Spelling You See Review

Reading Apps

Spelling You See is a curriculum that does away with mind-numbing word lists and assessments in favor of a more engaging and visual approach to learning to spell.

Its researched-backed curriculum works with students according to their skill and developmental readiness, and its short lessons, fun passages and core set of activities are designed to help students learn spelling rules without a lot of tear-inducing rote memorization.

What We Like

Affordable
Backed by extensive research in child cognitive development and education
Doesn’t use rote memorization, quizzes or word lists
Scripted, step by step approach makes teaching spelling very easy
Lessons and passages are interesting and fun for parents and kids
Lessons are short and good for keeping attention focused
Pretty stress-free way to learn
Student-centric approach
Touches on more than just spelling, also includes handwriting and phonics-related exercises

But watch out for

Relies on a 5 day schedule, not the easiest to modify
Skill-based approach does make it somewhat more challenging for newcomers to find their level
Does require a fair amount of parental time and interaction – not a self-study program

What is Spelling You See

Created by reading specialist and former homeschooling mom Dr. Karen Holinga and published by Demme Learning (the company behind Math U See), Spelling You See is a homeschool program that helps students develop and improve their spelling more naturally.

The program follows several developmental stages of learning and develops stronger spelling skills and visual memory through various copywork, reading, speaking, and listening activities, rather than through more traditional spelling lists and periodic quizzing. 

What Ages or Grades is Spelling You See Appropriate For?

Spelling You See is not really a grade or age based program. 

Instead, the program is divided into several stages which are broadly linked to certain developmental stages of language acquisition and learning. 

PreliterateIn this stage kids learn the fundamentals of writing & print, directionality, letters and symbols, etc.
PhoneticIn this stage students begin to distinguish between the individual sounds of words and then translate this to print form.
Skill DevelopmentIn this stage students become more comfortable and start generalizing different spelling rules, expand their vocabulary and begin working on and dealing with irregular spelling.
Word Extension In this stage students begin to master affixes and associated spelling rules, and begin to grapple with inconsistencies
Derivational Constancy In this stage students begin to understand and look for patterns in spelling, and begin to study root words to help predict and understand these patterns

Overall, this all means that Spelling You See is a skill-based program. This is to say that placement within the program (which book parents should work with) depends very heavily on the student’s actual ability and knowledge of language arts, rather than simply age or grade. 

This makes Spelling You See very flexible and capable of being used by students outside of the K-8 age range that is typical of similar spelling programs. 

As long as students are ready developmentally, i.e. have the requisite skills and knowledge in language acquisition and spelling, they can get to work with one of these books. Consequently, precocious students and older, struggling students alike can make full use of Spelling You See’s books without feeling awkward, condescended to or embarrassed. 

It also means that parents can feel more comfortable moving at the student’s pace through the program – not being linked to grade or age standards means that homeschooling families can feel more comfortable slowing down or speeding up the learning as needed.

On the flip side, however, it also means that unlike other programs parents aren’t given a simple chart to help them figure out which level they should start at. 

Since the program is so strongly tied to actual skill and developmental readiness, much like a mastery program, parents are discouraged from placing their student in levels higher than their demonstrated proficiency on the company’s placement/dictation tests . 

As a result, figuring out where to start can be a bit more of an involved process, requiring parents to really critically examine their students abilities in reading, writing and spelling and to even conduct dictation exercises to help determine relative proficiency. 

How Spelling You See Works

A Developmental Approach to Spelling

Spelling You See basis its program on educational and developmental research that indicates that, when learning to spell, students sequentially go through several stages:

  • Preliterate
  • Phonetic
  • Skill Development
  • Word Extension 
  • Derivational Constancy 

Consequently, Spelling You See has divided its program into seven levels (A-G), and takes a crawl-walk-run approach to teaching spelling. 

Students first figure out the fundamentals of the written word, progress to learning to sound out the words and translate them to paper, and then discover rules and patterns before coming to terms with irregularities and strategies for dealing with them. 

CrawlWalk Run
Understanding the written word and its styleDeveloping foundational spelling skills and understanding rulesInternalizing and extending spelling rules, dealing with irregularities and exceptions

In this way, Spelling You See takes something of a mastery approach to spelling, which is kind of interesting. 

Just like a child must learn to walk before they can run, before moving on in the program students must develop a certain level of proficiency in skill and knowledge. 

Parents are even strongly discouraged from moving up a level if they’re not sure their students can demonstrate skill proficiency in order to prevent skill gaps from developing.

