All About Spelling
www.all-about-spelling.com
Level One (Teacher’s Manual and Student Material Packet) is $29.95
Level Two (Teacher’s Manual and Student Material Packet) is $39.95
Starter Kit (Letter tiles, magnets-for the letter tiles and Phonogram CD-ROM) is $26.95
Student Material Packets are available individually for additional students to use. The starter kit can be used for all levels. Currently, there are five levels with a sixth due Spring 2010. Unless you have two students working at the same time, one kit is sufficient for a family. We received Levels One and Two plus the starter kit free of charge to use for the purpose of this review.
Spelling is not something we have focused on in our studies. Following the CM philosophy, I figured my children would learn how to spell through their reading and copywork. With the exception of "i before e except after c" I don’t remember spelling rules from my elementary years. I remember the lists and the dreaded tests on Fridays. Dreaded for me not because I struggled, but because it seemed so pointless. When we learned we would be receiving some spelling materials for review, I was unsure how to approach it. I figured we would work through the material for a week or two and then set them aside. Once we opened our box, those thoughts flew out the window.
The first thing my girls and I noticed was how colorful the materials were. The letter tiles are brightly colored. The review cards are printed on colored card stock. These things looked fun–like parts to a game. We needed to purchase a small box–the type you use for recipes, etc. for 3×5 index cards. The cards came perforated so separating them was simple. My eldest daughter (9 yo) helped with this. I figured I would need to do a lot of reading to get myself prepared to implement our new spelling program. This to was found to be not the case. The teacher’s manual has scripted lessons. One of my fears in presenting information to my children–especially things that I know or that seem sooo easy to me–is how to explain it well. With the information in the teacher’s manual, the review from the cards, the hands-on work with the letter tiles, everything was thoroughly explained. My girls were asking to work on spelling every day. This is something we will definitely be keeping up with and purchasing the next levels as we get to them. This is just what our little learners were needing.
Want to read more than just my opinion? Check out the Crew blog for links to other takes on All About Spelling. www.homeschoolblogger.com/HomeschoolCrew/749401