I have a couple of friends who are about to start the using "
All About Spelling" program and I
wanted to take a few minutes to explain why we like it SO MUCH and how we use the
program.
We started using "
All About Spelling" last fall with Lance (my then eight year old son) and have progressed nicely through the first three levels. Jared (at six) quickly worked his way through Level 1 this spring. For the younger children, I believe it also serves as great reinforcement in sounding out words for reading. I think I'll start Titus when he starts learning to read.
Easy to Teach: The program is truly scripted. Some programs claim to be scripted but still require that the parent pre-read and prepare before each lesson. That is not the case with this program. The only prep you might want to do before a new lesson is to make sure you have any new tiles ready (That is, if you're lazy like me and don't cut them all out and put the stickers on them at the beginning).
However, it is important that you do get everything. I tried to order a-la-carte at first and ended up buying the rest. Good news is that their "customer service" (the husband of the woman who created the program) is awesome. They are quick to return phone calls and provide advice when, if you're like me, a little unsure how to start a new program.
This advice included buying a magnetic dry erase board 2ft x 3ft at least (available for about $45 on amazon). You'll see in background of this picture the cookie sheet we tried to get away with for a while before we finally gave up and bought our new board.
The CD that comes with the program is particularly helpful with boys because it was recorded using a man's voice instead of a woman's and I think that has helped them distinguish some of the sounds they were having trouble singling out in other programs.
Promotes Movement: We had tried many different programs
in the past, they had all turned into drudgery (in their eyes and
mine). So we stopped. I have active boys and I wanted a program
that would allow them to get out of their seats more and that's when I
stumbled on this program. It has been a great fit. We spend very
little time at the table and the boys never moan about doing their
spelling anymore.
Slowly Builds in Difficulty:
It is important that you start with Level 1, regardless of your child's
age. The levels build on each other. Lance didn't mind, it let him be
successful in spelling in the beginning so it built up his confidence while he
was learning the rules and techniques of the program. I think this has
helped him continue to have success as he progresses through the
program.
In addition to the kinetic aspect of the program I really like the
progression into longer and longer dictation; first phrases and then
sentences. This is very Charlotte Mason-ish and that makes me happy. Once the option for dictation starts, that's the only thing I have them actually write out in their workbook. A simple spiral bound
notebook seems to work great. If they miss a word in the dictation, I simply pull that card out and make sure it's part of the review words the
next day. If they miss it again in review, I make up a phrase/sentence for dictation but I don't mention any of this to them. I want them to have fun learning.
At the end of Level three they have also started a creative aspect I like. A list of words are dictated and the child then has to make their own sentence out of them. In addition to promoting creativity, I believe it builds vocabulary knowledge since its difficult to use a word in a sentence if you don't know what it means.
It's Flexible and lends itself to Fun: Once you get back the initial few lessons, each lesson follows a similar pattern. Here's how we shake it up a bit. Each lesson has two lists of words: the list that goes along with the cards and extra words "for further practice". When we first do a lesson we work on the "for further practice words" and then the next day for review we use the cards. I want them to get all the practice they can but I don't want it to become drudgery so we break it up a bit. If the lesson has a lot of new ideas or ones that are causing difficulty then I break everything in half and do the lesson over a few days.
To spice things up we do jumping jacks for review words. One jumping jack for each word they spell orally correct and two if they get it wrong. Sometimes they ask to do two for correct words and one for wrong (they like jumping jacks). Titus joins in on this part too (randomly saying letters sometimes :-).
Then we lay on the floor around the dry erase board to practice the new material. I give them a choice each day of using the letters tiles, writing it with dry erase or doing it orally. They vary their choice from day to day. However, if they miss one then they must use the letter tiles.
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| "Ziggy" from All About Reading makes frequent appearances too, much to everyone's delight! |
And that's it! It does require my full attention and some days that's a bit difficult with the little ones in tow but I think that's part of why we all enjoy it so much.
