Happily Homeschooling

SpellQuizzer Review

  a product of TedCo Software

Do have students that hesitate when you ask them to study for their spelling test? Or maybe you have children that need a more hands on approach to spelling. SpellQuizzer might be your answer.

This computer application was designed by Dan Hite, the father of 2 elementary school children that wanted to help them with their weekly spelling lists. The application is a simple download from spellquizzer.com right to your desktop (or wherever you choose to put it). There are preexisting spelling lists for grades 1-8, plus extra spelling lists like Greek Mythology, States, and commonly misspelled words. But you are not tied to just those lists. You can add your own lists, and add your own audio! Even if you don’t have a microphone, you can just type in a reminder phrase for the student to read. I found that you can even add Spanish words or phrases as the spelling word and then type or say the English translation. This is really neat. I was prompted that the word was “not in dictionary”, but it still let me keep the word. You can also import and export new lists as needed. Purchasing SpellQuizzer also gives you the opportunity to update the program when one is available. Another fun thing that can be done with the application is adding sounds after each word is spelled correctly or incorrectly, and also at the end of the quiz. There are several sounds to choose from, too. Once you have your spelling list, the student can then take a quiz. The word is spoken, or the phrase shown and the student then spells the word into the box. There is a tally of the words right on the screen, too: “Word 1 of 15”. This can help encourage the student by letting him know there are only 5 words left. If any words are misspelled, he will be asked if he wants to retake the quiz at the end with only those that were missed. This is nice because the student can try again until all the words are correct. Of course, there is the option not to retry.

The only drawback that I could see so far is that there is no tally of misspelled words or scores for the quizzes. There are also no reports that can be viewed; at least not that I could find. But this wasn’t a big deal for us since I am generally within hearing distance of the computer while the kids are on.

We really liked this program. It is designed to be individualized, and can be used for more than one student. The spelling lists are given names so when the students get on, they can look for their own list. Like I stated above, it could also be used for a foreign language (minus symbols). It’s interactive, changeable, and fun. I think you’ll like it, too. SpellQuizzer can be used with any curriculum, too, since you can add the words yourself.

You can try it for free for 30 days here. You can purchase it for $29.95 and there is a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Check out the other crew members reviews here.