This review of Spelling Power includes a comparison with Phonetic Zoo and My Catholic Speller.

Spelling Power is a single volume, non-consumable resource for teaching spelling to children (and adults) of all ages. It includes over 5,000 spelling words organized by rule and difficulty level, dozens of activities to help the child remember the correct spelling, extensive notes explaining how and why the program was designed and a clear explanation of how the program is to be used.

Unique to this program is the built in review of misspelled words and the use of words that are most frequently misspelled by students on essay exams. Students also study only those words that they don't know, unlike other programs that require the student to study both familiar and unfamiliar words.

The program begins with the student taking a placement test to determine what "level" they will be using. Following placement, the student spends 15 minute each day studying spelling. Each session begins with the parent reads a list of words to the student for 5 minutes. The student spends the next 5 minutes going through a series of review stages with the misspelled words that research has found helps students retain the correct spelling. The final 5 minutes are spent in fun activities that reinforce the correct spelling of misspelled words. We have found that our children, including one who is not naturally a good speller, did not need the last 5 minute activity block.

We have successfully used this program for many years and find it particularly suitable for grades 5-7. The program is flexible in that it allows for words that the child frequently misses on their own school work to be entered on to the spelling list. We've found that in grades 5-7 the children took Spelling Power more seriously then spelling workbooks (that is, they benefited from having the teacher looking over their shoulder while they were spelling to keep them on task) and it allows them to accelerate beyond other spelling programs by focusing on just those words that they don't know how to spell and is therefore time efficient. A drawback to this program is that it is teacher intensive. This is especially a problem for large families. We resolved this problem in our own home by using My Catholic Speller in grades 2-4 and the high school level of Phonetic Zoo when the child had finished level H in Spelling Power.

My Catholic Speller is an excellent spelling program for young children. Not only does it teach them the correct spelling of many words that they will be using in their writing, but it also imparts knowledge of and an interest in our Holy Faith. Our children enjoy using this program and are able to do so independently (after reading the list words aloud with a parent.) After completing Level D, our children have entered the Spelling Power program at above grade level. My Catholic Speller is available from Catholic Heritage Curriculum.

Phonetic Zoo is reviewed separately, however it should be noted that we found Spelling Power to advance children to the high school level of Phonetic Zoo rather quickly. There have been some debates about the appropriateness of the "rules" found in Spelling Power. Phonetic Zoo provides different rules that were quickly learned by our oldest child (who is not naturally a good speller.) At the beginning of eighth grade he worked through the entire Phonetic Zoo high school level in 3 months and was able to apply the spelling rules in his essays. We did a follow up test to the effectiveness of Phonetic Zoo by using the final Spelling Power lists. He missed less then 5% of all words on the last two levels of Spelling Power, and the words missed were rated as college level.

Each lesson begins with the speaker reading the rule followed by a 15 word list that includes the speaker repeating the rule every three words. After each word is presented, the student is given enough time to write down the word without feeling rushed. The word list is repeated along with the correct spelling. The student writes the correct spelling next to his word as an accuracy check, noting which words he misspelled. He then studies those words and listens to the same list (CD track) on subsequent days until he correctly spells all list words two times.

Upon first listening to the CDs I thought the program moved too slowly and that my children would find it boring. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I was wrong. In retrospect realize that I found it slow and boring because I already knew the words, but for a student just learning the rules and word spelling it moved at just the right pace.

Phonetic Zoo provides different rules from Spelling Power that were quickly learned by our oldest child (who is not naturally a good speller.) At the beginning of eighth grade (after completing Level H in Spelling Power) he worked through the entire Phonetic Zoo high school level in 3 months and was able to apply the spelling rules in his essays. We did a follow up test to the effectiveness of Phonetic Zoo by using the final Spelling Power lists. He missed less then 5% of all words on the last two levels of Spelling Power, and the words missed were rated as being college level. For our family Phonetic Zoo is an ideal program for older students who are yearning for independence and are anxious to "be done" with spelling lessons. This review is of the "Advanced" level of Phonetic Zoo. The IEW website contains an auditory placement test that is accurate in determining which level to purchase.

This charming work text is designed to precede the My Catholic Speller series and would be appropriate for most First Graders. The book provides 27 two page lessons with six spelling words each. Spelling words include some Catholic words as well as the basics. Lessons provide opportunities for simple writing exercises (on appropriate sized writing lines with dotted center-lines as well as simple exercises in matching words and pictures, finding rhyming words, making up sentences, finding hidden words, simple alphabetization, etc. List words are grouped by vowel sounds, phonograms and simple spelling rules. The Introduction provides a simple outline for completing a lesson each week and a segment at the end of the book entitled "Presenting the Lesson" gives teaching tips and ideas for each lesson. The book also comes with an alphabet on heavy cardstock to cut out for a simple way that children can start putting letters together into words.

This third grade spelling workbook incorporates fun word searches, crossword puzzles and other puzzles into gentle spelling lessons while elegantly tying in Catholic content. Dictionary work, fill-in-the blanks and some traditional spelling practice are also included.

This is the first book in the series to offer short biblical quotations in most lessons that can be used for memory or copywork and are coordinated with a segment for apologetics lessons in the back of the book, called "Scriptural Answers for Every Catholic Kid". For example, week twenty offers this quotation: "...but of that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father..." (Mark 13:32) The segment in back is a little more extensive:

Week Twenty: Jesus' Return False teaching: Numerous cult leaders have set dates, most of which have come and gone, for Jesus' return. Counter with: "...but of that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father..." (Mark 13:32)

An answer key is included in the back of the book. The book offers 34 weekly lessons, including a review lesson for each quarter.