Spell to Write and Read Review

Reading Apps

With its multisensory, activity-rich lessons and strong and thorough emphasis on phonics and spelling rules, Spell to Write and Read can better help students make sense of the English and provide them with a language toolset that can not only help them deal with the many quirks of the language, but also can help them learn to read pretty quickly and fluently.

What We Like

Affordable language arts program
Very compact and reusable curriculum
Literature-based language arts learning
Capable of teaching spelling, reading and writing to K-12 students
Can help students develop a strong knowledge of phonics and spelling rules
Lessons are multisensory and activity-rich
Multidisciplinary – students learn far more than just reading, penmanship and spelling
Flexible and very easy to personalize to student needs
Good variety of activities and exercises
Offers placement tests to help parents find their students level

But watch out for

Some parents will find that there is a fair learning curve
Fairly intensive for parents

What Is Spell To Write And Read?

Created by Wanda Sanseri, Spell to Write and Read (SWR) is a step-by-step guide for early language arts instruction for homeschools. 

Together with Sanseri’s companion book, the WISE Guide for Spelling, Spell to Write and Read is a complete program for reading, writing and spelling, with SWR providing instructional guidance as a teacher’s manual and WISE providing daily spelling lists, lesson planning and enrichment. 

What Ages Or Grades Is Spell To Write And Read Intended For?

Spell to Write and Read and the WISE Guide for Spelling are, together, a complete English spelling and reading program that can serve students from pre-K to 12th grade. 

While the program starts off with simple words and associated rules that might be found in K-6 readers and books, the later lessons and word lists go well beyond the elementary school level and contain fairly advanced, High School and pre-college material, making it a particularly useful resource for students of all ages.

Unlike other language arts programs that tend to divide up their curriculum across books aimed at different levels and ages, Spell to Write and Read and WISE contain a wide variety of lesson plans aimed at K-12 students in just two books. 

Although this makes the curriculum structure fairly compact, it can make things a little more tricky for parents of older students to know where to start with the program.

Helpfully, there are several diagnostic spelling tests available at the back of Spell to Write and Read that, in addition to being used as a way of periodically monitoring progress and development, can help parents assess their student’s existing knowledge and skill and determine an appropriate starting place. 

These tests are largely Ayers-style spelling lists and involve a dictation-style exercise where parents read words and sentences off a list and students do their best to spell and write them out.

There are some 50 words per test, and the word lists are designed in a way that can yield a fairly precise grade level placement for the program through High School.

That said, although thorough they can be a bit long, and while the assessment instructions make accommodations for younger students, even some older students may find it a bit challenging to sit, spell and be evaluated on up to 50 words in a sitting. 

What’s Required To Teach The Curriculum?

There are five main components to teaching with Spell to Write and Read, these are:

  • Spell to Write and Read
  • The WISE Guide for Spelling
  • Phonogram Cards and Phonogram CD
  • Spelling Rule Cards
  • Learning Logs 

Spell to Write and Read

Spell to Write and Read is a fairly thick, black and white, non-consumable softcover book that serves as the overall teacher’s manual for the program. 

The book is filled with teaching material covering phonetic instruction, spelling and grammar rules, directions for the learning log, penmanship instruction, step-by-step guidance and tips for teaching, diagrams for boardwork, alternative teaching methods, as well as useful dialogue suggestions to help parents more clearly teach the sometimes confusing concepts and rules that exist in the English language.

picture of spell to write and read pages

Overall, Spell to Write and Read is a fairly information dense book, seeming to squeeze lots of rules, facts and teaching approaches onto each page, and as a result, at first glance or thumb through the book can be fairly intimidating to look at.

picture showing density of spell to write and read information

Those attempting to read it cover to cover may also find that it can be very difficult, seeming to jump from topic to topic with little transition. 

However, it is important to realize that the Spell to Write and Read is not a standalone guide to reading, writing and spelling and is not really meant to be read casually n its own. 

