Today we’re going to be reviewing the best homeschool spelling curriculum choices to help your kids improve their spelling skills. I have to say, spelling wasn’t something I was all that concerned about as a homeschool mom. I really thought it was one of those things that would just improve with time as we did more reading and writing practice. But I recently had my 10-year-old daughter take a reading assessment, and I was a little shocked by her scores in the spelling category!
So I decided it was time to look for an actual spelling program for her. So today I’m going to share with you the homeschool spelling curriculum programs I narrowed it down to, and I’ll let you know what we ultimately ended up going with.
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Spelling Safari Homeschool Spelling Program
First on our list is an online homeschool spelling curriculum called Spelling Safari. This is a spelling program that can be purchased for use in schools, but they do also have a homeschool edition. The homeschool version is good for up to 5 homeschool students and costs just $49 per year after the free trial. So that’s not a bad price at all. And you don’t need to enter any payment info to get the free trial, which is something I always appreciate!
This program will start with a diagnostic assessment to determine your student’s current level. Then there will be a quiz with a bunch of different words to determine which words your child needs help spelling.
When they get a certain number of words wrong, those will be the words that your child will work on for the next week. It’s a pretty straightforward program, although the setup is a little bit difficult simply because it’s geared towards teachers and classrooms. So for homeschooling, you still have to create a classroom and add your students. It’s obvious that this was not designed with home use in mind. But they have a helpful guide to get you started, and then it’s pretty simple to follow.
After you get your words for the week, there will be various activities to help your child learn to spell the new words. And then once they can spell those words, they will move on to the next cycle.
There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with this program, but I did find it a bit boring. I really don’t think it’s something I could convince my daughter to do. I really didn’t care for the AI voice either, it got very tiring having to listen to it read all of the words and sentences. So on to the next program.
Scholar Within Homeschool Spelling Curriculum
Next is a program that we already use in our homeschool called Scholar Within. This is a homeschool reading and spelling program that includes reading fluency and comprehension in addition to spelling. But you can actually purchase just the spelling portion of the program. It’s an online program so everything you need is available online, but it’s one of those programs that includes physical worksheets. I really like programs like that.
The Scholar Within online homeschool spelling curriculum is available for kids in Kindergarten through 8th grade, and the cost is either $27 a month with the option to cancel at any time, or $227 a year if you pay for the full year upfront. You also get a 14-day money-back guarantee. And while they don’t have a free trial for the spelling program, there is a 7-day free trial for the reading and spelling program, so you can try that out and it includes the spelling lessons. Then if you want to keep it just for spelling, you could cancel and then sign up for just the spelling program.
So you may be wondering if we already use this in our homeschool, why am I looking for a separate spelling curriculum? And for one I’ll say it’s because I’m looking for something my daughter can do independently. Scholar Within may be online, but it definitely requires a parent to be involved with the program. We use it for the reading fluency drills and the reading comprehension, but so far we haven’t done much of the spelling lessons. This is also because they give you the word lists every week, and so far my daughter has already known how to spell all the words. I think maybe I should have picked a higher grade level. So I made a deal with her that if she can spell all the words at the start of the week, we won’t do the spelling lessons that week.
If you want to see a full review of the Scholar Within program, I do have one on my YouTube channel that you can check out. For now, let’s move on to the next homeschool spelling curriculum on our list.
All About Spelling Homeschool Spelling Curriculum
So you guys know I love my online programs, but this is the ultimate guide to homeschool spelling curriculum, so I had to include some of the best print curriculum choices as well. And by far the most recommended program out there is All About Spelling. This is an open-and-go program that uses a multi-sensory approach to teach spelling, and there are 7 levels to the program. If you’re not sure which level to start with, they have a placement test on their website that you can have your child do to figure out where to start.
The cost of the All About Spelling curriculum is $69.95 for the teacher’s manual and student packet which includes an activity book, flashcards, and stickers. You might also want to purchase the spelling review box to help you stay organized. And you’ll need a set of letter tiles, or you can get the letter tiles app. You’ll only need to buy this one time, no matter how many kids you have or how many levels of the program you do.
So it seems like there is a lot to this program, but it is completely scripted, so you just follow along and do what it says for each lesson. This comes highly recommended by many homeschool families, but right now we just don’t have time in our schedule to add another curriculum like this. So our search continues.
