I did it! I found the best spelling program ever! The program name is All About Spelling. The program is so versatile. It can start at preschool aged children (my daughter) all the way to High School level (Level 6) because they are not specified to grade levels but they are arranged by concepts and spelling patterns.
I know some of you out there have children who might be dyslexic, and this program would be perfect for you. Again, because it is based on concepts not age, you take bite-sized chunks that each child can comprehend. And with the use of manipulative, flash cards, verbal skills as well as writing words on paper, there is something for every child to be able to soak up the information into their brains.
Lets talk for a moment about the down side, prep time. Here is where it gets a bit time consuming. When you first get your packet you will get cutters cramp. (LOL) All the tiles, flash cards etc have to be cut by hand. This is the one thing I wish the company would either do for you or at least have everything perforated so that it can just be torn apart and maybe they could print the letter tiles onto magnet paper instead of having the parents stick magnet squares on the back of each letter tile.
But once you get past all that and your hand and arm have rested for a day (LOL), the prep time each day is 5 seconds. Yes, you read it right, 5 seconds! This is the prep…get the book, get the cards, and get the board, your done! Then its off to work we go and because you use all the senses of your child it only takes about 15 minutes or so a day.
My son, 6, is a reader already, however we decided to start with level one at the very beginning. We whizzed through 2 or 3 lessons at a time and now we have slowed down to 1 lesson a day and we are almost to level 2.
I waited to ask him what he thought of the program until after we slowed down. I have to say I already knew what the answer would be just by his reaction everyday when I would say it was time for spelling. He LOVES it! He said this was the most fun of all his schoolwork except for art and PE. Now that’s pretty good, since he only reads when he has to. And as far as my daughter, 3, goes, I have her sit with us when we do spelling so she can see all the cards and even do some of the manipulative with my son. I am really excited to see her progress, because she is just not picking up on the letter sounds. She knows the alphabet, but sounds keep getting mixed up for her.
If you have not figured it out by this very long review and the tone of the review, I LOVE this program and HIGHLY recommend it for EVERYONE! Please, check out a free sample for yourself and read the FAQ to get a better idea of the program. Then once you get it and work with it for a while, please come back here and put a comment for others to see. If you are like me and have tried several spelling programs, and your still looking, then try All About Spelling for sure. I know you’ll love it too.
Score 10 out of 10
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