This year I had been talking to other homeschool Moms about what they used for spelling. I found a consensus among those of us who school eclectically and those who do not use a boxed curriculum that spelling was one area that they did not know what to use or how to teach. I recently received (for free) All About Spelling Levels 1 & 2 in order to review for the TOS Homeschool Crew.

It is a multi-sensory spelling program that appears to work for kids with all different types of learning styles. The program engages the child through sight, sound and touch. Each lesson is well-scripted, easy to use and the materials provided give you a complete spelling program. It is a mastery program not a grade level one so that you go through the program according to level of each child. If they have mastered the beginning then you can go quickly through those sections but can slow down once you reach an area that has not been mastered yet. It begins by ensuring that your child knows the basic phonographs then develops from there. It comes with a CD that you can put into your computer and have your child select each phonogram and listen to the sounds they produce. I liked it because it is more realistic in that it provides the child with each of the sounds that an be produced form the letter combinations unlike other programs that tell you the main ones then teach you to learn exceptions or the less used ones. Your child also gets a continual review of previous lessons so that what is learned is not easily forgotten. This is not a typical spelling program which involves just memorization, it teaches the child to learn the whys and hows of spelling.

What do you need to order for this program?

First each of the levels 1 through 6 require you to have the starter kit which comes with letter tiles, magnets, and the phonogram CD-ROM. The starter kit costs $26.95. You can also order each of items in it separately in case you have a need to do so at any time.

Level 1 kit comes with the teacher’s manual and a student packet. This costs $29.95 for level one. The other levels cost $39.95 for each of those kits. Since each child needs their own student packet you can order additional ones as needs. (Level 1 student packets cost $14.95 and other student packets cost $19.95 each)

Compared to other programs that actually teach your child mastery of a subject rather than just memorization this seemed fairly reasonable cost-wise in my experience.

You can view what is included in each packet and watch a video on what you need to order here at http://www.all-about-spelling.com/spelling-products.html.

You can view a sample of lessons here at http://www.all-about-spelling.com/spelling-lessons-samples.html.

What I liked about this program was everything is done already for you so there is very little planning and preparation for you to do as the teacher. Each lesson clearly tells you what you need and it is scripted so that you only need to follow what is in each lesson. Also each lesson is very short so that you can easily work it into your homeschool day along with everything else you are teaching and doing.

If you would like to find out more about All About Spelling please visit their website at http://www.all-about-spelling.com/. You may also wish to view what other TOS Crew members had to say about this product at our homeschool blog.

Filed under: Home, TOS Crew by Barbara
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