All About Spelling ~ The Story Behind the Program

Marie from All About Spelling sent me a link to this video the other day that tells the story behind the start of the program. If I wasn’t already using the program…well, I’d buy it all over again after watching this video!

I will honestly tell you that this spelling curriculum completely changed my perspective on how I teach my children and what I look for in ANY curriculum that we use as a family ~ and I am so thankful for that!

All About Reading ~ What Am I? Review

The folks at All About Reading and All About Spelling never cease to amaze me.

Seriously.

I was thrilled when they introduced their first All About Reading book and now that I have the book What Am I? in my hands…I’m just plain giddy. Especially since I know that there are even more coming!

What Am I? A Collection of Short Stories coordinates with the first 14 lessons of the Level 2 spelling program, but you do not need to use the All About Spelling program to use the books. It is a hardcover collection of ten short stories for beginning readers, each with beautiful illustrations, similar to the first reader that All About Reading released last fall.

Stories in What Am I?

1. The Bench
2. An Elf in the Alps
3. Broken Robot
4. The Bake Sale
5. Matt the Musk Ox
6. Skunk Hotel
7. Champ
8. Pine Tree Pet Shop
9. Just for You: Poems for Fun
10. What Am I?

Features of What Am I?

• Engaging graphics ~ ink sketches that tell enough about the story without giving away the wording to the reader.
• 160 page hardcover book ~ it’s sturdy and will stand up to little hands
• Story difficulty progresses through the book.
• Stories will appeal to both boys and girls ~ the themes range from animals to robots {and our kids enjoy them}.
• It ties in with the Level 2 All About Spelling program ~ a huge plus if you are using it!
• There are more coming!! Four more readers are scheduled to release by the end of 2010 along with a teacher’s manual ~ the books are being illustrated right now!

These books are still a little above Zachary’s reading level {he is working on the Level 1 spelling program and reader}, but McKenna can confidently read them to Zachary and Kaleb, and I’m happy to let her! Because they are hardcover, I know that they will easily survive the bumps and drops of daily life. We love these books so much and plan to own all of them.

Find Out More

What Am I? A Collection of Short Stories by Marie Rippel and Renee LaTulippe is available at the All About Reading website for $19.95. In addition, there are also two more readers available: "Cobweb the Cat" (All About Reading Level 1 Vol. 3) $19.95 and "Queen Bee: A Short Story Collection" (All About Reading Level 1 Vol. 2) $19.95.

Shipping has always been extremely fast and I would also highly recommend their homeschool spelling program that we are using with all of our children.

Click on the Homeschool Crew banner to read other reviews about this product.

This product was given to me for review purposes, and I do not have to return the product to the vendor. I was not paid for this post. All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

Spell Quizzer

We do the bulk of our homeschooling in the afternoon with the girls while our youngest two are napping, but even then there are plenty of interruptions when we try to do quizzes or tests. There are times that the girls need some extra practice on some of the spelling rules and new words that they are learning during the week. Having them able to practice their word lists independently is extremely helpful because it allows me 1:1 time with the other child to help them in their studies.

SpellQuizzer is a spelling software that allows you to enter your child's spelling or vocabulary list and make an audio recording of the word and a definition or 'clue'. Your child is then quizzed on the list one word at time and types the spelling word on the keyboard. SpellQuizzer immediately lets the child know if the word has been spelled wrong and later will re-quiz him once all the words have been spelled. At the end of the test he is told how many words were spelled correctly.

My kids love working on the computer, so they have had a lot of fun using this program and are learning some great keyboard skills at the same time (a lovely added bonus). It also has helped break up the repetition of copying spelling words by hand and allows one child to be working on the computer while I have some 1:1 time with the other. The program is simple enough that the girls can open the program and click on the list that they are working on - all by themselves.

In order to record the word clues/phrases for your children you do need a microphone attached to your computer (around $10 at Walmart). SpellQuizzer also has free lists online that you can import into your SpellQuizzer program. If you choose not to use the audio portion, you can instead type in a clue word or phrase for your child to use.

SpellQuizzer is available to download for $29.95 and the company also offers a group discount (for co-ops, etc..) with a multiple license purchase. Downloading and installation is quick and easy and they also offer a free 30 day trial so you have a chance to try it out and see how it works for your family. If you would like a peek at program at work, be sure to check out the video demos that SpellQuizzer has available on their site.

Click on the Homeschool Crew banner to read other reviews about SpellQuizzer.

Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading

When you are asked to review a product like The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading, a program that is extremely thorough, well-laid out and chocked full of great information and provides video training for the teachers ~ it can seem a just a bit overwhelming.

Because a 'quick' review really won't do this program justice.

And if I were to highlight every aspect of this amazing curriculum...well, you might be reading here for awhile.

I was sent the Level 1 package of a four year complete phonics program for K-4, designed to build skills in spelling, reading, writing, grammar and composition. Phonics Road goes hand-in-hand with another product offered by Schola Publications called The Latin Road to English Grammar.

The theme of Phonics Road is building: the apprentice (student) and foreman (teacher) learn and build on skills, developing strong reading, spelling and writing skills. Rather than focusing whole-word method to teach reading, your child begins learning the basis to good reading and writing with spelling being the key to it all.

"The Apprentice begins by learning the tools of his trade - single vowels and consonants, vowel teams and consonant teams. After these tools are mastered, the Apprentice uses them to build words according to the Blueprints (spelling list). Along the way the Foreman shows that words are formed according to Building Codes (spelling rules). Rules are set to songs - Rule Tunes - for easy memorization."

