Immediately, I noticed that this isn't your typical spelling program. Spelling You See approaches spelling from a unique developmental perspective. They have broken these developmental steps into five sequential stages; Preliterate, Phonetic, Skill Development, Word Extension, Derivational Constancy. Spelling You See takes an approach to spelling that has your child look for patterns in the spelling of words. Looking for patterns should be familiar if you are already using Math U See! Math U See is consistently showing children patterns to math, which is one of my favorite things about their math program! You can read about our experiences with finding a math curriculum that worked for us at Finding Your Child's Place In Math. Math U See and Spelling You See are family companies.
Specifically, in Level D, the patterns they have children look for are what they cleverly label as vowel chunks, consonant chunks, bossy r chunks, ending and silent letters and tricky y guys. The program relies on three core activities; chunking, copy work, and dictation. Chunking is done for each passage. Chunking is locating and highlighting specific letter patterns (color coded) within the words of the passage, per the instructions. Copy work allows them to take in the words visually and then copy them kinesthetically. Recopying over a number of days builds familiarity with common letter patterns and non-phonetic words (as we all know there are many pesky words in English that defy phonetic rules). There are first and second dictation exercises as well. These dictation exercises are visualizing the word in context and retrieving their visual image from memory. It's definitely a clever approach to spelling and has strong classical elements to it.
Specifically, in Level D, the patterns they have children look for are what they cleverly label as vowel chunks, consonant chunks, bossy r chunks, ending and silent letters and tricky y guys. The program relies on three core activities; chunking, copy work, and dictation. Chunking is done for each passage. Chunking is locating and highlighting specific letter patterns (color coded) within the words of the passage, per the instructions. Copy work allows them to take in the words visually and then copy them kinesthetically. Recopying over a number of days builds familiarity with common letter patterns and non-phonetic words (as we all know there are many pesky words in English that defy phonetic rules). There are first and second dictation exercises as well. These dictation exercises are visualizing the word in context and retrieving their visual image from memory. It's definitely a clever approach to spelling and has strong classical elements to it.
Overall, I love this spelling program! Here's a few highlights as to why...
- It only requires 10 minutes per day!
- There is no parent prep required -at all!
- There are no grade levels.
- Parents are engaged with their child, learning alongside.
- It has a very classical feel with all the copy work and dictation exercises each week.
- It's a terrific approach for children with learning difficulties or struggling spellers that are not grasping the phonics/spelling connection.
- It would be good for strong spellers who have become bored or are interested in learning a different approach to spell words and further sharpen their skills.
- Did I say it goes right along with Cycle 3 for levels D&E?? =)
What I think are potential barriers for some kids/families...
- Children that have graph-o-motor problems or visual tracking issues, could struggle with this program due to the heavy writing and copy work emphasis (which I love!).
- It requires Mom for those 10 minutes of work a lesson.
- The cost of $44.00 for the two workbooks (Part 1 and 2), Instructor's Handbook and a set of erasable highlighter pencils is a little pricey.
This looks like a great program! I noticed it at the GHC exhibit hall and wondered what it was like. Thanks for sharing about it!
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