Instead, the book is really designed to be used as needed and in conjunction with the WISE Guide for Spelling, with parents periodically referring to SWR as needed for instructional material.

WISE Guide for Spelling

The WISE (Words, Instruction, Spelling and Enrichment) Guide For Spelling is also a fairly thick black and white, nonconsumable softcover text.

The book is pretty straightforward and clearly laid out. 

It contains about 2000 basic words compiled into weekly word lists, from basic words found in children’s readers all the way to pre-college word lists. 

The book serves as structure for much of the lesson and content for the program and frequently refers back to Spell to Write and Read for more formal instruction. 

The WISE Guide also contains a variety of enrichment activities parents can choose from that are designed to help reinforce each lesson’s learning.

Phonogram Cards, Spelling Rule Cards and CD

As with other reading and spelling programs, Spell to Write and Read makes use of flashcard-like phonogram and spelling rule cards in each lesson to help students practice and review their letter sounds and rules. 

The phonogram cards are fairly standard as far as such things go, and they are fairly comprehensive in scope, with 70 cards covering a full suite of foundational phonograms. 

They also conveniently include instructions on the back (taken from SWR) that can help parents more effectively teach the letter sounds and troubleshoot any issues that may arise. 

To go along with these, Spell to Write and Read also includes a phonogram CD that students can listen to to help hear the different phonic sounds.

Similarly, Spell to Write and Read includes a variety of spelling rule cards. Like the phonogram cards, these have various spelling rules printed on one side and helpful explanations and teaching tips for parents on the back. 

The cards themselves are fairly large and easy to see and hold, but the cardstock might be a little thin for some more exuberant homeschooling students, so parents might want to get them laminated.

Learning Logs

Finally, throughout the program students and parents are expected to copy down the various spelling lists and rules they learn into learning logs that they can use as a reference guide. 

The program offers two kinds, a simpler primary learning log with a three-line layout (designed for those still learning to write) and a black learning log for older students, which has more standard lined pages and preformatted pages for creating more detailed and organized rules pages. 

How Does Spell To Write And Read Approach Teaching?

Spalding-style Method

Unlike many other language arts programs out there, which generally teach students to read first and then start working on writing and spelling as separate skills, Spell to Write and Read approaches reading, spelling and writing a little differently. 

Picture of Spell to Read and Write showing progression of phonics and spelling to reading

Beginning with phonics instruction, students start off learning the basics sounds of English before progressing to things like letter recognition, writing-related motor skills (like finger tracing) and penmanship.

Following this, students learn to blend and create words from sounds and dictation, learn spelling and grammar rules and then work on these skills through basic sentence writing and, finally honing their fluid reading skills first through their own work and then through simple books and readers. 

Rather than keeping them as separate skills, Spell to Write and Read (as might be guessed by the name) sees fluent reading as more of a natural outgrowth of phonetic spelling instruction, with students learning and honing the logic, mechanics and rules of phonics, spelling and writing so that students begin to make connections and spontaneous reading can develop. 

Largely based on the Spalding Method, this approach can be a very effective way to help students deal with the various irregularities and exceptions (and general weirdness) of the English language by giving them a more systematic and logical foundation they can use  to properly decipher pretty much any word that they’ll encounter. 

In this way, it can be seen as somewhat similar to programs like Logic of English, which place a strong emphasis on teaching phonograms, spelling and grammar rules in order to help get students reading. 

That said, while potentially quite effective, the approach can be very different from the typical phonics-based, reading-first instructional methods that parents might be familiar with. 

Not only that, many parents themselves may not have been taught all the different phonics and spelling rules included in the program, having relied on a more intuitive sense over the years. 

As a result, most parents using Spell to Write and Read will likely need to spend time familiarizing themselves with the program’s approach, content and general methodology before teaching it, so there can be something of a learning curve to the program that parents should take into consideration.

Holistic, Multidisciplinary Language Development

Although it is largely a reading, writing and spelling program, Spell to Write and Read and WISE also teach a fair amount of other language arts material, such as grammar, vocabulary and more. 

