Schoolhouse Review: Spelling You See #hsreviews

Since the Princess was a late arrival to reading, we continue to work on spelling as much as we can. She is definitely a visual learner and finding a spelling program that engages her without making her experience additional pressure is a blessing.  Spelling You See (a sister curriculum to Math-U-See) has been an easy way to encourage practical spelling skills AND has already helped correct some of her more common mistakes.  After reading through the Spelling Readiness Guidelines, I knew that she could most benefit from Spelling You See:  American Spirit (Level E).  It was an added bonus that the passages complemented our history studies perfectly.  {I just love it when that happens, don't you?}

With five levels written for students of all ages, Spelling You See is designed to help a multitude of students from elementary-aged to older remedial learners improve their spelling skills.  There are no specific grade levels assigned, so parents can determine in which book to start each individual student. There are no scary spelling lists and no tests to cause students anxiety.  There are, however, simple passages to read and enjoy that help spelling make sense.

For review purposes, I was able to hold copies of both Spelling You See:  Americana (Level D) and Spelling You See:  American Spirit (Level E) in my hands.  Isn't that cool?  I like being able to touch multiple levels and see how each one works.  Each level has a Student Pack ($30.00) that consists of two workbooks and an Instructor's Handbook ($14.00).  All are softcover bound with laminated cardstock for durability.  The Student Workbooks each contain 18 weeks of instruction with 5 lessons per week.  Each set of weekly lessons repeats so students have ample time to reinforce what is being taught.
  A totally new (and refreshing) approach to spelling, Spelling You See truly is spelling that you SEE. Here's how we made it work best for us:
For the first lesson of each week, I read the story passage aloud to my Princess.  That auditory process really does help her to focus and prepare for what's ahead.  After hearing it read aloud, I had her read it to me.  (She is 12, so we used this time to reinforce her reading skills.  You might choose to read the story together with your child pointing to each word as you read it instead.)  Once we had both read the short passage to each other, the Princess spent time marking all of the "chunks."  She finished the first day's lesson by copying a portion of the story and marking the defined chunks again.

Marking Vowel and Consonant Chunks

Chunks were a new concept for both of us and I liked them.  A lot.  Students start by marking all vowel chunks -- letter combinations such as aa, ae, oa, ua -- in yellow throughout the assigned passage.  As lessons progress, they find themselves marking consonant chunks (consonant combinations such as ch, gh, bb, cc, ck) in blue, bossy r chunks (such as ar, er, or) in purple, and word endings (such as ed, es) in pink.  Marking each of these combinations were a huge plus for my visual girl.  

Copywork

On the second and third lessons of each week, we read the story passage to one another again, she marked chunks, and then copied the next portions of the passage.  In the final two lessons each week, we re-read the story passage, marked chunks, and then she wrote the entire passage from dictation.  It was amazing to see how well this clicked in her head.  She was most proud of the fact that her spelling errors decreased in just a few weeks of study.  I was impressed that not only was she learning to spell, but her handwriting is also improving.  

THAT smile does my heart good

The passages are interesting and short enough that the Princess doesn't mind working on spelling each day.  After our reading of the story, she can work completely on her own for the "chunking" portion of the lesson.  I like that she can SEE how words are spelled and she can read them in context.  The repetition of story passages for a week can seem a bit tedious, but allows her the opportunity to focus on handwriting and  reading comprehension.  Seeing how the words work together also helps improve her reading skills and speed.  Sentence structure, handwriting, basic grammar, vocabulary, AND spelling all for less than 20 minutes a day.  You certainly can't beat that.  

Spelling You See is a great new find.  Now if only they'll make a high school edition for my Boy Scout . . .

For further information, you can find Spelling You See on social media.
FaceBook:  https://www.facebook.com/SpellingYouSee 
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/spellingyousee 

Be sure to check it out and let me know what you think.

I was given the opportunity to review Spelling You See as a member of the Schoolhouse ReviewCrew.   You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the Schoolhouse ReviewCrew thought of this and other products as well (or just click on the banner below.)

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