09.14.07
Review: Excellence in Spelling–The Phonetic Zoo
Andrew Pudewa is one of the most popular speakers on the homeschool circuit. He is the director and I believe founder of The Institute for Excellence in Writing, which produces a variety of language arts curricula as well as seminars for instructors and students alike. He is also a homeschooling parent, and the understanding that comes from traveling that path personally is evident in the Institute’s products.
I attended a Link homeschool conference in southern California several years ago and took advantage of several of Mr. Pudewa’s sessions. He is an engaging speaker and I was quite impressed with the programs he had created. Now that we have entered the skill-building stage of our homeschooling (with Katie), I felt we were ready to purchase the IEW curricula that were appropriate for her. I’m not quite ready to start the writing package yet – it involves significant parent preparation (watching a DVD series) that I’ve not completed yet.
When I was researching my purchase of the writing program, I discovered that IEW had produced a spelling program as well: Excellence in Spelling–The Phonetic Zoo. Katie has seven years of reading and writing under her belt, and although she learned to read with ease and without formal instruction of any kind, she and I agree that spelling is not an easy skill for her. It’s not difficult per se, but it falls out of sync with her pretty advanced reading and writing skills. Given the added challenge that her younger sister Emma is a naturally talented speller, Katie asked specifically for attention to this skill this year. I rearranged most details of my life in what was a very overscheduled week at the end of July to attend a homeschool conference in Modesto for a few hours so that I could visit the IEW vendor booth there and get my hands on their spelling curriculum to make a decision.
Excellence in Spelling is well named; it is an impressive and cohesive spelling curriculum that builds knowledge of spelling rules (and exceptions) through sequential auditory processing. “The Phonetic Zoo” part of the title refers to the animal themes used to illustrate the various rules. What I especially love is that this program is designed to be highly independent; audio CDs are provided so that the child can work through most of the lessons at their own pace and with very little demand on the parent. A homeschooling parent has only so much time and energy, and I like that the need to read aloud 15-20 spelling words regularly is not on my plate! Every fifth lesson is a “personal spelling” lesson and requires someone to read the child’s personal word list.
There are three levels offered: A (grades 4-5), B (gr. 6-7) and C (gr. 8+). The complete program, which includes the parent DVD and common materials, is $99 new; if you are purchasing a subsequent program and don’t need the common items or the DVD, the cost is $85 new. I think this program is more than worth the full purchase price, and given the popularity of IEW materials in the homeschooling community you could easily sell your used materials to recover a significant portion of the cost. I have seen Phonetic Zoo products listed for sale on the IEW Yahoo elist for an average of $60, and you can purchase most of the supplemental materials separately through IEW.
Definitely a two-thumbs-up product. We decided to start Katie at level A; there is a placement test at the website, although we didn’t use it. Our 8 year old, Emma, is using it as well and they are both really happy with the experience. In fact, they are so happy that I have to burn copies of the CDs so that they can use them simultaneously!