Review In A Nutshell:
Title: Sequential Spelling 1
Author: AVKO
Overall Rating (1-10): 7
Value (1-10): 10
Flexibility (1-10): 5
Ages/Grades: all
Schooling Method: This program appeals to children who have difficulties spelling or those with learning disabilities. Also appeals to older children and adults.
Kid Value (1-10): 6
Review: My test subject was my 3rd grade son who has difficulty mastering spelling. He loves math and drawing but detests writing. Spelling seems not to come naturally to him, although he reads and comprehends at and above grade level. We have tried many other spelling curriculums and books, to no avail. None of them truly make sense to his brain. They all involve some level of rote memorization which he can accomplish quite easily but each new list of spelling words replaced the old list in his head. I felt, instinctively, that he needed some level of logic in order to become a more proficient speller. This, I knew, was a hard goal to accomplish since English is, by its nature, an illogical language to learn. Sequential Spelling claimed to be just the ticket we were looking for. Geared toward those with learning disabilities or for whom spelling did not come naturally, it claims to use a logical and block-building approach to spelling. I was hopeful.
We started with Level 1. The book consists of lists of words. Each day the child is to write the list of words as you read them. If the child spells the word wrong, immediate correction is done in order to try to imprint the proper look of the word in the child’s mind. Each day’s list builds on the one before. The book works well to instill a sense of accomplishment and pride in reluctant spellers because it uses large words early on. It teaches the child that the length of the word does not dictate the difficulty of the spelling. With a few key understandings of how words work together, even long words can be correctly spelled the first time.
On the upside, the program DID help instill – long term – some basic spelling patterns that other programs did not accomplish. They also increased my son’s opinion of himself as a speller.
On the downside, it was just plain boring. The lists were too long, in my opinion. They were overwhelming and my son started dreading spelling time because of the sheer time it took out of his day. I did not modify the program to shorten it and am not sure if the same results could have been had with a shortened word list. Each word seemed crucial to the next so I wouldn’t know where to start. But a word list of 15-20 words a day was too much for us. And even though it was not rote memorization, it was just boring.
Bottom Line: If your child is having trouble with spelling patterns or has a learning disorder, this may be the program for you. Be prepared for the length of each lesson but also watch as your child gains some of the concepts that are so hard for spelling-challenged folks to pick up on.
Buy Now: Sequential Spelling 1