This is because the underlying methodology behind the program is based on the idea that in order to read and spell properly, student’s can’t simply rely on phonemic pronunciation alone (think about how “official” might be phonetically spelled), but that students also need to develop a more solid understanding of how the English language works. 

In particular, it is thought that students should get a stronger background in how words are constructed and derived.

As a result, Spell to Write and Read and WISE Guide for Spelling lessons include formal instruction in things like vocabulary, grammar and grammar mechanics and rules, which appear in lesson “enrichment” exercises, in addition to the various exercises and instruction given in phonics, reading, spelling, spelling rules and writing.

example of grammar instruction in WISE Guide to spelling demonstrating multidisciplinary learning possibilities

In practical terms this means that in any given lesson students can also expect to learn things like literature, antonyms, synonyms, adjectives, poetry, root words, derivatives, alliteration and more. 

This somewhat holistic view of language makes the program quite integrated and multidisciplinary, letting it stand out from many other language curricula out there that tend to split reading and spelling from formal grammar instruction and other language arts subjects. 

With all that said, it is important to note that Spell to Write and Read is not a complete K-12 grammar and writing program by itself. 

Although it has a considerable amount of instruction in other topics, it is mainly focused on spelling, reading and composition and older students in particular may have to supplement it at times with another curriculum. 

Systematic Phonics and Language Learning

By and large, Spell to Write and Read is not a program that will have students memorizing a lot of sight words and exception mnemonics, or one that will have them learn the mechanics of language implicitly through literature and reading. 

Instead, the program leans more heavily on teaching students essential phonics, spelling and grammar rules to help them spell and, ultimately, read more fluently. 

Starting very early on in the program (within the first few weeks), students will be introduced to the 70 basic phonograms and 28 spelling rules, and will learn them in more detail than other learn to read programs. 

As they go along, students will learn and recite rules, work with a variety of phonogram and spelling rule cards to help review them and warm up for lessons, practice them in lessons, record spelling/grammar rules and examples in their learning logs, and learn about the origins and derivations of certain words.

example of spelling rules in spell to write and read

This approach can be very effective. 

In addition to guiding students to reading, by providing thorough, specific instruction in phonics and spelling rules, Spell to Write and Read can provide students with a pretty complete toolbox that they can use when reading and/or spelling exceptions and irregular words. 

Having a strategy to fall back on can be of particular value to students who are having a hard time or are getting frustrated memorizing all the various exceptions in English (e.g. “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking, except for…”) as well as those who prefer to learn English in a more predictable and systematic manner. 

On the downside, a greater focus on learning rules and logic isn’t for every student or homeschool. 

While some enjoy learning the rules of spelling and grammar, do well with lots of repetition and review and may even enjoy doing word analysis, others may get frustrated by the greater attention to detail and more systematic approach of the program, preferring to learn these more implicitly through reading compelling literature, for example, or with a more familiar but less detailed generality-with-exceptions approach. 

Multisensory Lessons

Although it does involve a lot of card work and writing at times, Spell to Write and Read is anything but a simple workbook reading and spelling course. 

Each lesson can include a variety of sensory learning methods, including listening to their pronunciation (hearing), repeating (saying), dictation exercises and writing (tactile) and, of course, seeing the words (visual).

The program also includes a lot of multisensory activities throughout the lessons that can help students better understand what they are learning by allowing them to engage and work with their different senses (activating different cognitive pathways in the brain for better information processing and recall), and that can help lessons better serve students with learning differences and those who simply have different learning preferences. 

picture of multisensory instruction found in spell to write and read manual

Suggested activities in Spell to Write and Read and WISE might also include, for example, drawing, artwork, clapping exercises, finger spelling, listening activities and much, much more.

There are also a variety of kinesthetic games that the author includes, such as teaching the concepts of clockwise/counterclockwise (which is subsequently used in helping students with penmanship) by turning a living room into a clock with some index cards and having the student run in different directions. 