Nessy Reading and Spelling
Next is an online program that is supposed to be especially great for students with dyslexia as well as students for whom English is not their first language, although any child can use the program. It’s called Nessy Reading and Spelling, and its designed to teach phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and reading comprehension.
There are two components to the program, the reading program and the spelling program, and I think you have to do both, but the programs look really fun and I think the game-based learning might appeal to my daughter since we don’t do many programs like that. Lately, most of the work we have been doing is sitting at the kitchen table type school work. So I think I might be able to convince her to try this. It’s supposed to be for ages 6 to 11, and she’s 10, but her spelling needs a lot of work, so as long as this isn’t too babyish, it might work out.
It starts out with an assessment to determine their current level, and then it just goes through the program so you don’t have to do anything. It will choose the right lessons for your child based on where they are. They also have a bunch of learning videos and printable worksheets included.
You can get a 7-day free trial of the Nessy Reading and Spelling program with no credit card required. After that, it will cost $13.50 a month, which is not a bad price. The only issue I see with this program is it’s another one of those programs that seems to be designed more with teachers in mind. So the parent section is a little confusing. Maybe I’ll do a full review of this at some point in the future.
Grafari
Next on our list is an interesting program that’s supposed to help kids ages 6 and up to gain a 30% increase in writing and spelling accuracy with just 3 20 minute sessions per week. It’s called Grafari. And I will say this program is a bit different than most of the others on this list. It’s definitely not as fun or kid-friendly as something like Nessy or Spelling Safari. It’s also a little complicated from the parent’s point of view, and it’s funny because I did mention this program in a recent video a few months ago, and the parent dashboard is different now than it was then, so I had to learn it all over again to retest this. But I figured it out eventually.
It’s also a little more expensive. They don’t have a monthly payment option at all, but you can get a 3 month subscription for $99. Otherwise you’ll save some money if you pay for 6 months or a year up front. You can get a 3 day free trial but you’ll definitely have to remember to cancel or you will be charged.
It’s a really interesting program, and I admit I have no idea of the science behind this program. It’s very different than the usual programs that give kids words to spell and help build their vocabulary. This program has you learn to associate letters with colors, and it’s supposed to train your brain to recognize this. So the program starts with having you just click on the colors that go with the letters. It’s a little bit strange. But there may be something to it.
Unfortunately, I know my daughter, and there’s no way she would sit at a computer and keep matching these letters and colors, no matter how helpful it may be for spelling. So I won’t be using this one.
Evan Moor Homeschool Spelling Curriculum
Next on our list is another print homeschool spelling curriculum that comes highly recommended by other homeschool parents from Evan Moor. Their building spelling skills workbooks are straightforward and easy to follow, and are much more traditional as to what you think of as a homeschool spelling curriculum. They include word lists, dictation, word meaning and word study activities, and spelling tests. There will be new spelling words each week, and there are 30 units in total for each grade level.
The program is available for grades 1 through 6, and you only need the teachers edition of the book because you can make copies of the student pages. You can even get it as an ebook if you don’t want to wait for it to arrive in the mail. The book, either print or ebook, is only $24.99, so it may be the most affordable spelling program on the list. And it’s just much more of what I think of when I think of a spelling curriculum.
The only downside here for my family is that there is a lot of handwriting. That’s something we struggle with, and we already have a language arts program that includes a lot of writing that we do every day. So I don’t know how my daughter would feel about all this additional handwriting. But I do like the format, and the price is definitely appealing. So I’ll definitely keep this on my list as an option.
Spelling Tutor
Next is an affordable online spelling program from the UK called Spelling Tutor. It focuses on teaching high frequency words that children would be expected to know in grades 1 through 7, and even though it’s a program from the UK, you can choose American speaking and spelling when you sign up. And the price is not in US dollars either, but it came out to $7.81 per month when I signed up. So it’s definitely the least expensive online program on our list so far.
This program is very simple to use, and it has kids do some of their work on paper, which I definitely like. It’s also a quick program, designed for kids to spend just 10 minutes a day. You’ll be able to see the words your child knows and which words they need to learn, although it does have kids mark their own work, so it will depend on the child whether they are motivated and want to learn or whether they just want to be done with the program, because they could simply mark all their answers correct, whether they actually spelled them correctly or not.
But it’s definitely a good option to consider if you’re looking for a simple and affordable homeschool spelling curriculum. And you could of course just sit with your child when they do it to make sure they’re keeping track accurately.
