spelling still helps them. Yes, I do think it helps them. I also am not big on letting go of things in a curriculum and I suppose I choose to trust the process. In addition to it, I do feel very comfortable adding some things in the Spelling Connections workbook as a supplement. I think these two curriclums work very well together.
“Good English, well spoken and well written will open more doors than a college degree… Bad English will slam doors you don’t even know exist.”
-William Raspberry
AZ quotes, Spelling Quotes, May 18, 2023, https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/spelling.html
No Teacher’s Manual Recommended
I don’t use the teacher’s manual. When I got books from my friend there was a teacher’s manual with a workbook. I haven’t really used it at all. It looks like a public school teacher’s manual and that kind of thing to be honest really freaks me out. We do just fine without using them. I have never seen a need to have them.
Summary
We are going on our third year of using the Spelling Connections workbooks. We have used grades 1,2,3,4, and 5. They have all been laid out the same. However, this year I ordered the updated 2022 versions for all of my older kids. I think they are a little more simple. They also have more colorful pictures and I really like colorful curriculum. All in all the new version just looks more kid friendly. I totally recommend this curriculum and think it is well worth the money.