After some thought, I decided to revise the curriculum to not include spelling worksheets. Spelling is a subject that necessarily involves a teacher (to dictate and check), so it doesn’t lend itself well to independence in the first place, but I also recognize that students spell at very different rates and learn best in very different ways. So, instead, each workbook has a list of spelling words at the beginning, and you can use them in a way appropriate to your child.
I learned spelling by studying a list, writing it once, then having my mom give me a test. You can do it completely orally, and this is very traditional, and all you need is a piece of notebook paper.
However, despite using books from the 19th century, we live in the 21st, and the reality is that there are many ways to easily teach spelling in a more dynamic way. I hope to eventually make a “spelling book” to go along with the resources here, but in the meantime, let me suggest to you (none of these are affiliate links, just some honest suggestions):
This PDF from Teachers Pay Teachers — is $8 and makes a WIDE variety of spelling worksheets, and all you have to do is punch in the words once, and you have over 25 worksheets. I suggest putting in half of the words from the unit at a time and working through the worksheets over the course of two weeks, and then next time around you can adjust and not print the ones that don’t work for you, or shorten the timeframe if your student is really good at spelling, etc. This PDF is amazing.
I have not used Spelling City but I know many homeschoolers use it to provide games for spelling practice. There’s a way to enter your own lists, but, honestly, the lists they provide are probably plenty adequate!
I do personally use Sequential Spelling and I highly recommend it. It approaches spelling in a phonetic way. It takes a few minutes a day and produces very competent spellers. I use SS starting in about 3rd grade.
I also personally use TTRS and it is awesome for 2nd graders. It continues teaching phonics like Sequential Spelling, and builds reading skills, but it also overtly teaches touch typing. It’s very expensive (try Homeschool Buyer’s Co-Op or ask around on Facebook for coupons) but I’ve found it very much worthwhile.
So, there you go: if you want to do it the old-fashioned way, the lists are in the beginning of each unit, taken from McGuffey’s Eclectic Speller. But if you want worksheets, games, or a spelling system based on more modern science–there are some more links for you to check out, too.
