SpellQuizzer contacted me last week and asked me to do a review
-my first :) In exchange for doing the review they will give one of readers their own SpellQuizzer! I also received SpellQuizzer for doing the review.
So here is my review of
Our Week With SpellQuizzerFirst up was downloading onto my computer and registering.
You can get the program yourself by clicking this link This was simple, a set up wizard popped up right away. I like these because they are simple. The program has pop ups and helpful tips. One is about microphone boost. Since your child will be listening to the spelling words this is important. I didn't need to use microphone boost.
Next I would need to choose my spelling list. You can chose from the programs list of 55 words or create your own. I created my own. I liked that I could since I create curriculum for my children myself. the program has spell check (US and UK English, which is great for Moms in Canada where we use UK English, also asks you if the word should always be capitalized)
You can type in a description of the word they will spell
ex: house: a building 
we live in. The other option (that I went with) was recording the word and description. Now I was told that I could find a cheap microphone at some stores. However I wondered if the microphone that comes with
Wii Rock Band would work...it did. Some of my descriptions were humorous.
Now I am homeschooling 3 kids. Not a problem I was able to create a list for all three,
and it didn't take very long. Less time then my usual method in fact.
So the next stage in this test was the kid portion. I will start out by telling you that spelling is not my children's strongest subject -
they come by it honestly :(To learn the spelling list you click on "
quiz me on a list". It starts off with your first w
ord. it says the word and it says your verbal clue. Then you type how you think the word is spelled. If you spell the word correctly it moves onto the next word. If you spell the word incorrectly it shows you the correct spelling in green and your spelling in red, then moves on. At the end of the list it shows you your score and asks if you would like to try again. Runner did, striving for a better score. Ko-Ko and SW quit, and were sent back by me. They were disappointed with their initial scores.
Ko-Ko and SW showed little improvement over the start of the week so I had them learn i
n our typical fashion, and then when done use SpellQuizzer. This worked well, resulted in good spelling scores. It also ended thier frustration with the product. With runner I was interested in seeing if he could learn the words with SpellQuizzer alone. In this method Runner finished the week with 6/10. Runner really enjoyed using the program, and practiced without being asked.
I believe I know why by children didn't succeed with this program on it's own and what
SpellQuizzer could do to improve this
(hope they will). I think the downfall for children like mine who struggle with spelling is the lack of a practice board. My children spent the beginning of the week writing words incorrectly over and over. If there was a board telling them for
example house: h-o-u-s-e, a building we live in. this would be great! I believe that my children would do wonderfully with an added practice board.
I think we could use this along with our usual method. It could be used as a practice quiz starting mid week, after having spent a few days working on learning their words in our typical fa
shion. I think this program may work better for strong spellers then for weak spellers. I also think this program has great potential and I hope they can work on my suggestion. I know that Runner will be happy to use the program again this week although he will do so combined with our usual method.
If you are interested in winning free registration of the product
SpellQuizzer for your family enter my blogger giveaway
- again, my first :) then
become a follower (if your not already) and add a comment, this will equal one
entry.
for an additional two entries leave a comment on another post that is more then a month old. I will announce the winner next week. I will need to be able to contact you through blogger so make sure I can click the
"send message" button on your profile. Otherwise I get a new winner. I will use random.org to choose the winner. I will then need to be able to send SpellQuizzer your name and email (which the winner can email to me) so that they can email you the registration key.
You can also check out
SpellQuizzer's facebook page. They also have a down-loadable
spelling list here. they also thought of us homeschoolers and have
software just for us here. And for help and support there is a
SpellQuizzer community also.
Hope you all find this review helpful nd good luck to the winner!
