All About Reading

Published by Marie Rippel, literacy expert, All About Spelling is an enjoyable, multi-sensory program with step by step lesson plans and daily review. Written for elementary aged students just beginning their literacy journey, All About Spelling fits nicely with a multitude of language arts curriculum and provides a gentle, thorough program for children.

Fans of All About Spelling will be thrilled to note readers are being added to complement the lessons of each level of All About Spelling. The readers, sold under the name All About Reading, are beautifully designed 5 1/2" by 8 1/2" hard bound books; perfect for little hands. Unlike other beginning readers, All About Reading readers do not contain extra sight words which may or may not be familiar to the student. Chapters align with words being studied in the All About Spelling program.

"I know first hand the importance of having decodable books for young children who are just beginning to read and for older children who are struggling to read", said Rippel, author of the All About Spelling curriculum and All About Reading readers. "My son (now 17 years old) was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was younger. We were told that he would never be able to read fluently. The good news is that after teaching him--using the same method I lay out in the All About Spelling program-- he is now a very strong fluent reader, and he actually enjoys reading for pleasure" she continued.

Our family received What am I? a collection of short stories for free in exchange for this review. This particular reader is not currently available on the website, but should be listed by April 15, 2010. It is the first reader to correlate with Level 2 of All About Spelling.

I really, really, really like All About Spelling and the Beehive Reader. My 2nd grader, Sierra struggles with phonics and language arts related activities. All About Spelling has provided her a much needed breath of fresh air from typical language arts study. My experience in teaching four older students is that spelling is a gift. You either have it or you don't and if you don't the average spelling curricula is simply a waste of time and energy. All About Spelling, however, does teach poor spellers appropriate tools and rules for decoding mysterious words making correct spelling an achievable goal.

Sierra is finishing Level 1 of All About Spelling. She reads fluently at a third grade level so I had her read some of the short stories included in What am I? to offer a kid's perspective.

"I liked the stories. My favorite story was "The Bench" because there was music in it. Lots of the stories were interesting to read. I could find some of my spelling words in the stories and some of the words were kind of difficult. I'm glad we got this reader because I really liked the first book (Beehive Reader) too." said Sierra.

I am in agreement with Sierra. What am I? is a delightful combination of charming illustrations, stories and poems. Having the reader divided into simple short stories allows even the most reluctant of reading students a stress free opportunity to practice new skills. Introducing playful poetry to the reader broadens and enriches students literary experience even more.

To read our opinion of All About Reading Level 1, Beehive Reader 1 click here. To read our family's comprehensive review of the All About Spelling Program, click here.

AVKO

Founded in 1974, the AVKO Educational Research Foundation promises in their mission statement to "provide free and low cost resources to home and school educators in order to achieve literacy for all even despite learning challenges or dyslexia." Their website, www.avko.org, offers a low cost yearly membership to the site providing resources and support for those coping with or teaching a dyslexic reader. As a member of TOS Review Crew I received a complimentary Basic membership to the AVKO website in exchange for this review.

Serving as the Research Director of AVKO, Michigan native, author and educator, Don McCabe

is passionate about teaching literacy. His passion probably stems from his own personal struggles. His autobiography, To Teach a Dyslexic chronicles events of his life that enabled him to read, write and also teach. McCabe is dyslexic and has made it his life pursuit to decode the logic of the English language being quoted on his website with the following statement:

"English does have an internal logic that good readers and good spellers somehow subconsciously learn without being taught. Dyslexics tend to be logical and try to follow what

they have been taught. But the way reading is

taught today has nothing to do with this internal logic. English has highly consistent logical patterns. So, if we exclude the very few (but highly common) "insane" words such as was and does, English can be said to be 99.9% phonically consistent. The anti-phonics people fail to realize the vast difference between phonetics, phonemics, and phonics."

