There Will Be A $5.00 Charge For Whining: A TOS Review: Spellng You See (Level F)

Admittedly, spelling is not the easiest subject for the dyslexic child.Traditional weekly word lists have really never worked. More often than not on text days I would get a “deer in the headlights” look or one of those “I’m really playing video games in my head, Mom, so I didn’t get a thing you said.”

I get those looks more often than I would like.

Last year, I got to review Spelling You See. It really was a game changer for us. Spelling You See is an exceptional spelling program from the creators of Math U See, Demme Learning. This year we received Ancient Achievements (Level F) to try.

We received the Ancient Achievements Student Pack. It contains two consumable workbooks (Part 1 and Part 2), an Instructor’s Handbook and a packet of erasable colored pencils. This is program is not determined by grade level. Instead it focuses on student readiness. Which I love!

The philosophy of Spelling You See is based on Developmental Readiness. Spelling You See has helpful readiness guides so I was able to narrow down what level Josiah was ready for.

One of my favorite parts of the program is its ease of use. It just takes a small part of each day. There isn’t any prep on my part.

How We Used It

Here is how it works. We used Spelling You See every day.

The passages in Ancient Achievements are exactly what it sounds like. The student reads through historical information pertaining to ancient achievements. Instead of learning lists of words, Josiah is learning spelling patterns in context of an interesting and informative text.

As we read through the text, Josiah looks for the spelling pattern. He might be instructed to look for consonant chunks, which are two or more letters that make one consonant sound. Or he might be asked to look for “bossy r” words.

On this particular lesson (Lesson 1!), He was asked to look for vowel chunks (two or more letters that make one vowel sound) and mark them with a yellow colored pencil.

Once Josiah marked the patterns he was asked to copy a portion of the passage. When Josiah was younger, copywork was tortuous for him. Now I try and include it as much as I can in his daily work. I love that it is part of this spelling program. I think, in general, it just helps his overall penmanship and English skills.

Josiah completed the same process over the next few lessons. On Day 4, he marked the passage and then wrote the passage in the space given as I dictated it. On this day he was allowed to ask for help. You have to excuse the picture quality. I suspect my camera is being for nefarious purposes. I found reenactments of the past 3 Superbowls in the archives.

The last lesson (Day 5) gave Josiah another opportunity to write as I dictated the passage. This time, however, he could not ask for help.

I really enjoy Spelling You See. It works for us. Josiah knows what to expect. We don’t have to agonize over long weekly spelling lists. It is also better for him emotionally. He doesn’t have to worry about feeling like he’s “behind.” Because this program is developmentally based, he doesn’t have to worry about working through curriculum that is a grade or two behind his current grade.

I have always thought that readers make better spellers. He is learning the makeup of words within the context of a well-written passage of interesting information.

Not all of the lessons have been easy ones for Josiah in this level, but overall I have seen a marked improvement in his spelling with Spelling You See in the year I we have used the program.

It works for us!