It’s important to note that Spelling You See’s seven books don’t really precisely map to each individual stage, as development stages in children can last for several years.

The series does, however,  move in a generally progressive manner through the stages  (with some books acting as sort of a bridge between two stages). 

Roughly speaking, a progression through the series may look like this:

BookTitleStage
AListen and WritePreliterate and Phonetic Stages
BJack and Jill Preliterate and Phonetic Stages
CWild TalesSkill Development
DAmericana Skill Development
EAmerican Spirit Skill Development
Ancient AchievementsSkill Development Stage and Word Extension 
GModern MilestonesWord Extension

Strengthening Visual Memory for Better Spelling

Spelling You See takes a bit of a different approach compared to other spelling programs out there. 

Rather than focusing on rote memorization of spelling lists and rules, the program focuses more on developing a student’s visual memory for the written word and using that to help them remember how to spell. 

The program does so largely through its core exercises found throughout its books: 

  • Chunking
  • Copywork 
  • Dictation 

Chunking and Copywork

Chunking and Copywork are the exercises that are used to most directly encode the look and style of words into the students’ memory. 

Chunking is a visual way to help kids identify and remember how certain words are put together, breaking words apart and highlighting certain vowels, consonants or other important spelling constructs.

In Spelling You See’s exercises, students are given instructions about what to look for in a word (vowels, consonants, bossy Rs, etc)  and then find and color in those parts using highlighters or colored pencils, an activity that really makes them stand out visually, and makes them more memorable. 

photo of Spelling You See Chunking

Alongside chunking, Spelling You See also includes a good deal of copywork in its lessons. 

With copywork exercises, students are provided a written example of letters, words,  sentences or even paragraphs and full pages (depending on their level of readiness) and copy them down onto a worksheet. 

photo of spelling you see copywork

Aside from improving penmanship and serving as a model for good grammar, spelling and style, copywork is known for activating the visual pathway in the brain – students see an example, read it and then focus on replicating it letter by letter. 

In fact, studies have shown that writing things out by hand in this way further strengthens memory by linking the visual and tactile pathways as the student sees and analyzes the words and then writes them down physically.

Dictation 

The third core element of Spelling You See’s lessons is dictation. 

Dictation is where a parent or teacher reads words or a passage aloud to a student, providing varying levels of assistance along the way, who then attempts to write it all down in neat squares.

Photo of Spelling You see dictation

Dictation acts to sort of draw out and practice what they’ve learned from Copywork and chunking, engaging students’ visual memory by getting them to recall the way words are written and, in doing so, transferring learning into long term memory.

Overall, while other spelling programs may use things like chunking, Copywork and dictation (the latter two being fairly common in Charlotte Mason curricula), Spelling You See is fairly unique in that it makes extensive use of all three to help students learn spelling more visually. 

By providing different types of visual exercises and ample opportunity for intentional practice, retrieval and review through dictation, Spelling You See follows many of the suggested best practices for helping students develop a stronger memory at spelling.  

Interestingly, because it is designed to work with the student’s visual memory, Spelling You See doesn’t include mind-numbing spelling lists, quizzing and endless drills, something that should come as welcome news to many students and homeschooling parents alike.

On the downside, Spelling You See’s methodology isn’t the most multisensory out there. 

While it does engage some auditory and tactile learning (through listening and writing), the program is very much linked to visualizing and recalling spelling and subsequently doesn’t provide the same kind of hands-on, tactile opportunities that some other programs have. 

Spelling You See doesn’t really integrate things like letter tiles, magnets, foam letters and puzzle pieces, so students who prefer a highly tactile experience may not take to the program as much. 

Spelling You See Books

Spelling You See has seven books as part of its series, levels A-G, that are designed to gradually carry a student from a preliterate stage to a more advanced stage in which they are exploring complex words and coming to grips with some of the more peculiar spelling rules of the English language.

With the possible exception of the first book (Listen and Write) each book in Spelling You See has a particular theme that creates a framework for its passages and helps puts the learning into context (Jack and Jill – nursery rhymes, Wild Tales – short non-fiction, Americana – American history, etc).

Level A – Listen and Write 

Developmental Stage: Preliterate and Phonetic

Listen and Write is the first book in the Spelling You See series, and is designed to take kids from the preliterate stage to phonetics and the first stages of spelling. 

Level A teaches the building blocks of spelling, covering handwriting techniques (including pencil grip, using the dominant hand, letter formation, etc),  short vowels, 3,4,5 letter words and so on. 

photo of Spelling You see Listen and write

Lessons in Listen and Write are kept purposefully short, at around 10 minutes, and cover a single worksheet per day. This means they can fit the rather limited attention span of most younger kids at this level, which is helpful and prevents them from losing focus or becoming overwhelmed. 