In the video below, as another example, a student practices her “a” phonogram using a whole body, kinesthetic game.

Guided but Flexible Lesson Plans

Recognizing that students come into the program at different stages of reading and familiarity with phonics, and also recognizing that students progress at different rates, Spell to Write and Read has a decent amount of teaching flexibility built into its lesson plans. 

Although overall the program’s lessons can be quite detailed and presents information in a very step-by-step and sequential manner, the lessons aren’t laid out in a traditional day by day format.

Rather, while the WISE Guide for Spelling and  Spell to Write and Read provide the instructional material, overall structure, directions for teaching and broad guidance through a lesson, it largely relies on parents to set the overall pace, inclusion of enrichment activities based on the student’s needs and progression, and generally provides them with a good amount of room to modify and personalize lessons as needed.

On the downside, this does make the program rather teacher intensive, with parents needing to both teach the material and keep a close eye on student response and progression during a lesson and be ready to adapt.

This can be a bit tricky for new homeschoolers, although it does tend to become easier and more automatic with time.

How It Works 

As mentioned previously, Spell to Write and Read is designed to work alongside the WISE Guide to Spelling and both books are required to teach the program. 

Broadly speaking, Spell to Write and Read acts as a teacher’s manual, containing all of the phonics, spelling and rules that parents will be teaching, while the WISE Guide provides them with the weekly spelling lists and lesson outlines that they will follow. 

The books are divided into sections, each of which have different levels of spelling lists and focus on different spelling rules and skills. 

At the beginning of the course or each year, there is a preliminary section with 11 steps that parents are expected to go through, such as reviewing phonics, numbers, consonants and vowels.

Importantly, there is also a diagnostic test, which serves to assess a student’s skills and knowledge before starting a year’s learning and which can help place them in the most appropriate section of the course, better matching their abilities to the right level of spelling list and spelling rules. 

Interestingly, this sectional structure and testing allows those teaching students of multiple ages to do so pretty easily, as parents can teach lessons to different grade levels from the same book with the help of just a few bookmarks (a younger student might be working on Section C, while another might be working on Section H, for example). 

With a little more lesson prep and patience, parents can even teach siblings of different ages at the same time one-room schoolhouse-style if they so choose. 

Once students are more or less in the right section for them, the lessons can begin. 

Lessons tend to begin in the WISE Guide and start off with a preliminary section. 

This provides parents with lesson objectives, phonics and rules to review (usually through card work), warm up exercises and more. 

picture of preliminary section in wise guide for spelling

Importantly, it also includes information about where to find the relevant teaching material in Spell to Write and Read. 

Parents flip to the relevant pages in SWR and follow the guidance provided to begin teaching students the relevant spelling and grammar rules that will help them in the subsequent spelling work and exercises. 

example of lesson instruction in spell to read and write

Following this, the WISE Guide provides parents with a list of 20 words with sample sentences printed next to them. 

picture of word list in wise guide to spelling

It’s important to note that parents have a good deal of control over the pace of the learning here. 

Those teaching older students can stick with all 20 while those teaching younger students or those who are struggling a bit more can split the list up into 10 or fewer, depending on the student and their ability to handle things, so it is pretty flexible. 

Regardless of how many words a parent chooses, the learning tends to follow a familiar pattern. 

Parents will say each word, as well as the provided sentence example (or one similar to it). Students then usually sound it out themselves, identifying key phonetic sounds and letters, before going over relevant spelling rules, analyzing and marking the words, writing them down and so on. 

As they work through the lessons, students record their spelling list and spelling rules in a dedicated learning log. 

Other than helping reinforce and retain information through writing, this helps students create their own little textbook that they can use to go back and reference throughout the year. 

Students can use pretty much any notebook to do this, but the company does sell (and include in the core kit) preformatted versions specifically designed to work with the program, and we do recommend parents consider them as they can make everything a lot easier to work with and keep organized in the long run.

Parents, too, are encouraged to create their own learning log, typically before teaching begins as part of the lesson prep. 

