Natalie, Julian’s mother

The way Julian was being taught spelling at school, where words that sound the same but have different spellings, are all bundled into the same spelling list, was not working for him. The only way for Julian to learn these lists was to memorise the spelling. He’d remember how to spell for the test, but very quickly forget it for the future. We attended tutorial…

Jo Ciccarelli, Mel Maria teacher

We have been using the Smart Words Spelling Program at Mel Maria for roughly 10 years. Our teachers were amazed at all the new spelling rules that they learnt whilst implementing the program.  The rules and generalizations that govern spelling are taught explicitly and revised constantly throughout the program. Our teachers love the fact that the program differentiates for them.  Each child is given a…

Tyler’s parent

Tyler commenced tutoring as he was failing the weekly spelling tests at school, usually scoring about 3 out of 25. Initial testing showed that he was well below the expected level. Even though he was in Year 4, he had gaps as far back as Year 1. Tyler brought in his weekly spelling lists from school, and we teach him explicitly on the phonics and rules related…