With all of the subjects that need to be covered when you are homeschooling maybe you are wondering if spelling really matters. Well, if you don’t know how to spell correctly, things could turn out different from what the writer intended. For instance, look at this sign. According to this, it pays to be towed. 🙂

I believe spelling is intended to do the following:

• clearly communicate~ (Do you mean their, they’re or there?)
• provide a standard for our language~ Things get mixed up quickly if words are not spelled correctly. For example: I was reading a book or I was reeding a book.
• demonstrate you are an educated person~ I once saw a billboard that said “_____’ s Toeing Service” I wasn’t inclined to have my car towed by that company due to how their misspelling of the word made me wonder if they knew what they were doing. I know that sounds harsh, but that was my thought.

So, here are some recommendations for spelling curriculums I have reviewed this past summer. Here are my top three picks:

• All About Spelling While this is teacher-intensive at first, it is a terrific program and has been proven to work. It uses the Orton-Gillingham method of phonics and reading. If you have a child that is a kinesthetic learner it would be a great program since letter tiles are used. The whiteboard is also utilized for students who do not like to use paper and pencil.
•  Spelling Workout focuses on phonetic patterns with vocabulary being introduced at higher grade levels. It has crossword puzzles to reinforce skills as well as a short editing exercise to incorporate spelling and grammar. I like the idea of incorporating other disciplines of language into related subjects.
• Sequential Spelling Patterns of words are studied instead of lists of unrelated words. (tall, fall, ball, taller, tallest etc.) This also uses the Orton- Gillingham method.