Traditional Spelling I from Memoria Press ~ Review

My 1st grade daughter was having a difficult time with learning her spelling words that we were using at the beginning of the year. She would get frustrated because there were so many words each week and many of them were confusing her when they used the same sounds but different letters. When we were offered Traditional Spelling I from Memoria Press, I was curious how it would work out with her. I looked at the samples on the website and decided to go with the first books since she was having trouble.

About Traditional Spelling I ~

Traditional Spelling uses a phonetic approach to teach how to spell words. Each lesson gives different vowel and consonant blends for the child to learn. Each day the child learns the words by doing different spelling activities in a workbook. Traditional Spelling I is intended for children in grades 1-2.

We received the following books to use with the program:

The teacher manual tells you how to teach each lesson. Each lesson is set up to be covered in one week. There are are 34 lessons total with two lessons teaching how to make contractions (I am = I’m). Each lesson is laid out the same way each week. There are ten words per lesson with one word usually being a sight word. The teacher manual also tells you what phonics flashcards are used for that lesson and what pages to use in the Classical Phonics book.Each lesson also tells you what pages need to be completed each day (one per day) and what activities to do with your child to help them learn the words. The teacher manual also includes a dictionary at the back of the book. There is also an appendix that has the spelling test form (can be copied for each test), spelling review games, spelling rules reference sheets, common English contractions, phonics overview for the teacher, and the colorful letters key.

The Classical Phonics book is laid out to help your child read words that have the same rule as the one they are learning for the week. There are several pages with many different words such as CVC words, CVCC words, ck, double consonant, blends like sw, long vowel words, and silent e words. There are several words for each”rule” that the child can see and read. The book also includes sight words in the back. This book is required in order to use the Traditional Spelling program correctly.

The student book is where your child will do their work. You will need a student book for each child since they will need to write in it each day.

The student book is laid out the same for each lesson and you are to do a page each day. The first day, the child writes the ten new spelling words. They don’t write them in the order given, but rather in groups. For instance, it will say, “Write the words where long 0 is spelled o_e.” The child finds the o_e words and writes them on the lines. The second day, the child uses colored pencils to help them remember the words (red for vowel/vowel teams and blue for consonant teams/blends). The third day, the child reads a story that has uses the spelling words and fills in some sentences that use the spelling words. The fourth day is a dictation day. The child listens as you tell them what sounds and spelling words to write. They also write a sentence that you dictate from the teacher’s manual. The fifth day, a test is given.

The phonics flashcards help your child with visualizing the word/letter/blend and shows them more words with the same letters on the back of the card.The phonics flashcards are required in order to use the program as intended.

We also received spelling practice sheets which are just sheets with the spelling words that the child can write two times each. These can be reproduced for a single student in your home if they need more practice.

How we used (and what we thought of) Traditional Spelling I ~

The lessons are laid out very well in the teacher’s manual so it was not difficult to get started. As you can see from the pictures above, I did buy a mini crate to keep all of the phonics flashcards contained. I knew if I did not have someplace to store them, they would get lost or ruined.

The first day of the lesson, I introduced the words. I would show her the flashcards with the letter combinations she was learning for the week. I also had her read through the words in the Classical Phonics book. We would then go through the list and say, spell, say each word. Lastly, we would do any other activities listed for the day and finish the page for the day. The rest of the week (days two through four) are shorter than the first day. There are simple activities listed in the teacher’s manual to do each day and then you are to complete a page each day. The fifth day is a test day. Each day’s work took us about 15-20 minutes to complete.

There were some lessons where if she did well on the fourth day dictation and I knew she knew the words well, I would skip the test on the fifth day and just have her spell some of the words orally.

Her favorite day was when she could use the blue and red pencils (I let her use crayon on some lessons) to write the words. Seeing the words in the different colors helped her learn them.

My daughter has really been enjoying working through these short spelling lessons. She has retained so much more information and can spell more words than she could when we were using a different curriculum. She actually loves to do her spelling work each day now!

I love how the lessons are set up and how easy it is to use the products. I love how the manual tells you what flashcards and what pages in the phonics book to use. We will continue using the rest of Traditional Spelling I during next school year when she is in 2nd and transition to Traditional Spelling II when we have finished the first.

Memoria Press offers many different books on many different subjects. Some of the ones that crew members received besides the spelling were Music Appreciation and different Latin books.