You have no idea how many times I've apologized to my son for the fact that English spelling makes no sense and he has to learn it. If I could wave a magic wand, we'd have a good phonetic spelling system. (And there is an example of a word that is not phonetically spelled...)
With that said, let me clarify a couple of potential misconceptions.
The words that I am teaching my son are not beyond his reading level. In fact they are taken from lists of words that he is expected to be able to read, and was asked to spell on tests in his classroom. His spelling winds up beyond his grade level simply because most kids his age don't know most of those words.
The only connection between the reward activity (reading) and the flashcards is that I use the first to make the second pleasurable. I'm not reading to him because it is good for him, I'm reading to him because he enjoys it. I'd be happy playing with marbles instead. I don't put words from the story into the flashcards - he has enough other stuff that he actually needs to learn which is higher priority.
With that said, let me clarify a couple of potential misconceptions.
The words that I am teaching my son are not beyond his reading level. In fact they are taken from lists of words that he is expected to be able to read, and was asked to spell on tests in his classroom. His spelling winds up beyond his grade level simply because most kids his age don't know most of those words.
The only connection between the reward activity (reading) and the flashcards is that I use the first to make the second pleasurable. I'm not reading to him because it is good for him, I'm reading to him because he enjoys it. I'd be happy playing with marbles instead. I don't put words from the story into the flashcards - he has enough other stuff that he actually needs to learn which is higher priority.