In addition to serving as Research Director for the AVKO Educational Research Foundation, McCabe has authored over 20 books and articles relating to teaching reading and spelling including The Patterns of English Spelling, a reference tool for teachers providing all English words which follow any particular spelling pattern. McCabe has set forth a challenge on his website for any researcher or politician willing to fund it which provides for achieving a 97% Satisfactory Literacy for American 15 year olds in 25 years or less. McCabe is committed to the study of language and teaching of reading.

Our family has never had a struggle with dyslexia, but my second daughter absolutely struggled with learning to read and spelling. Reading over the information provided on the AVKO website I began to understand how I might have taught her better while she learned to decode English. Many homeschooling families are familiar with the AVKO spelling curriculum Sequential Spelling. I have not used it in my homeschool, and found it a bit too late in my daughter's primary education to benefit from it, but it is my understanding the curriculum follows all the principles discovered through McCabe's research and is highly successful in teaching students to spell who have been unsuccessful with other approaches.

I used my complimentary membership to the AVKO website to educate myself since I presently have no dyslexic students. As a member I had access to supplementary worksheets that coordinate with the Sequential Spelling curriculum, access to 6 audio workshops on MP3 files, a variety of free e-books downloadable from the website, and a 25% discount on all other AVKO materials. I chose to listen to McCabe's workshop, Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative, Don't Mess with Mr. Inbetween. I found the sound clear and uninterrupted, but the lack of visuals left me a bit uninspired. All workshops are designed to help teachers become better educators of reading and spelling.

A Basic Membership for one year costs $25.00 and includes:

• Discounts on AVKO printed materials
• Hundreds of dollars worth of FREE e-books (PDF)
  • The Patterns of English Spelling (All 10 Volumes) with Word Families in Sentence Context
  • To Teach a Dyslexic
  • Starting at Square One
  • The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: a Continuum from Kindergarten through College.
  • The Reading Teacher's List of Over 5,500 Basic Spelling Words
• Access to the Member Only section
• AVKO Newsletter with freebies, discounts, resources, and promotions
• Access to Don McCabe's most popular workshop recordings in MP3 format.
• Supplemental Curriculum Materials including word games, worksheets, activities, and more!
• Access to Pretests and Placement Tests
• Access to the Answer Keys for the Unscramblers and Family Reunion exercises of the Engaging Language Kits

Payment for membership can be made with VISA, MasterCard, Discover, PayPal, AMEX or e-check. For those who prefer NOT to shop on-line the foundation will accept a personal check mailed to them.

For more information regarding teaching dyslexic students and the resources offered by AVKO please visit their website, read their blog at www.avko.blogspot.com, become a fan on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.

SpellQuizzer

“I thought it was a really helpful study tool. I liked how it would go back and test you on the words you didn’t know; the words you originally got incorrect.”

That’s what Sammi, age 17, had to say about SpellQuizzer, a Windows based spelling software program created by Dan Hite of TedCo software. Sammi became my test market victim, because she is the poster child for students needing assistance with spelling.

When Sammi and her older sister were in grade school they practiced spelling on a daily basis. No amount of workbook pages, flashcards, etc., ever proved to make spelling an easy subject for Sam. In fact, as she began studying French, her second language of choice, we discovered she struggled with spelling in that language too. We joked about it saying at least she was consistently a poor speller in all languages.

Sammi has now moved on to post-secondary classes at a local university and I no longer spend time trying to help her with spelling on a regular basis. Unfortunately, college level French classes require precise spelling in order to successfully pass portions of the course and Sammi’s quest to become a good speller has now taken on even greater value. She is planning to major in French and hopes to someday become a French teacher.

She had her first official college mid-term in French last week and I thought it would be a great opportunity to put the value of SpellQuizzer to the test. I prepared a list of French vocabulary words to use with the SpellQuizzer program to serve as a study tool for her test. I was anxious to see if SpellQuizzer could help Miss “Spelling Challenged” conquer her mid-term.

