Dictation Day by Day: A Living Speller

Never memorize a dry spelling list again! Spelling is best learned in the context of a sentence and in the context of great literature and Scripture. As this author says, compelling children to learn lists of words for teaching spelling should be relegated to the “Land of Forgotten Things.” 

Dictation Day-by-Day is a series of carefully graded studied dictation books. Students study the sentence or short passage and then write it as it is dictated to them. 

Unique features of this series:

• All new words are listed out to the side (making it easy to do French-style dictation* with new writers).
• Difficult words are repeated in subsequent sentences and even subsequent books for review. 
• Books 1 and 2 are a happy blend of phonics within dictation sentences that gradually increase in length. 
• Books 3-5 consist of short passages, mostly taken from great authors and Scripture (but still with all new words to the side).
• Each book includes selections for copywork (including formal letter writing copywork for polite correspondence) and poems for recitation. 
• In addition, Book 3 has a small section on nine common spelling rules, and Books 4-5 have small sections on prefixes, suffixes, and Latin and Anglo-Saxon stems. 

These are lovely!

They are used in Living Heritage from 2nd-6th grade.

*French style dictation is where the student writes just the new word and not the whole sentence (though you still dictate the whole sentence; words are never presented in isolation). This is a good option for young ones who still struggle to write or for whom it is a very slow process.