Archives for November 2009

I received a free 1-year membership to AVKO. That name may not ring a bell, but I bet many of you are familiar with one of their products – Sequential Spelling.

AVKO is a non-profit organization “that focuses on the development and production of materials and especially techniques to teach reading and spelling, handwriting (manuscript and cursive), and keyboarding.  AVKO is dedicated to the teaching everyone how to read and spell, regardless of their mild to moderate learning disabilities, dyslexia, poverty, or opportunity. ”

Benefits of Basic Membership:

• Discounts on AVKO Printed Materials

• Hundreds of dollars worth of FREE e-books:

~ The Patterns of English Spelling (All 10 Volumes) with Word Families in Sentence Context

~ To Teach a Dyslexic

~ Starting at Square One

~ The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: A Continuum from Kindergarten through College

~ The Reading Teacher’s List of over 5,500 Basic Spelling Words

• Access to the Member Only section
• AVKO Newsletter with freebies, discounts, resources and promotions
• Access to Don McCabe’s most popular workshop recordings in MP3 format
• Supplemental Curriculum Materials including word games, worksheets, activities and more
• Access to Pretests and Placement Tests
• Access to the Answer Keys for the Unscramblers and Family Reunion exercises of the Engaging Language Kits

While most of these resources don’t mesh with our method of spelling, it was very interesting to poke around the site and explore all the goodies. The e-books alone are worth hundreds of dollars. If you use Sequential Spelling, or if you have a child who is struggling, this membership could be of great value to you!

You can view some Freebies HERE and some Samples HERE.

The Nitty Gritty:

• Basic Membership $25
• Deluxe Membership  $100

Things I Like:

• There are so many resources to read!
  
• The book on teaching a child with dyslexia has helped many people who didn’t know where else to turn.

Value: If you have a need for this, it is a fantastic value! For $25 you get access to hundreds of dollars worth of e-books, and the 25% discount is very valuable if you want to order any of their products like Sequential Spelling.

See what my TOS Crew Mates have to say about AVKO!