Sequential Spelling

By: Don McCabe

Published by AVKO

www.avko.org

Review by Jolene Underwood

     After several years of my now 12yos (year old son) struggling in spelling and after trying several spelling approaches and programs, I was finally directed to the website www.avko.org for Don McCabe’s Sequential Spelling program.   AVKO is a dyslexia and spelling research foundation.  They offer seminars, free tutoring at a local clinic, related books and other materials in addition to the Spelling curriculum.  This program has been a blessing to our family and my son is feeling much better about his spelling.  He is noticing and catching his mistakes more as well as writing correctly more frequently. 

     For years we (my husband and I) kept telling him to sound the words out and to write each incorrect word correctly 5-10 or more times.  We also tested him on words he’d misspelled in his writing or other assignments and it just wasn’t working.  We had done spelling in 1^st & 2^nd grade from his all-in-one curriculum. In 3^rd & 4^th grade we did spelling only in his language arts program, which wasn’t enough for him and he retained little to nothing. I had looked into Spelling Power and using the Handbook of Phonics by Eagles Wings and didn’t think either would work for our situation.  In 5^th grade we tried Spelling by Sound and Structure, a program by Rod & Staff that I personally like very much.  This took far too much time on his part (won’t be the case for all students) and he still didn’t seem to retain much.  I am sure I could have done better with him using this program had I spent the time really teaching from the teacher’s manual as I should have done rather than just assigning pages for him to do on his own.    However, we were still not finding something to successfully use with him.  He was getting discouraged and we were too.

     Time is a big concern for us (as I now have a 2 year old and a 10 month old as well) and I needed something easy, effective and done in little time.  Sequential Spelling not only fit the bill with those requirements, but it is also very affordable and can be done over a multitude of grade levels.   This program takes about 15 minutes a day and cost under $15 for each level, which will take about a year.

How does it work?

     AVKO stands for Audio-Visual-Kinesthetic-Oral which defines the approach used.  Tests are used daily as a learning tool rather than to evaluate a student’s progress.  Each day, the student is tested on a listed of words that build on each other following word families or “rimes”.  The teacher says the word, uses it in a sentence and says it again.  The student writes their answer. Next the teacher (you as the parent) may write the word base or family (such as “in” or “at”) on a white board and then add the appropriate additional letters to show how the word is spelled.  An example of this would be going from the word “at” to “bat”, “cat”, “scat” and then further down the list “batter”, “flatter”, “matter”.    Finally, the student corrects their work after EACH word is spelled correctly by the teacher.  It is key that the students correct their work after each word.

     The weeks build gradually from only 3 words in the list to a total of 25 words each day.  Beginning this way promoted a good start for us as my son felt that he could accomplish this task.  Had we started with 25 off the bat, he would have probably struggled and been more likely to complain.  This gradual approach helped him to not get too frustrated and he now enjoys his spelling and has no problem doing it daily.

Layout

     Each spelling level comes in a three ring binder and includes black and white pages for the program.  It is very basic in the layout and not greatly eye-catching, however, it is a program that holds much in its content.  The first few listens are well guided with added notes to the teacher (home schooling parent).  After a couple weeks these instructions taper off and the pages simply consist of the lists of words for each day.  At the bottom of each page, a few key words are provided with added information.  An example includes the pages that refer to one of more of the words and their homonym.  Over a few days, my boys learned the homonyms “I’, “eye” and “aye”.   Yesterday they covered the heteronym’s “dove” (He dove into the water.) and “dove” (That is a pretty dove.)

     There are 180 days of lessons in each volume.  When you purchase from AVKO, you can either select a level at a time (special home school editions are available), or you can purchase 7 levels in one volume, which includes a student response book.

          Fortunately, AVKO provides sample pages for viewing on their web site as well several articles regarding reading, dyslexia and spelling.   For further information, please check out their web site at: www.avko.org.

More on our story

    When we first started using Sequential Spelling Level One, my 7yos would take the tests at the same time as his brother.  They both numbered out their pages in a spelling folder (you can purchase a student response book, but directions are given to make your own quite easily at home).  My 7yo enjoyed taking the tests with his brother and learned a lot along the way.  He really wanted to understand more about various suffix endings, homonym’s and more so I taught them as they came up and as he wanted to know.  However, this same younger child also expects his own work to be perfect right off the bat.  He started to struggle after about 30 lessons more than he did in the beginning and became very frustrated at himself because he would miss a few words (usually because he thought I didn’t enunciate the word clearly enough or he had followed a phonics rule he’d learned that didn’t apply this time, typical of English huh?).  I decided to let him give the tests to his older brother rather than take them.  Now, I might wash dishes while the test is given so that I am right there to help put a word into an appropriate sentence, make sure it is pronounced correctly and can provide any other guidance that might be needed.  I do think that my younger one could have continued and done well by taking the daily tests, however, this was a battle I chose not to have.   This is an example of our choosing how to utilize a curriculum and not letting it rule us.

     After a couple weeks, I began to only write on our white board when my son asked to see the word he’d misspelled.  (We have a few boards from Miller Pads N’ Paper that we had gotten for a buck a piece.  We use them frequently and love having them.) The confidence of my oldest son, in spelling, continues to grow and was much needed at this point.  He loves using this program.

Summary

     This program is easy to use and effective.  It is not flashy, which is a benefit as it is not distracting and likely helps keep the cost down.  It is simple to use.  Again, we are very thankful for this program! 

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