I developed this methodology for spelling in our family when I was homeschooling all 6 of our kids who ranged from 7 to 16 and included special needs and non-native English speakers.  I needed a system that worked across multiple levels (and wasn’t leveled), worked within our budget, and required minimum mom-help.

Spelling Foundations

I’m an engineer and I like to be able to answer the “whys” in life. Phonograms and spelling rules make it so that there are actually very few exceptions when reading and spelling. Starting at around 4 or 5, children should start drilling and memorizing the phonograms that are the building blocks to spelling English words. These should be drilled daily (or at least multiple times a week) until mastered, then reviewed a couple times a month. (Check out my ABC’s at Home for a multi-sensory curriculum for introducing the single-letter phonograms).

Spelling Schedule

Once your student has mastered the phonograms, he can start mastering spelling lists. It would be nice if our kids mastered a list a week, but sometimes that doesn’t happen. Instead, I recommend working a list until it’s mastered, then moving on. You can just ignore that they’re labelled by week…

Day 1: Watch the appropriate spelling lesson video. Set A are beginner lists, Set B are intermediate, and Set C are advanced. There are 22 lists in each set. They are sourced from CC’s EEL program which are sourced from Spelling Power.

The rest of the days: Test your student on the list (or send them to Spelling City to test). If they get 100%, start over on Day 1 with the next list. Otherwise, have your student practice any incorrect words using these Spelling Review Ideas.

Weekly: Drill one spelling rule a week.

Last thoughts:

You can obviously use this methodology with your own lists. You’ll just have to teach the Day 1 lesson instead of using the video. I teach a word by saying the word so it can be heard, using the fingerspelling visual from SWR, and writing the word using SWR markings for visualization. I then ask the student to repeat the and spell the word verbally (spelling bee style) so the sequence of letters can be heard and file appropriately. I also try to link the word to the appropriate rule as they apply.

For non-writers, I love the All About Spelling phonogram tiles. You can buy them or print them.

For an interesting lecture by Andrew Pudewa (of IEW fame) on Spelling and the Brain, go here.