Although this can be a bit more work to add to the program’s rather intensive parent workload, we feel it actually can be a pretty good idea as many of the program’s rules can be unfamiliar to parents who have learned phonics and spelling through other methods (and especially for native English speakers who may not have learned as much in the way of formal spelling rules altogether). 

It is also a good idea for parents to keep a log as Spell to Write and Read tends to use its own marking system when teaching students to analyze spelling phonetically and this can be a bit tricky for some parents to get a handle on at first. 

example of phonics and spelling analysis in spell to write and read and wise guide to spelling

After working on the spelling lists, at the bottom of each WISE Guide lesson there are a variety of “spelling enrichment” activities designed to help reinforce the learning.

These activities are quite varied and can include things like associated grammar work, literature and song, spelling and phonics related artwork, word derivation exercises, physical activities, root word explorations and more. 

picture of enrichment activity in spell to write and read

There are a few of these activities included in each lesson and parents are free to choose as many as they feel their child can handle or would benefit from, which is another bit of flexibility and customizability that we appreciate.

Combined with the ability to divide up the word lists depending on student needs, with Spell to Write and Read parents can customize the lesson length pretty freely – something we really like about the program. 

While the program itself estimates that direct parent/student interaction will probably take about 30 minutes a day, parents can pretty easily tailor lesson length to a student’s abilities and, well, attention span. 

If a student has a hard time sitting still during lessons, for example, parents can divide up the spelling list and pick only one or two more high-interest enrichment exercises to go through.

Finally, and periodically throughout the year, parents are encouraged to give students one of the 8 included diagnostic tests to assess student progress and skill development. 

Much the same as the pre-course diagnostic test, they are a Ayers-style list of 50 words that are gone through dictation-style, with students evaluated on how well they can precisely spell a word from hearing it. 

As there are only 8 tests in each book, and since there is only one copy of the curriculum, parents will have to rotate through them each year.

How Easy Is Spell to Write and Read To Teach?

At first glance, the Spell to Write and Read program can look intimidating.

Its twin books (Spell to Write and Read itself and the WISE Guide for Spelling) can be fairly information dense and its method of teaching reading, writing and spelling may seem unfamiliar to parents unused to introducing spelling rules and structure at a young age.  

And, while it is true that parents will likely have to do a little prep work before each week’s lesson, going over the word list, enrichment lessons and instructions on their own, the teaching component of the program is actually fairly simple.

Parents open the WISE Guide for Spelling and it should provide all the necessary words and exercises in a well-laid out, step-by-step manner, as well as clear references to the relevant pages in Spell to Write and Read, which provide parents with clear instructions for teaching the material and which do a good job at guiding parents through the work. 

The whole process does become quite familiar fairly quickly and becomes pretty easy to follow all things considered, and there is a lot of support online for parents, should they need it, including local seminars, videos, tons of YouTube videos and clips, social media groups and more. 

One thing busier parents do need to keep in mind, however, is that the program can be very intensive for parents and it is certainly not a self-study/independent learning program. 

Its instruction is parent-led and the lessons and exercises do involve a lot of parent-student interaction. 

In addition to familiarizing themselves ahead of time with the teaching material, at times parents will need to provide oral examples of words, proper pronunciation, lead choral repetition, handle the card work and, of course, provide dictation. 

Is Spell to Write and Read Secular?

Spell to Write and Read is not a secular language program. 

Although the language learning itself is neutral for the most part, both Spell To Write and Read and the WISE Guide for Spelling do, at times, use examples and sentences that make reference to God, the Bible and Jesus Christ.

picture of christian content in spell to write and read

Although these are not the main focus of the program (many of the sentence examples are sourced from a wide variety of sayings, quotes and literature) and can be substituted easily enough should a parent decide to, faith-based content does appear here and there and, as a result, the program may not be the most ideal for strictly secular homeschools. 