The program is laid out with every bit of information you need to effectively teach your child and includes 10 DVDs that provide step-by-step instruction on what to teach and how to teach it. There are over 16 hours of teaching examples for you as the "foreman": especially how to correctly speak, write and read the sounds that are introduced in this level.

As your child progresses through the Phonics Road, they earn 'tools' (sound & letter cards) for their 'toolbox'. About 15 weeks into the program, they begin reading and illustrating short stories using story booklets. The story booklets have room for your child to illustrate at the top of the page what they have written about below.

Here's a quick peek at the Scope and Sequence of Level One (click on the thumbnail for a closer view):



The Level One complete package ($199) comes with:

• Foreman's Construction Guide ~ includes the History of English, Plot plan with 10 instructional DVDs, Blueprints (detailed daily lesson plans), Rule Tunes (simple songs teaching spelling rules), Building Codes (charts of the rules), and Tool Drill Cards (72 color-coded drill cards)
• Apprentice's Building Manual ~ includes Blueprints (all paperwork for the year), Building Codes (blank charts to fill in), Composition pages, First Readers (23 ready to illustrate), Handy-dandy Clipboard, Student Tool Cards and Pens & Pencils.
  

Overall, Phonics Road is an amazing program and would be a great investment in your homeschooling curricula. The price, $199 for the complete first year kit, is a bit high, but the bulk of the material is not consumable and can be used year after year with other children. Additional student/apprentice kits can be purchased for $69.

The Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading will require time and effort on your part. To effectively and properly use the program, time needs to be spent watching the instructional DVDs, but the end results of the program will far outweigh the time input that is initially needed.

If you are one that is intimidated by teaching phonics because you don't have the first clue where to begin, this would be an excellent program for you because it walks you through each lesson step-by-step so that there are no questions left unanswered.

The Schola Publications site offers some free audio workshops as well as a sample DVD of their program. You can also view their intro video online and request more information about their curriculum. Be sure to check out the Homeschool Crew blog to see reviews on the different levels of both the Phonics Road and the Latin Road.

All About Homophones

A few months ago I reviewed a program All About Spelling by Marie Rippel. One that I will be using for years to come with our kiddos.

I am that much in love with the program.




Needless to say, I was thrilled beyond measure when they sent me a second product of theirs to review called All About Homophones: Your Complete Tool Kit. This is an amazing resource to help teach your children homophones quickly and easily (homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently...be/bee, sea/see, etc...).

All About Homophones comes with homophone worksheets, games and activities, and includes over 200 pages of teaching tools and resources for you to help teach your child about homophones. The graphics alone in the book are wonderful and the curriculum itself is even better!

My girls have loved playing card games such as Go Fish!, Pig, Old Maid and more to help in learning the different words and their meanings. The information is presented in such a fun and interactive way that the girls forgot we were doing school - and to me, that's what learning is really all about!

Everything that you need for All About Homophones is included in the book you receive: reproducible pages for the card games, worksheets, graphic organizers, crossword puzzles, student record sheets, grade-level lists, teaching plans, and more! You can purchase a softcover printed copy ($19.95) or an ebook version ($17.95).

And if you haven't heard about All About Spelling, check out my earlier review about their curriculum. The All About Homophones Tool Kit comes with a money-back guarantee too - 30 days, no questions asked. I'll leave you with this fun translation from the homophone machine:


"Awl About Homophones is a grate tulle
two ewes inn you're school thyme."
See? Even I am having too much fun with it!

All About Spelling Review

I thought we were perfectly fine with the spelling program that we were using until I started using All About Spelling with the girls. Now I'm hooked on this program and thrilled that our girls look forward to spelling time and we love doing it together. We have worked our way through level one and will be starting level two soon.

Each lesson book in All About Spelling comes with a materials packet that includes: flashcards, index card dividers, tokens, progress charts, a completion certificate, and other tools to help you teach. The program also uses letter tiles that can be used in all six levels. The letter tiles are not included in the material pack of each level (so that you wouldn't have six sets). They can be purchased separately for $12.95.

All About Spelling teaches "phonograms" - letter combinations that are the base for building words (a cd-rom of the sounds is also available for purchase if you would like to hear the exact sounds of each phonogram).

What I am loving about the program:

1. The lessons are amazingly easy to follow: Step-by-step directions are given for each lesson in the level, including all the materials that you will need for the lesson.
2. You can customize each lesson to your children's needs. We went through the early lessons rather quickly and then paced the lessons at a rate that was comfortable for us.
3. Review: Each lesson includes a way to review the steps and rules that have been taught in previous lessons, along with reinforcement for the lessons that were learned during that lesson.
4. Hands-on materials: The program uses letter tiles that you can make magnetic to spell out the words and sounds that you are practicing. There are also flashcards included in the set along with the teacher's manual. This hands-on aspect has really helped in our learning.
5. Clear/direct spelling rules: All About Spelling teaches clear rules (and notes any exceptions if there are any to the rule) - even I'm learning a thing or two!
6. It will be a complete curriculum from preschool to high school. It's a one-stop spelling curriculum, and I LOVE that!
7. Price!! Both the level one and level two sets are only $29.95 each and can be used in the years to come with younger children since the materials are not consumable (a HUGE plus for me!). Levels three and four are $39.95. If you are teaching more than one student at a time, you can order additional materials packets (for around $12.95 each).

There is nothing that I haven't been pleased about with this curriculum - seriously! If you are interested in learning more about how to teach using All About Spelling, know that they a 100% learning satisfaction guarantee. This is definitely a program that we will be using through the years with our kids! 

This All About Spelling Review was written based on our personal use of the program. I was provided the program to review in exchange for my honest opinion.