review – All About Spelling

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Spelling wasn’t something that I had to really think about with my first child. She is a natural speller and any ol’ workbook did the trick. Child #2 is another story. She can do the work perfectly, but it does not transfer over into her writing. I just knew that All About Spelling would work for her!

All About Spelling is a hands-on curriculum. The lessons are simple to teach and the student follows along with the lesson using letter tiles. It is mastery-based, not grade level-based,  so students of any age can jump in at whatever level is needed. Continual review ensures that the lessons stick.

I also use this for my 7 yr. old beginning speller. The short lessons, daily review, and hands-on work keep him from getting bored and distracted.

I do our lessons on a magnetic whiteboard that I bought at Walmart. A magnet board is not a necessity for this program, but it saves a lot of time since the letters do not have to be lined up each day. I definitely recommend purchasing the magnets for letter tiles. It was so much simpler than cutting my own.

Level 1 covers:

  • How to say and write the first 32 phonograms
  • How to segment words into their individual sounds
  • Short and long vowel sounds
  • How to identify and count syllables in a word
  • How to choose between c and k at the beginning of a word
  • When to double f, l, and s
  • How to spell /k/ at the end of a word
  • How to form plural words by adding s or es
  • Compound words
  • Open and closed syllable types

Level 2 covers:

  • 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

The Nitty Gritty:

  • Starter Kit (letter tiles, magnets, phonogram cd-rom) $26.95 – used for all 6 levels
  • Level 1 teacher & student   $29.95
  • Level 2 teacher & student   $39.95
  • items can also be ordered individually

Things I Like:

  • hands-on
  • easy to teach
  • concepts are taught in a logical order
  • works for all ages instead of grade-leveled
  • my kids don’t dread spelling!

Value: Spelling is one of those subjects that is worth every penny if it works for your child. This on is particularly budget-friendly for a big family like mine since it is non-consumable.

See what my TOS Crew Mates have to say about All About Spelling!

I recieved All About Spelling levels 1 & 2 and the starter kit free for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was given.