We just started using All About Spelling this year, and frankly at this point you couldn’t take it from me if you wanted to! Yes, we LOVE it that much! And not only do I love it, but my kids LOVE it! Every now and then I’ll let them pick the order of their workboxes, and I’m not kidding you, unless there’s a candy bar in one of the drawers, they’ll pick the All About Spelling box first every time!
Some benefits to All About Spelling:
- The program is multisensory, approaching spelling through sight, sound, and touch.
- The lesson plans scripted for you. They are easy to follow and leave nothing out! And it’s not just spelling, it’s a phonics program as well, and they teach all the rules in an easy to follow and understand manner.
- It works! I can honestly say I’ve noticed an improvement in both my 1st and 2nd grader’s spelling since we’ve started.
- It’s fun! This is an activity that we do one-on-one and since it involves many different activities, the kids seem to really enjoy it! They are learning quickly and we are all having fun (including me!) and that’s huge in my book!
I am so thrilled about this program, and I hope to use it with all of our kids from here on out.
One thing to note, there are only about 25 lessons in both the first and 2nd level books. I’m used to doing 1 lesson/day with my other curriculum, so obviously that wasn’t going to work. Some of the lessons for my 1st grader are pretty easy so we’re blazing through them quickly, but you are to teach to mastery with this program so after talking to the super nice people at All About Spelling I realized that you don’t need to go through 1 lesson each day. Instead you are to stay on that lesson until they’ve got the rules down pat, so we’ve slowed down a bit.
(This box has cards for both level 1 and level 2 in it, I found it in the office supply section of Target, it had a paper pad in it!)
Each level comes with a set of Phonogram Cards, Sound Cards, Key Word Cards (we call them trivia) and Spelling Word Cards. Each day you go through the cards they say to as well as review those your child hasn’t mastered which is nice. The cards help remind me what they need to work on, and I don’t know about you but I can use all the reminders I can get!
If you haven’t tried this program yet, all I can say is that you won’t be disappointed! Just make sure to call them first, or go through the test on the All About Spelling site under the FAQ page to see what level to buy. Their levels don’t quite correspond with grade level.
We have been using AAS for a little while now. I was using Phonics Road to Spelling and Reading. I liked the Orton-Gillingham concept, but wanted something less intensive. I found a box that the cards fit into at Walmart. It cost a little more than the regular plastic index boxes. It was in the school supply area. It is a metal type box, with a latch. Hope that helps.
I have enjoyed your blog so much, thank you! I purchase your letter of the week curriculum a few weeks ago and we are loving it so far. Thank you for sharing your amazing ideas!Bon
City Sister: We were using Abeka Spelling last year, then tried Spelling Power this year. I don't like Spelling Power b/c it is just one long quiz and it doesn't really teach my kids "WHY" we spell words as we do, it just teaches them to memorize them all. Abeka is okay, but still teaches to memorization more unless you use it in conjunction with their phonics program which I was doing.AAS is a phonics AND spelling program, so you don't need to use another phonics program at the same time. I still do Abeka worksheets to re-enforce / test what they've learned, but we do the phonics lessons from AAS.
This person uses the Sterlite flip boxes from Walmart.http://www.thechatterbee.com/profiles/blogs/getting-organized
I am totally sold on this curriculum and can't wait to order it! Do you buy the videos or do they do ok without the videos? Trying to save money, but don't want to skip it if they need it! Thanks so much for your blog….Love it! Carla
Hi Carla,No videos, they offer a phonograms CD so you can hear the sounds, and the teacher book. You do need to get the level one starter kit with the alphabet tiles and word cards though, they are used for all the levels.
Hi Carla, first let me say that I love Love Love your blog!!!Shipping to New Zealand is so expensive I am trying to only get the essentials.Have you found it necessary to purchase an extra Material Packet for each child? Thank you, Melanie
Melanie: I actually did NOT buy an extra material packet for each child. We just shared and so far it's been working fine. I know they suggest getting 1 per child, but I just buy one per level we do to save money. So far so good!Thanks for reading,Erica :o)
Hi Erica,
I am interested in using the program without purchasing each packet for each child. How do you keep track of the ones each child has mastered? I have 8yr old twins and a Kindergartner. Each twin started out with their own box and kept track of which cards they each mastered. Even though I combined the lessons for each, I thought it was necessary to keep track of which each individual had mastered.
I was just about to purchase a third student packet for my Kindergartner when I saw the great way you combined level one and two in the office supply box from Target! This way seems much better to me! So, how do you keep track of where each individual is?
Many thanks!
Stephanie
Hi Stephanie,
We share the levels too. I don’t usually have 2 students in the same level at the same time though. But maybe you could use a colored clip to keep the words each one needs work on together so you can tell them apart if they’re in the same level at the same time?
Erica, I am so sorry for calling you Carla, of course I know that your name is Erica. I must have just seen the name from the comment above and written it down without thinking. Thank you for your reply. Melanie
This looks like a great program! I would love to see if this would help my eight year old, who is somewhat struggling with spelling and reading! Thanks for this review and information!