Recently we went on a quest for apps or programs that might help Mane with spelling. Spelling does not come naturally to her, and the key to spelling for her is lots and lots of repetition. I seriously dislike quizzing her, and I have a hard time creating new word lists now that we've finished Logic of English. Mane has become brilliant with her math facts by using the online program Reflex Math. So, I was hoping for a spelling app or program that would work similarly. Because it's been such an involved process, I thought others might benefit from the information.
First, here's the short list of free android apps we tried and why we discarded them immediately:
First, here's the short list of free android apps we tried and why we discarded them immediately:
- Brilliant Spelling - uses google voice and is super annoying
- Spell Friendzy - user must keep doing the same things over and over to have enough points to unlock new levels
- Spelling Mastery - cannot actually find this app in the play store
- Spellvetica - would not load
- Spelling Bee - opened with ads immediately
- Painless Spelling - designed to go with the book and also would not load
- Big IQ Kids - does not autoselect words or move through a sequence automatically
Ultimate Spelling was awful. Within a few hours of downloading the program and testing it out, I had contacted customer service asking for my money back and uninstalled the program. Here's why:
Things I wanted:
- auto-generated word lists
- auto-tracking of progress
- spaced review/repetition
- individualized and automatic movement through the program
- the ability to get started quickly with expert lists, perfect for any grade level 1-10
- fun games based on levels of processing, operant conditioning, and spaced repetition
- detailed reports on spelling improvement (which I somehow took to mean that spelling improvement would be automatically assessed and progress through the program would happen automatically)
- expert lists that were FORTY-FIVE words long - resulting in me needing to sort and manually input lists because that's WAY TOO LONG for a new word list
- spelling practice that involved flashing the word for a few seconds and then having the student spell the word (Mane could do this absolutely forever and still never actually remember how to spell the word.)
- a terribly outdated and ugly user interface that wasn't nearly as engaging as their website
- games - not any better (and possibly worse because of the boring interface) than the free ones at Spelling City
- no automated determination of when a word is mastered or automatic, individualized movement to the next word or group of words. What I mean by this is that words have to be marked as "mastered" by either the learner or the teacher. The program does not have a built in system for determining mastery, taking old words off the list, or adding new words. Basically, everything has to be done manually, and the teacher/parent still has to quiz the student (on multiple occasions over time) to determine if a word has been mastered.
So, we moved back to Learn That Word. We had tried it for free and then discovered that, although parts of the website are always free, the spelling quiz component of the website requires the purchase of "tokens." After such a bad experience with Ultimate Spelling, we decided to spend the money to purchase the smallest number of tokens and spend a little more time on the program to decide if we wanted to keep going. Learn That is a non-profit organization, which offers the spelling program Learn that Word. I like their mission statement: LearnThat Foundation Manifesto, and I appreciate the page comparing their program to Spelling City, which we used when Mane was younger: Spelling City Comparison.
Learn That Word is a quiz approach, not a "games" approach. But, unlike Spelling City or Ultimate Spelling, it has built-in repetition and review, which matter much more to us right now than games. The program is sequential and doesn’t require you to enter your own lists So, during quizzes the learner hears the word and sees a definition, sample sentence, photo, and blank spaces to represent the number of letters in the word. If the word is spelled incorrectly, the spaces are filled with whatever letters the learner got right. They then try to spell the word a second time. After the second try, the correct spelling is revealed. Words that are spelled correctly on the first try are reviewed later, but they do not become part of the learner's spelling list and they do not use up tokens. Words not spelled correctly will be reviewed according to a spaced repetition pattern and must be spelled correctly a certain number of times to be considered mastered. Once a word is mastered, a token is subtracted from the learner's account. While doing quizzes, learners earn "gold coins," which may be exchanged to play games (like hangman).
We are now 2 weeks into using Learn That Word, and it looks like this will be our program of choice for the next several months, if not years. There is a vocabulary component also, and both the spelling and vocabulary components extend into college level.
Bullet Point list of what's great about Learn That Word:
- auto-generated word lists that can be customized for length
- automated progress tracking and movement through spelling lists based on individual performance and needs
- spaced review of previous words
- earned games
- spelling bee style quizzes
- access to vocabulary component
- optional (but not required) customization of spelling and vocabulary lists
Learn That Word is not a stand-alone spelling curriculum because phonics and spelling rules are not part of the program. I am comfortable with using it right now because Mane has already received (and continues to receive) instruction in phonics and spelling rules. If you want to use it in conjunction with a spelling program, there is an option to input your own words.
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I feel that I should also say a few words about Spelling City. We used Spelling City for an entire school year, and it was excellent. We stopped because Mane was tired of playing the same games every week and was ready to move on to something new. (There are A LOT of games, but after a whole year it was still starting to get old.) I was tired of entering word lists and having to go back and create new lists of previously difficult words in order to make sure she was getting that spaced/timed review. Spelling City does have an option to use lists already on their site, but there is no way for the program to do an automatic spiral review, which is really important for Mane. This is not so important for student to whom spelling comes more naturally.
Bullet Point List of what's good about Spelling City:
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I feel that I should also say a few words about Spelling City. We used Spelling City for an entire school year, and it was excellent. We stopped because Mane was tired of playing the same games every week and was ready to move on to something new. (There are A LOT of games, but after a whole year it was still starting to get old.) I was tired of entering word lists and having to go back and create new lists of previously difficult words in order to make sure she was getting that spaced/timed review. Spelling City does have an option to use lists already on their site, but there is no way for the program to do an automatic spiral review, which is really important for Mane. This is not so important for student to whom spelling comes more naturally.
Bullet Point List of what's good about Spelling City:
- custom OR auto-generated word lists
- really great games
- allows teachers to assign games and activities ahead of time
- program tracks what assignments were done and what words were missed
- writing component allows teacher to log in and offer feedback
If you have questions about our experience with any of these programs, leave them in the comments. I'll see what I can do to answer.
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