Pros And Cons Of Spell to Write and Read

Pros

Affordable

The core program of Spell to Write and Read, including the WISE Guide to Spelling, spelling and phonogram rule cards, CD and more can all be purchased for a little under $100. 

This makes it considerably less expensive than other competing learn to read programs, such as Logic of English, All About Reading/Spelling and so on. 

Highly compact and mostly non-consumable

Spell to Write and Read is also a pretty compact program, only really requiring two books and assorted phonogram and spelling rule cards to get started. 

And for the most part, they are non-consumable. 

As students do their work in their learning logs or in a notebook, both texts and rule cards can freely be reused again and again as a student progresses in their studies and with other siblings.

Can be used with K-12 students

Placement tests and a wide range of spelling word lists allow parents to use the Spell to Write and Read with students of all ages.

The program can feasibly be used all the way through high school, which is good news for parents of older students and those looking for a program that can grow with their child. 

Prevents guesswork and frustration with strong knowledge of phonics and spelling rules

Spell to Write and Read provides students with a strong foundation in systematic phonics, phonetic spelling rules and grammar that will help guide them into reading and give them strategies and tools to help deal with the many irregularities of English. 

And all of this is done without needing to drill and memorize different CVC word families, mnemonics and their long lists of exceptions. 

Multisensory learning 

Lessons in Spell to Write and Read are multisensory and include visual demonstrations, dictation and choral practice, writing and more. 

In addition, the books offer parents a wide range of different activity ideas that can be very helpful in keeping students interested in their lessons and can help students with different learning preferences and styles stay engaged with the material.

Multidisciplinary

Although it is an effective program for phonics, spelling and reading, Spell to Write and Read also teaches a variety of language arts topics and skills, including vocabulary development, penmanship, and grammar rules and mechanics, making it a fairly comprehensive program overall. 

Flexible and easily modify to fit students

While Spell to Write and Read provides all the detail, instructions and guidance necessary to help effectively teach phonics, phonetic spelling and writing, the program eschews a pre-designed lesson format and allows parents to set their own pace and use different lesson components and options in a way that best suits the student, letting them more easily personalize the learning as needed. 

Cons

Can Have A Learning Curve

Spell to Write and Read can be a little different from the way that parents themselves learned to read and spell and can contain a good deal of information that might even be new to them. 

As a result, before starting parents might need to spend some time getting familiar with the methodology and approach of the program, and they will likely need to spend time at the beginning of the week preparing for a lesson. 

Fairly Intensive For Parents

Spell to Write and Read is not an independent study program for students and typically requires a fair amount of investment in terms of time and effort. 

It is parent-led and requires parents to introduce the material, guide students through their exercises, set up activities, discuss the material with students, oversee their work, review rules cards, do dictation and much more. 

Who Is The Program Ideal For?

Parents looking for an affordable, compact and nonconsumable program they can use for years

With parents able to pick up most of what they need for less than $100, Spell to Write and Read is a fairly affordable reading and spelling program. 

Further, as the book covers K-12 spelling instruction and is nonconsumable, the program can be used for years and can be reused with siblings. 

Parents looking for an integrative language arts program

Beyond teaching reading and spelling, Spell to Write and Read also teaches a variety of “enrichment” topics, such as grammar rules, mechanics, vocabulary and more, making it a more well-rounded and comprehensive language arts program.

Students with difficulties with language and reading

Spell to Write and Read is a multisensory and activity-rich program that teaches spelling and grammar rules explicitly, is personalizable and provides students with plenty of opportunity for review, making it a good option to consider for students with difficulties in reading or learning.

Parents looking for a very thorough phonics-based program

Early on, Spell to Write and Read teaches all 70 basic phonograms and 28 spelling rules in a fair amount of depth and provides students with an explicitly taught, systematic and rather comprehensive way of learning to read, spell and more. 

Students who do well with lots of repetition and explicit instruction

Spell to Write and Read teaches its spelling rules and phonics explicitly and provides students with a lot of opportunity to practice what they are learning through multisensory activities and plenty of dedicated practice and review.

