All About Spelling (Review)

Up until now, I've been pleased with the spelling program I've been using. Then along comes All About Spelling and POOF, just like that I have a change to make! By using Level 1, I realized that Olivia is currently learning the information needed for the current worksheets...but once the worksheet is forgotten, so are the concepts. Deep heavy sigh...

What I LOVE about All About Spelling is the multisensory learning: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Olivia learns mostly by doing, where Lindsey learns mostly by hearing. With the three areas combined, both girls are learning and retaining!

In Level 1, ($29.95) the student learns 32 phonograms, how to hear individual sounds in words, how to represent sounds using phonograms and solid spelling rules that govern the use of the phonograms. (You know, the WHY behind the DO as opposed to a random list of spelling words.)

The starter kit ($26.95) includes a set of color coded phonogram cards, sound cards, key cards and word cards. These color coded cards help with initial learning and review. Also included in the starter set is a set of letter tiles. My kids LOVE this part! The abstract thought becomes concrete right in front of their little eyes as they spell out their lessons. A phonogram CD is included in the starter kit as well.

I also really like the fact that the lesson plans are written out step by step. I don't always read it exactly as written, but if I see that my paraphrase didn't do the job, it's easy to back up and read and reread the lesson until the student grasps the concept. Not to mention, this makes lesson planning OH.SO.EASY!

We also received Level 2 for review; although to be honest we're still working our way through Level 1. Here is a list of the items that are learned in Level 2.

The open and closed syllable types
How to divide words into syllables
How to spell multisyllable words
When y can say /î/
How Silent E can make a vowel long
The vowel-consonant-e syllable type
Two spellings for the sound of /z/
The two sounds of long u
The difference between hard and soft c and g
Ways to spell long e
That English words don’t end in i, j, u, or v
The most common way to spell the sound of /er/
When to use oi/oy, aw/au, and ow/ou and more!

To read more reviews by Crew memebers, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.