Moving Beyond the Page
Next is an online homeschool spelling curriculum from Moving Beyond the Page. If you’re already a customer of this curriculum company, you can get this spelling program for free. If not, you can get it for $39.99 for 18 months of access, which is definitely a good price. This program is designed to take just 30 to 45 minutes per week and has kids only focus on words they don’t already know how to spell. So it’s kind of like what I’ve been doing with my daughter when we do Scholar Within. If she knows the words already, we don’t waste time on them.
With the Moving Beyond the Page spelling program, kids will take a weekly online spelling quiz, and if there is a word your child struggles to spell, it will be added to the practice list. Then these words will continue to show up on future quizzes until your child learns to spell them correctly. It’s a very simple spelling program with the goal that your child will know how to spell all of the words they studied by the end of the year.
I would definitely take advantage of this program if I already had a product from this company and could get it for free. But I’m hesitant to spend $39.99 when I don’t know what to expect, even for you guys. So I’m going to pass on this one.
IEW Phonetic Zoo
Another program that seems to be popular with homeschoolers is Phonetic Zoo. This program is for kids who are a little bit older, 3rd grade and up, and it’s designed for kids to be able to do independently, which is great. It uses audio recordings and has students write on paper, and the goal is for students to master spelling the words in each spelling list before they move on.
There are 3 levels to the Phonetic Zoo spelling curriculum, and they have a placement test to help you decide which level to start with. You can then purchase the starter set for $99. You only need to purchase that once. If you move up to a different level, then you only need to purchase the next set of CDs or MP3 downloads. So it’s definitely a good price. And the reviews of this program are very good.
I’m just not sure if my daughter is motivated enough to get better at spelling to do this program. The Scholar Within program also uses audio recordings for the spelling lessons, and my daughter has not really wanted to do those. So I wonder if this would be similar.
Touch Type Read and Spell
Finally, last on our list is an interesting program that teaches typing skills, spelling, and sight reading skills called Touch Type Read and Spell. It includes over 4500 English words and uses a multi-sensory approach to learning. So this could be a good option if you want your child to learn to touch type on a keyboard as well as help them improve their spelling.
It also includes math facts and science spelling words. And the spelling is just sort of built into the program, so students are learning to spell better simply by doing the typing lessons. So that’s really cool, especially for kids who might not want to sit through a traditional spelling lesson.
The cost of this program is in line with some of the others on this list at $99 a year for 1 student. I do wish they had a monthly payment option though. There also isn’t any free trial, but you can request a demo by just giving them your name and email address. The demo is just a couple of videos that show you the first lessons of the course and how they look. But at least there’s a way to see how the program works before you pay anything. You also get a 30 day money back guarantee if you end up purchasing this program and decide you don’t like it. So that’s nice as well.
Bonus Homeschool Spelling Program!
And before we go, I also just want to mention another program that isn’t explicitly for spelling, but it includes lessons to help with spelling words that don’t follow the normal phonetic rules. It’s called Readarific, and it’s a pretty amazing program that teaches visualization skills that help with reading comprehension, spelling, following directions, and more.
My daughter went up 3 grade levels in reading comprehension in just 3 months of using this program. I can’t recommend it enough. So if you’re interested, I have some full review videos on my YouTube channel as well as a discount code for you (Save 10% off with my link and code GIFT10). There are also lessons to help with writing, memorizing multiplication tables and more. So I’ve left all that info for you in the video description if you want to check it out.
Which Homeschool Spelling Curriculum Did We Choose?
Ok so that was a lot of homeschool spelling curriculums that we looked at! There are some really good choices there, so hopefully you found something to try in your family.
As for what we decided to go with. Well, after reviewing all these programs, I decided to have my daughter try Nessy. Although I personally might have chosen something like the Evan Moor curriculum or All About Spelling, not only are we pressed for time, but my daughter would probably scream if I added one more curriculum like that to her schedule. So I wanted her to have something fun to do that didn’t take up too much time and that she could do on her own.
It’s actually been a couple weeks now and it’s going really well. My younger kids find it interesting too and so they have been sitting with her and watching her do it and even “helping” a little. So maybe they’re picking up some spelling skills too. It sounds like everyone is having a lot of fun with it, and that’s one of the most important things I think in homeschooling. When you can find a way to make learning fun, your kids retain so much more because they’re engaged and wanting to learn rather than just trying to get through it so they can do something else.
If you have any questions on anything in this post, or just a general question, let me know in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer. Thank you!
