I would like to recommend a website - www.spellingcity.com . Their website started out as simply a place for my kids to take a spelling test without me having to give each one their words orally. It works GREAT! Then SpellingCity started adding more games that included alphabetizing http://www.spellingcity.com/alphabetize.html, vocabulary http://www.spellingcity.com/Games/vocabulary-testme.html , parts of speech http://www.spellingcity.com/Games/whichword-parts-of-speech.html, Speedy Speller http://www.spellingcity.com/Games/speedyspeller.html, HangMouse http://www.spellingcity.com/Games/hangmouse.html, etc. Almost all of their games are printable or they can do them online. It's good to be able to work with the spelling words beyond just "spelling", they can practice other skills while they practice their words.
We have the paid version because I wanted it to keep track of the scores. I imported the word lists (from someone else, easy to do). I signed up 5 students and then they each started on those 300 spelling lists where I told them to. I am able to print out a detailed report showing words they missed, their scores for each lesson, and I can figure how long they spent working on each activity. Just recently they added "Assignments" so I can assign a group of students to complete a particular lesson by a certain date. It was very easy to figure out and use.
Anyway, I highly recommend!· Spelling City is the website that I wanted to start a blog page because I am excited about the updates at their websites, especially the ability to "assign" spelling lessons and easily check on their progress.
Disclosure:
We are penny-pinchers (like a lot of you) and we are always looking for a bargain. But there are times when you have to consider, "You get what you pay for".
K5 Learning is one of those things that is worth considering. They had a FREE, two-week trial with no credit card needed. Each student took free assessments in Reading and Math. We tried it and we LIKED it. Then we took some time to consider, "Do we really need this? Can we afford to do this?" Then, "Can we afford NOT to do this?"
Private tutors are expensive and years of struggling with a certain subject can wear on a student's nerves. There is stress in constantly battling over school work, day after day. Then there is K5!
My kids begged us to sign them up when the trial was over and cheered when we finally agreed that we would find a way to make it work into the budget.
From the initial assessments, K5 places each student into the program at their level (Math and Reading may be at different levels, as needed). The instructions are clearly given and the student is walked through samples and their problems. They work through at their own pace. There are progress reports for each subject so you can see their improvement. I can print those out for our records. It currently includes grades K-5 but the 6th grade level is almost ready to use.
They didn't ask me to write this, I just wanted to. And a little bonus for my family is that if someone signs up and mentions my website (Biblibuzz) then we actually get a discount. That would be nice ;)
