All About Spelling from All About Learning Press

All About Spelling is a research-based phonics-based teaching program for spelling based on Orton Gillingham methods that teaches phonemic awareness.

All About Spelling is a phonics-based teaching program for spelling. The All About Spelling program includes step-by-step lesson plans that are user-friendly and could be used in classrooms or by parents as part of a home teaching program. The program is flexible and can be customized for a student’s individual learning needs. Ongoing progress measurement of progress is built into the program. The program includes books with lesson plans, reading materials, cards and letter tiles. Overall, I was impressed by this program. It is well organized and includes most of the materials an instructor needs to implement it, with the exception of pencils and writing paper. Each lesson includes a checklist that tells the user exactly what is needed to teach the lesson and includes optional suggestions as well. Also available are companion reading materials that can help struggling readers practice skills as they learn them. Reading is seen as an integral partner in the spelling process and not an isolated skill. Each lesson includes visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning activities and would be considered a multisensory program using an Orton-Gillingham approach.

Another plus for this program is that it is based on mastery of specific skills in phonemic awareness and the letters that represent the sounds. Lessons have a script for the teacher or parent and include teaching tips and pointers.

All about Spelling is based on the work of Dr. Samuel Orton, a neurologist who studied language and reading disabilities and worked with psychologist Anna Gillingham to develop multisensory teaching methods which identify all the sounds of the English language and the letters used to spell them.

The All About Spelling program has in-depth instruction for the instructor in understanding the materials and in using them correctly. For example, a phonogram CD-ROM teaches how to correctly pronounce the sounds. For example, the sound /t/ is often mispronounced as /tuh/ rather than /t/. The CD clarifies pronunciation to ensure the correct letter-sound correspondence is taught. Currently, the program is available for kindergarten through level 6. More levels will be added, and All About Learning Press plans to eventually publish programs from preschool through twelve.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. My personal practice is to return or donate all review items based on the publisher's preference. In this case, the publisher requested the product be donated.