It is in this book that students are introduced to the essential activities of Spelling You See, modified for the level of development. 

Generally speaking, students listen to passages that are read to them, trace and write letters, do copywork with very short works and perform short, basic dictation exercises (about 10 words or so) and so on.

Listen and Write, interestingly, also comes with some stickers that parents can use as a motivation, which is cute and fun. 

Level B – Jack and Jill

Developmental Stage: Phonetic and Skill Development

Jack and Jill is the second book in the series and continues students’ journey through to the end of the Phonetic stage and into Skill Development. 

At this level, there is a good blend of phonics and direct spelling instruction. Students examine short vowel sounds, digraphs and blends, while also learning concepts like consonant blends, end blends, bossy Rs and tricky Ys, silent letters and more.

Much as the name would imply, Jack and Jill’s passages are themed around common nursery rhymes and is the first book in the series with a themed title.

Level B is split into two parts, introducing increasingly complex topics as it progresses.

Compared with Level A, lessons and activities in Jack and Jill are longer and more involved, as would fit a more advanced stage of learning development. Copywork and dictation exercises now last 10 minutes, for example. 

In Level B students are introduced to the third core activity of Spelling You See – chunking. With chunking, students use highlighters or colored pens to identify and mark certain letter patterns as instructed by the worksheets and instructor’s books. 

In part 2, students and parents are introduced to No Rule Days, which allow students the opportunity to take a break from rules and learning and try their hand at free writing or free illustration activities. 

Level C-  Wild Tales

Developmental Stage: Skill Development

Providing a transition from rhyming to short, nonfiction passages about animals, Wild Tales continues into the Skill Development stage. 

Lessons follow a more predictable pattern that is quite similar to Level B, with students reading a passage, doing chunking and copywork, having a no rule day and then finishing the week with dictation exercises. 

Photo of spelling you see wild tales book

In terms of learning there is less phonics material and more spelling skill development,  and the book dives deeper into and then goes beyond the concepts touched upon in Level B, such as bossy Rs, tricky Ys, silent letters, various letter combinations, vowel/consonant chunks, letter patterns and more. 

Level D – Americana

Developmental Stage: Skill Development

Continuing on through Skill Development, Americana dives deeper into the learning established in the previous level, covering more complex examples of bossy Rs, tricky Ys, silent letters and various chunks and letter combinations.

Americana’s theme is American History, and its passages cover topics related to various legends, events and important figures from US history (the history of the Liberty Bell, the creation of the American Flag and its symbolism, Rosa Parks, Thomas Jefferson and more).  

Generally speaking, Level D follows the same lesson format as B and C.

Level E – American Spirit

Developmental Stage: Skill Development

Continuing the Skill Development learning from Americana, but in greater depth and complexity, American Spirit follows much of the same format as Level D. 

Its theme, however, is subtly different. The book covers American history but with a greater focus on innovation and achievement, with passages covering important figures like Phillis Wheatley, P.T. Barnum, JFK and others. 

Level F – Ancient Achievement

Developmental Stage: Skill Development and Word Extension 

Ancient Achievement takes Spelling You See a bit back in time, providing passages that cover the achievements of ancient civilizations and cultures, such as our ancient ancestors and their art, the Vikings and their discoveries, Roman roads, the development of gunpowder and so on.

With Level E, students begin to move into Word Extension. 

It is in this stage that students begin to work on word endings, such as -able, -ary, -ant and -ent and so on. Level E also introduces Spotlights, an activity that explores the context, history and root of a word, which is designed to spark an interest in (and get them paying attention to) word origins and commonalities and to prepare them for the Derivational Constancy stage. 

It is at this point in the series that Spelling You See begins to encourage independent learning and starts to provide students with greater control over their studies. In Ancient Achievement, students begin to read passages to the parent (rather than the reverse) and begin to do chunking work on their own. 

Level G – Modern Milestones

Developmental Stage: Word Extension 

The final book in Spelling You See, Modern Milestones, explores influential innovations in art, music, literature and science over the last several hundred years.

The book increases the complexity of the topics introduced in Ancient Achievement, diving deeper into affixes (prefixes, suffixes), compound words, word endings, plurals and tenses and more. 