Who Is It Not Ideal For?

Homeschools looking for a more independent learning curriculum

Spell to Write and Read is a pretty parent intensive program, with parents heavily involved in the instruction and guidance of lessons, as well as the preparation and individualization of lessons. 

As a result, it may not be an ideal choice for busier homeschools, those looking for a heavily scripted open and go program with minimal time commitments, and those looking for a more hands-off program.

Parents looking for a familiar reading-first curriculum

Parents who prefer to teach their student to read first and then deal with things like spelling and composition after may not appreciate Spell to Write and Read’s integrated and perhaps unfamiliar approach with its strong emphasis on phonics and phonetic spelling rules.

Those who hate learning spelling rules

While learning and remembering spelling rules can be a key to success, and even a welcome relief, to some students, other students may get frustrated or bored with the program’s emphasis on their explicit instruction and may prefer to learn to read and spell in other ways, such as through a literature-based approach. 

Price

Note: All prices current as of writing. All prices in USD. 

As we mentioned previously, there are a few components to Spell to Write and Read that parents will need to purchase. These include:

Spell to Write and Read – $35.00

The WISE Guide for Spelling – $35.00

Phonogram Cards – $17.00

Phonogram CDs– $9.00

Spelling Rules Cards – $9.00

Learning Logs – $6.00 (Primary), $12.00 (Black)

Select retailers may also offer these items as a bundle, as a Core Kit, which can cost around $105 or so. 

It is important to keep in mind that, with the exception of the logbooks, the majority of the Spell to Write and Read program is non-consumable and is capable of teaching students from K-12. 

The materials can therefore be used with multiple children year after year without any additional cost, a definite benefit that makes the program more cost effective in the long run.

That said, parents should always check for the latest prices of Spell to Write and Read, as well as for any discounts or offers that may apply.

Or

Or

Is It Worth The Price?

Ultimately, we feel that Spell to Write and Read can provide a lot of value to the right homeschooling families when it comes to learning reading, writing and spelling.

Although perhaps a bit different from other programs, it does offer parents and students a thorough and systematic phonics-based program that will provide them with a strong background in phonetic spelling rules, grammar, penmanship and more. 

Further, Spell to Write and Read can give students a better understanding of the English language that can not only help spontaneous reading develop but can do so without forcing kids to memorize tons of exceptions and irregularities for every mnemonic rule. 

Additionally, the program’s lessons are multisensory, with students listening, writing and looking at different words and sentences during lessons, and participating in a wide variety of hands-on activities, including drawing, clapping, fingerspelling, various get up and go games and more.  

Spell to Write and Read is also quite flexible as a homeschool program compared to many others, allowing parents to tailor its pace, content, lesson length and extracurricular activities to better fit a student’s needs and abilities, rather than forcing them to follow a heavily scripted lesson plan.

Finally, Spell to Write and Read is very affordable. 

An entire kit for the program costs around $100 and it can be pretty easily used to teach multiple students at once from the same texts, with distinct, skill-based sections, diagnostic placement tests and word lists that span the entire K-12 range.

And, because most of the material is non-consumable, parents can use the same text year after year, only needing to purchase the consumable learning logs once a year.

Bottom Line

The English language is seemingly filled with exceptions and irregularities that, memorable and classic rhyming rules aside, can frustrate students to no end and make learning to read, spell and write a chore.

But it doesn’t have to be.

With its multisensory, activity-rich lessons and strong and thorough emphasis on phonics and spelling rules, Spell to Write and Read can better help students make sense of the English and provide them with a language toolset that can not only help them deal with the many quirks of the language, but also can help them learn to read pretty quickly and fluently. 

Picture of our author and editor Anne Miller

About the Author

Anne Miller is the editor of The Smarter Learning Guide and is a passionate advocate for education and educational technology. A mom of two, she majored in English Language and Literature and worked as a substitute teacher and tutor for several years. When not writing she continues to root for the Yankees and the Giants.