SpellQuizzer allows families the opportunity to create individualized word lists through the use of the computer keyboard and if possible, a headset microphone. Simply type the word into the program after clicking on the correct “create a list” prompt. After typing choose to record or type a sentence using the word. This sentence will be given to the student during the quizzing process. If utilizing the record option, simply click on the appropriate record button and SpellQuizzer allows nearly 20 seconds for recording your sentence through the use of a headset microphone. I thought the voice prompt worked especially well for foreign language study because training the ear is such a large part of working towards fluency. The whole process of adding the words and recording my sentences took about 15-20 minutes time and left me saying things like, “Cool!”, “Very Fun!”; words I would never have used before to describe Spelling or vocabulary drill work.

The SpellQuizzer program is easily downloaded to your home computer from the website, http://spellquizzer.com/ The cost is $29.95 and may be used by a family for multiple children. Easily understood demonstration videos are available on the website. I used these to learn how to create spelling lists, use the spelling lists, import files and export files.

The importing and exporting of files makes SpellQuizzer an even better value. Customers can potentially not purchase a formal spelling curriculum and simply use SpellQuizzer’s graded word lists on their site. Some of the word lists are organized around a theme. I saw, for example, a St. Patrick’s Day word list and noted how much fun it would be to study holiday spelling words one week instead of a typical grouping of words based on grade level.

As a homeschool Mom I am always interested in products which will make my life a bit easier and help educate my kids in the process. SpellQuizzer is like a friend living inside the family computer ready and willing to quiz kids on their spelling words. With a touch of creativity families can use SpellQuizzer as a learning tool for vocabulary development too. Being able to personalize the word lists with your own sound recordings really adds to the fun and versatility of the program. A few minutes of preparation and SpellQuizzer will take over for the teacher making sure students are ready for their next spelling test.

Sammi had her mid-term last week, but still hasn’t gotten her results. I asked her if she felt using SpellQuizzer had helped her and she said it definitely did. “I liked it a lot better than flashcards or other study methods, because it kept repeating words I didn’t know. It was a lot easier not to get distracted while studying too. It was like having a partner there with you to study”.

A free 30 day trial of SpellQuizzer is available at the SpellQuizzer website. I highly recomend creating your own test market situation to evaluate this handy program. Kids will love using SpellQuizzer and homeschool teachers will love having an extra bit of help with spelling and vocabulary review.

All About Spelling

I love non-traditional education. Our family embraces learning based around great literature and activities filled with dramatic play, cooking, and games. Home education to me should be filled with memory making moments carefully crafted to make learning an exciting, fascinating adventure.

Unfortunately, over the years there are certain subjects that I have just never mastered at making fun or even remotely interesting. Spelling is one of those subjects that have slipped from my priority radar recently, and quite honestly, I gave up teaching. I found that no matter how much time I dedicated to traditional spelling curriculum, my worst speller still couldn’t. After comparing notes with other homeschoolers, I surmised that Spelling was definitely one of those subjects where you either got it or you didn’t. I decided some of my children would be doomed to a life of horrible spelling issues and uttered defeat with, “God bless spell check!”

I recently discovered its time to revive the fight! All About Spelling, designed by literary expert Marie Rippel, is a FANTASTIC, multi-sensory approach to spelling education. Throw away the workbooks, strap on your fun hat and be ready to make spelling the favorite subject of the day.


When I opened the shipping box from All About Spelling, it took me about an hour to prep the curriculum. I located all the various dividers and cards, cut them apart and organized them. I found this to be a bit of a negative since time is precious at my house. All About Spelling intends to produce future packages of their curriculum with perforated cards, so no cutting will be necessary; simply tear and go.

Once organized it took me 10-15 mins. to read through the introduction of the program and be ready to begin with Step 1 of Level 1. Reading through the directions reminded me of reading the rules and procedures for a new board game. The bright colored pieces, the friendly teacher manual, the magnetic tiles were all so intriguing and interesting that my seven year old daughter Sierra and I couldn’t wait to get started. I think this is the sign of a great curriculum. If you can open the box when it arrives, look at the contents with excitement and then maintain that excitement while you discover the ins and outs of using the curriculum, you are guaranteed to want to use it for days on end. Sierra and I fell in love with AAS from the moment we opened the box and gazed at all the colorful letter tiles and cards. It’s a love affair that continues now two months. Spelling is her favorite part of the school day.