At this level, students continue to work more independently, and  Modern Milestones introduces a component known as Workshops, which are more or less practice worksheets where students review and practice different concepts and rules in spelling in a more focused way. 

screenshot of spelling you see modern milestones workshop

Thoughts on The Books and Their Progression

Spelling You See is Pretty Comprehensive

Spelling You See’s series, despite its more visual methodology, is a pretty comprehensive spelling program overall. 

The program begins with the very basics of phonics and writing, with students tracing letters and saying their sounds out loud, and over the course of the workbook series takes students through progressively complex spelling concepts, such as endings, blends, various spelling rules, tenses, affixes, irregularities, exceptions and more.

Overall, in our opinion, the program covers all the essential formal spelling learning that homeschooling students in Kindergarten to Middle School (and even beyond) will need. 

In addition, although it is a spelling program, Spelling You See also serves as a pretty decent (print) handwriting program and, at the earlier stages, does a pretty good job at reinforcing any phonics learning, as well. 

It’s also consistent

Although Spelling You See introduces new activities and elements from time to time as the series progresses, the core elements of the program remain the same (passages, copywork, dictation and chunking). 

The program is also consistent in scheduling, with all books and lessons built around  a 5 day study week, as well as its lessons, which tend to follow a general pattern of:

  • Guided reading
  • Chunking
  • Copywork
  • Dictation

This consistency can be a good thing for students moving through the program. Students can find comfort in knowing what to expect on a day to day basis, and the repetition and consistency of the book’s activities can serve to strengthen memory in the long term.

Overall, as can be seen from the above, there is a lot of consistency throughout Spelling You See’s book series. 

The program progressively builds on itself

Spelling You See’s books aren’t neatly divided into different spelling concepts. 

Rather, the books gradually shift through the various developmental stages of language and spelling acquisition, touching on previous concepts and rules before diving deeper into them, introducing more complex rules, more challenging examples and exercises, new exceptions, more complex reading material and more.  

While this can make it a little more difficult for parents and students moving into the program to find their initial starting level, it does mean that students get a lot of review over the course of the program and are more consistently challenged with new learning. 

The books can be more interesting to students than some other programs

Illustrated, colorful and filled with interesting, thematically-linked and sometimes thought-provoking passages to work with, Spelling You See can be a lot more fun and interesting for students to work with compared to programs that rely on word lists and rote memorization. 

As they become more interested and engaged with the work, students can find the learning to be more meaningful and, in the end, more memorable. 

Doesn’t really promote independence in learning

Spelling You See isn’t really a self-study program. It does demand a fair bit of interaction between parent and student and only really starts giving students meaningful control over their learning later in the series (Level G+), which can be a disappointment for some parents. 

What are Spelling You See Lessons Like?

Spelling You See is a 36 week program based on a 5 day schedule. 

Parents teach from the Instructor Handbook.containing useful information, such as the program’s outline and philosophy, teaching tips and FAQs, as well as the level’s teaching material and answer keys. 

Students then follow along and work in their workbooks, which contain illustrations and ample room for their work. 

Each day in this schedule is assigned a letter (A-E), such that books will refer to Lesson 4A, 4B,4C, 4D and 4E representing a full week, for example.

Spelling You See likes to keep its lessons short, about 10-20 minutes each depending on the level. 

The overall idea is to keep things short and to the point so that students can stay focused and engaged throughout their work and so that they don’t burn out over time. 

Not only are these lessons ideal for younger students and those with shorter attention spans, but they’re also ideal for homeschoolers with busy schedules who may struggle to find time for hour-long spelling intensives. 

Interestingly, the program actually discourages parents from continuing lessons past their recommended limits, even if the child is really, really interested. 

In terms of structure, Spelling You See lessons vary depending on the precise books and activities included therein but tend to follow a pretty standard pattern. 

Each week has its own passage, and the first three days of a lesson (A, B, C) are generally dedicated to reading, chunking (for levels B and up) and copywork. 

Day 4 (D) usually begins with parents (or students later on) reading a passage and then either doing some freewriting or illustration as part of No Rule Day, or practicing dictation in higher levels. 

With Ancient Achievements and Modern Milestones, students may also do Spotlight activities or Workshops on Day 4 as well. 

Day 5 (E) concludes the week with a reading, some chunking and a final dictation exercise. 

Overall, as a program. Spelling You See is pretty easy to use and fairly well scripted. The Instructor Handbook provides a good amount of step-by-step instructions on how to teach with the reading material at hand. 

This makes it especially good for those who’ve never homeschooled before (or taught spelling). 

