Review - Sequential Spelling

We've been using Sequential Spelling for about a year and a half.  We found it after we had gone through two other spelling programs and I would notice that words that had been on the spelling list, weeks ago, would be correct for the test; but wrong in later writing assignments.  I didn't want my children to just memorize words, I wanted them to see the patterns of word families, to let it really sink in and to remember their spelling words when it came time to use them in a document.

I spent several nights reading reviews of spelling curricula, "looking" through sample pages that were available on websites, and just thinking through the whole "how does my child learn" process.

There are 7 books in the Sequential Spelling series. For the most part, they recommend that any new student should start with Book 1, though they do give ideas for how to "double up" so that an older student can get though the books at a quicker rate.

Here is their website for more information - http://avko.org/sequentialspelling.html

Here is Gwangi doing his spelling.  We just started him on Sequential Spelling, Level 1, this year.  He was still struggling with his reading last year, and I have found that waiting until their reading is on a more solid footing, really makes the spelling stick.  Otherwise, it's just a bunch of random letters.  You can see, that after just 5 days, he's spelling words like beginning.  It starts with 'be' and 'in' and they see the patterns of adding prefixes and suffixes.  The "days" are spread throughout the book so that a child can't copy the previous day's words on his new list.

Krypto is about a quarter of the way through Sequential Spelling, Level 2.

A look at the lists that Krypto was working on this past week.  The book has notes at the bottom that explain the "starred" or darkened words.  Those have to do with homophones and homonyms.  You can explain those to your children as you go...the different spellings and meanings of words.  I always give each word in a made up sentence, to give it context.