SpellQuizzer is a spelling program that allows your children to drill spelling words on the computer. My son very much enjoys spelling and this year he had been studying for his first ever Spelling Bee, so I was very excited to receive this program! Since my 10 year old son does not like writing very much, but loves to type, this was a fantastic way to practice. In fact, the first time he gave it a try, he turned to me and said "can we do this every day?"
It is very easy to get started as SpellQuizzer is a simple download from the SpellQuizzer website. Once the program is on your computer, it's exceedingly simple to use and to tailor to your own child's needs. You may use pre-generated spelling lists that are available on the website, or you can type in your child's own spelling words. SpellQuizzer users can also share lists with other SpellQuizzer users, which would be useful for Homeschool groups and co-ops. For each word, using your microphone, simply press "start" to record the word, and a sentence using the word, as a prompt. (FYI: If you do not already have a microphone, you can instead type in "hints" to cue the child to enter a word, but this would not be nearly as fun) Once you are finished, the word list will be available by clicking on "Quiz me on a list!". The child then listens to each sentence, types in the word, and if the word is incorrect, the correct spelling immediately appears in green along with the incorrect spelling the child entered, in red. Upon completion of the list, the incorrect words are repeated so that the child has a chance to correct his mistakes. Now here's some of the fun part :) You can set the program to play funny noises after each mistake or correct word - for example, an entire crowd can cheer for every correct word spelled, and a silly voice can say "uhoh" for every incorrect word. Not only that, have fun and include silly sentences, or funny voices in the word list, or have the child's father or another special guest surprise him with being the voice on his next spelling list. Did my son ever enjoy that! Also, my son insisted on creating his own spelling list to quiz his own mother, LOL. That was fun and he got practice spelling the words while he created the list. The software has a built-in spellchecker that recognizes both US and UK/Canadian English spellings, and warns you when adding a word to a spelling list if it appears to be spelled incorrectly.
Interestingly, we found a variety of uses for SpellQuizzer...
Drilling Spelling Bee words
Drilling weekly vocabulary for our Tapestry of Grace curriculum
Practicing Foreign Language words (we are studying Latin and Gaelic)
Testing Geographical knowledge such as capital cities
Sentence dictation, including punctuation
And the options are limitless once you start thinking outside the box! The only thing that might improve this program, would be for SpellQuizzer to add the ability to check how the child did on each quiz and which words were spelled incorrectly.
The great news is that SpellQuizzer is available from the SpellQuizzer web site as a 30-day FREE trial! You can also view video demonstrations of SpellQuizzer HERE. Once you've tried it, enjoyed it, and wish to buy, the cost is $29.95 US. There is also a discount for bulk purchases, so that homeschool groups can participate in a group buy if they wish. Alternatively, you can acquire SpellQuizzer free by signing up with TrialPay and accepting a free trial on another service at http://www.spellquizzer.com/PurchaseByTrialPay.htm. SpellQuizzer is also offering free licences to bloggers who would like to write about the software - anyone who has an established blog can get a free licence by posting about SpellQuizzer.
I must also point out that SpellQuizzer offers excellent customer service. There were two occasions when I had to contact Dan Hite at SpellQuizzer, once for help with an error message I was getting, and once to inquire how to install it on my laptop instead when my PC stopped working. In both cases, I was answered promptly and was able to fix the problem with his help.
Oh and by the way, my son did quite well in his Spelling Bee, competing with kids up to 4 years older than him, and finished in the top half :)
Our e-Newsletters give you wonderful, informative information about homeschooling, news bits, contests and PRIZES for homeschoolers, articles to encourage you, calls for writers, free unit studies and lesson plans, and just a lot of FUN. Bring the community to your inbox * and no worries, we never sell, trade or give your email or any other information out to anyone.
Come join the homeschool party!
Subscribe to *FREE* newsletters offered by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.
TOS Store
To see a close-up of the current cover, click here.
Do you have the whole set of back issues from The Old Schoolhouse
Magazine*
Click
here to view all back issues and read the themes - you
will want to collect the ones you've missed!!
At Bookstores NOW!!
eBooks to Help You!
Join Our Affiliate Program!
Earn Money Every Time
TOS Magazine is Sold in
Partnership with You.
more . . .