This scripting is also beneficial for those who are experienced in homeschooling but have never taught with Spelling You See, as it is quite different than more traditional spelling programs. 

Interestingly, Spelling You See also provides a decent outline of the rationale behind the program and its activities. 

This allows parents to learn a little more and explore the teaching methodology and assess for themselves the validity of what they’re being asked to do, which we appreciate. 

While Spelling You See is a scripted program that can be used as more or less an open and go spelling curriculum, we don’t find it to be overly scripted. In other words, the Instructor Handbook doesn’t tell parents precisely what to say or how to say it, but instead leaves enough wiggle room for them to modify based on student response and, ultimately, to teach naturally as parents. 

On the downside, the program does stick pretty closely with a 5 day schedule. 

Unlike other programs, Spelling You See strongly recommends a full week schedule and doesn’t readily provide alternative options, making it a little harder to use for parents that intend to follow 3 and 4 day schedules. 

Modifying the program to fit a shorter week without dropping worksheets can be a little tricky and require creative thinking, as the program really recommends adhering to the lesson time limits and not pushing students into a pace they’re not ready for. 

Spelling You See Pros and Cons

Pros

Not just rote memorization and word lists

Unlike some other programs out there, students using Spelling You See won’t be bored to tears sitting around the table trying to memorize page after page of word lists. 

Instead, Spelling You See is a full learning program with interesting written passages and a variety of learning activities such as chunking, copywork, dictation and workshops, designed to stimulate visual memory and take learning deeper by providing essential context for vocabulary development and spelling rules. 

Research based and effective method of learning to spell

Rather than rely on traditional frameworks for teaching spelling, Spelling You See has built a program that is based on several decades of peer-reviewed and detailed research into visual memory, childhood education and cognitive development. 

As a result, the activities in Spelling You See are all grounded in pretty solid educational principles and can be highly effective at helping students visualize and more accurately spell words.

Fun and interesting lessons and passages

The Spelling You See books are very colorfully illustrated and filled with fun passages about nursery rhymes, animals, history, and culture. 

Aside from providing more overall structure and context to learning, these topics and passages make the program a lot more interesting and engaging for kids.

Lessons are short and not very stressful

Spelling You See is very mindful of overwhelming students and their attention spans and consequently designs its lessons short and to the point, with activities and exercises kept to 10 minutes or less. 

Scripted, easy to use curriculum

Spelling You See’s Instructor Handbooks provide parents with a lot of instructions, tips and help, guiding them step-by-step through the process of conducting a spelling lesson. 

This makes the program extremely easy to use and means that parents don’t need to do a lot of prep work or revision beforehand.

No tests, no stressful memorization tasks

Many kids learning to spell get stressed out when asked to memorize and be quizzed on their spelling. Regurgitating endless words isn’t usually a child’s idea of a good time and consequently students can ultimately disengage from their learning. 

Spelling You See doesn’t rely on rote memorization, nor does it require stressful weekly quizzes or tests, relying on a series of consistent activities and exercises that help encode visual patterns and rules into memory over time. 

Similarly, the program has built in activities designed to help reduce stress during the week, such as No Rule Days and days with assisted dictation.  

Very student-centric and student paced

Rather than make blanket assumptions about grade and age level norms for spelling, Spelling You See focuses on the student’s personal skill development, moving at their pace and moving forward only when they have demonstrated proficiency and are ready to do so. 

In this way, it can be considered a more individualized spelling program for students.

Covers more than just spelling

In addition to spelling, Spelling You See also touches on the principles of proper print (although not cursive) handwriting, phonics, vocabulary development, and even general knowledge (history, nature, arts and culture, etc.). 

As a result, we think it is more of a complete program compared to many other competing spelling programs. 

Cons

Is based around an assumed 5 day schedule

Spelling You See’s lesson plans, schedules and worksheets are all based around an assumed 5 day schedule. While possible, it can be a little difficult to create a shorter schedule (3, 4 days) compared to some other programs. 

Can be harder for newcomers to figure out where to start

As it is very much a skill-based program, and one that strongly discourages parents from advancing their students until they are ready, it can be more challenging for parents new to the program to figure out where to start. 

Rather than rely on a simple age or grade chart, parents need to take a careful look at their child’s actual skills, perhaps even running through some graded exercises, to determine which level they should start with. 

Can be quite parent-intensive

Spelling You See isn’t a self-study program. Parents are expected to work closely with their students, reading passages, overseeing their work and providing instruction and guidance. 

It is only at level G, towards the end of Spelling You See, that students begin to learn more independently. 

Who is Spelling You See Ideal For?

