di: Seeking help with Spelling

[john at jbnoell.org]

I am looking for advice on what to use for spelling and how to get it.

I have been teaching a nine-year-old "neglected" boy in Fiji who went into
Class 3 (3rd grade), not knowing the names or sounds of any letters and
unable to count to 10 in English. (No parents, covid school closures, etc.)
I have taken him through RM1 and RM2, outside of public school. He is now in
the middle of Class 4. (The school year in Fiji is January to December.)
Because the school has continued to punish him for being "dumb", I pulled
him out of the public school three weeks ago and now have him 8-2:30 M-F. In
addition to Reading Mastery, I have also started him on Corrective Math
Addition and he is racing through it. After Lesson 45 in Addition we started
Subtraction. However, I have yet to do anything for spelling. I see that my
RM3 (the version with the lion on the cover) says, "Now do the spelling
lesson." I have been frantically trying to figure out what spelling
materials to use and where to get them. (My budget is set by social security
and McGraw Hill prices are out of my league.)

I have been able to get used copies of almost everything so far for reading
(i.e., RM1, RM2 and RM3 materials). Now, I have ordered Reading Mastery 2
Spelling Book (Rainbow Edition, ISBN 9780026863506), Spelling Presentation
Book Grade 3 (ISBN 9780076125807), and Reading Mastery: Spelling
Presentation Book, Grade 2 (ISBN 9780076125401). Because I am in Fiji,
getting things here is slow. I use a re-shipper in Portland OR to batch
stuff and send it over. My kid took the placement test and should go into
Level A. (He was close to criterion, but I think B might be too challenging
for him.)

Should I start him on what I have ordered (and are there workbooks or other
material I need with them?), or should I go for Spelling Mastery Level A et
cetera? I can get the Level A workbook for <$20 but the presentation book is
VERY expensive (>$300). I cannot find a used copy. For just one student and
with a limited budget, I really do not want to pay $300+ it unless it really
is the only option. Maybe I could borrow copy from someone?

Advice would be greatly appreciated!

As an aside, I am 76, and have retired to Fiji. I worked for Zig at the Corp
for four years on the videodisc series (mostly as content guy for Chemistry
and Biology). I am not new to DI but most of my teaching was at the
university level and none at the primary level. I started out as a
biologist, but much later went through the U of O Mildly Handicapped program
under Doug Carnine. There may even be some old-timers on this list who
remember me. :)  My dementia level may be even greater than my compassion to
be trying to salvage this kid. However, he is really a delightful kid,
despite a dreadful home environment.

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