Beginning with the very basics of our language, All About Spelling is based on learning the sounds (phonograms) of our language first. Gone are the typical lists of words, drill and tests. This spelling program teaches students the intricacies of the English language through lessons based around games and activities designed to support visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning.

The lessons, called steps, are scripted for the teacher; a great plus for any mom plagued with interruptions. Level One requires students memorize 32 phonograms by the end of 24 steps. They begin step one with only 26. Each phonogram has its own colorful flashcard with the
letter printed on the front and a phonetic description of the sound along with a helpful key word to aid in pronunciation on the back. Sierra loved rattling off the phonogram sounds of the first 26 as most were familiar to her. Encouraged by the simplicity of the program I challenged her to see if she could have more in her “mastered” pile than I had in my “review” pile. Quickly, mastering the phonograms became a game and a few minutes of phonics based study a treat. The total lesson time took 10- 15 mins., but the best part for Sierra was the end of the lesson as she got to place a sticker on her progress chart, provided by All About Spelling!

Step 2 of Level 1 introduced the concept of segmenting words or pulling words apart by sounds; the opposite of blends. The experience reminded me a great deal of the phonics based approach to learning to read. Segmenting practice was accomplished by using colored disks to push across the table for each sound. For example, using a three sound word like “pig” the student says “P” then slides one disk, “I”- slide, “G”- slide. Sierra, a true kinesthetic learner, enjoyed the process of using her body to reinforce the phonetic sounds she was hearing and deciphering as she segmented the words. I could almost see her brain making the necessary connections as she completed the exercise. As I watched I couldn’t help but think how refreshing it was to actually have a curriculum designed to teach young children in the way they learn best. Spelling would not be an abstract concept for Sierra, but something she saw, heard and touched through this experience.


Step 4 introduced the Sound Cards of the program using the same 26 sounds from the previously mastered Phonogram Cards. At this point the student listens to the sound and selects the colorful magnetic tile that matches the sound heard. All consonants are blue and vowels are red for visual reinforcement to connect to the the concept that vowels are “special”. When the child can match sounds the next activity is to write the sound on paper or some other format while you recite them. Rippel, reminds the teacher in the manual of the processing in the child’s brain that is happening while this activity ensues.

“It is important for the student to say the sounds of the phonograms as he writes them down. Doing so involves the three pathways to the brain: visual (seeing the phonogram), auditory (hearing the phonogram spoken aloud) and the kinesthetic (feeling the process of forming the letters and feeling the vocal cords as the sound is repeated).”

Rippel recommends using rice, sand, plush fabrics, etc. for the child to write their letters on “to maximize the kinesthetic experience of the curriculum”. Sierra loved writing on top of a bag filled with green dish detergent. The potentially labor intensive drill for a 7 year old became a joy-filled experience leading to giggles because of the unusual writing materials used for practice. The age appropriate activity proved so play oriented that Sierra skipped happily away from the table at the conclusion of the lesson. She had enjoyed every moment of writing practice. Wow!

Currently, the program offers curriculum in four levels complete with a teacher’s manual, letter tiles, magnets for the tiles, flashcards, and a phonogram CD-ROM. Two more AAS books will be added in 2009 bringing the series to completion and the student to a high school level of competency.

The Level One set retails for $29.95 with additional material packets available for $12.95. Sample lessons and a scope and sequence of the curriculum can be viewed on the All About Spelling website. The company offers a 100% one year money back guarantee to all customers.

All About Spelling is the smartest, most creative and child friendly spelling program I have ever come across in my 14 years of home education. I never thought I would be excited about a spelling curriculum, but this one sends me singing on the mountain tops. All About Spelling speaks to the child in the way she learns best. It’s fun, it’s teacher friendly, it’s easy to facilitate, and most importantly, its effective!