Students who hate memorizing and word lists

Spelling You See doesn’t rely on rote memorization, but instead relies on several core activities (copywork, dictation, chunking) designed to stimulate visual memory and retention. There are no weekly quizzes or lists to memorize and repeat back. 

Visual learners

Spelling You See is a very visual program, with students highlighting chunks, copying wha they see, underlining and marking various things in their dictation and even writing letters into printed squares. 

As a result, students who prefer to learn visually will have an easier and more enjoyable time with this program.

Students who have a hard time studying for longer periods of time

As lessons are purposefully kept very short (10-20 minutes or so in total), parents of students who get a bit wriggly and fidgety when asked to sit still for a long time may have an easier time with this program.

Parents who want a program that covers more than just spelling

While it’s mainly a spelling program, Spelling You See also touches on phonics concepts, explores a variety of topics through its passages, and helps students work on printed handwriting. 

As such, it is something of a more complete educational program than some of its competitors. 

Charlotte Mason and similar homeschools

Spelling You See has several activities in common with Charlotte Mason and similar homeschooling methods (copywork, dictation, reading passages). 

As a result, it can feel very familiar and ultimately be something of a natural fit for families following these homeschooling styles.

Parents who want an easy to use spelling curriculum

Spelling You See is a very well-scripted program that offers parents lots of detail on what and how to teach each lesson. 

As a result, it is quite easy to use and requires very little background in language arts teaching or prepwork, making it a great option for those new to teaching spelling or those new to homeschooling altogether. 

Who is Spelling You See Not Ideal For?

Students who hate copywork and dictation

Not every student is a fan of copywork and dictation exercises, finding them boring or stressful.

As these are some of the core activities of the program (and there are a lot of them), Spelling You See may not be ideal for such students.

Parents looking for a flexible curriculum schedule with lots of options

Spelling You See works on a fairly fixed 5 day schedule and offers no real ready schedules for 4 and 3 day scheduling.

While the program can be modified, this may mean dropping a worksheet and moving on, which can lead to skill gaps later. 

Students who really enjoy hands-on learning

Spelling You See is a very visual (and sometimes auditory) learning program. Beyond highlighting and writing, it doesn’t really offer much in the way of hands-on spelling learning. 

The workbooks, for example, don’t include any manipulative work or very many physical games to play, and so it may not be the most intrinsically interesting program for students who like to learn in a more tactile manner.

Price

Note: Prices correct as of writing. All prices in USD. 

As with other homeschool programs, Spelling You See has two main components that parents need to buy- a student workbook and a teacher’s guide, called the Instructor Handbook. 

It’s important to note that with the exception of Level A, most Levels in Spelling You See are split into two parts, meaning they require two workbooks that are sold together. 

Student Workbooks: $47 (for both parts)

Instructor Manuals: $21 

Bundled Student Workbooks and Instructor Manuals: $53 (best deal)

Overall, Spelling You See is a pretty affordable way to learn spelling, with a full year’s learning in spelling coming in at well under $70 or so (without a bundled deal).

All told, it is somewhat less expensive to use than many other options out there, such as Purposeful Spelling. 

Although slightly more expensive per book than All About Spelling, Spelling You See doesn’t require parents to purchase any manipulative kits, which balances things out somewhat. 

That said, parents should always check for current pricing, as well as any deals or specials that may be on offer. 

Is It Worth the Price

Overall, we feel that Spelling You See is a curriculum that is worth its price. 

The program’s curriculum is comprehensive in scope, covering the various spelling rules and exceptions that students need to learn in some depth, and provides them with ample opportunities for practice and review. 

Spelling You See also takes a more unusual, but research-backed, approach to spelling instruction, providing a lot of interesting passages, colorful illustrations, and visual memory-boosting activities to get kids learning and practicing without requiring them to sit and memorize word lists for hours on end. 

This, in turn, can make learning far more fun and interesting for kids, which reduces the stress of learning to spell while helping boost engagement and retention in the long run.

Finally, the program does include a lot of support for parents, including a well-scripted Instructor Handbook, that makes the program very easy to use, even for those who have never taught spelling before. 

Bottom Line

Spelling is rarely a student’s favorite subject to work on. 

Spelling You See is a curriculum that does away with mind-numbing word lists and assessments in favor of a more engaging and visual approach to learning to spell.

Its researched-backed curriculum works with students according to their skill and developmental readiness, and its short lessons, fun passages and core set of activities are designed to help students learn spelling rules without a lot of tear-inducing rote memorization.

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.