Spelling Program Review

Last week, I was contacted by creators of SpellQuizzer to review their product.

As I mentioned in a previous review, I have thus far been using a spelling program in the bundled online ClickNKids phonics/spelling curriculum with great success. It is a full spelling curriculum, but for early readers only. While my first grader is progressing well with the program, it is a program that definitely has a limited lifespan. It is marketed as a K-3 program, but I anticipate we will be done with it before the end of this year.

So, this being the case, I was glad to accept an invitation to review a spelling program.

I will say right out that SpellQuizzer is not a spelling curriculum, but rather a spelling utility. It is a very versatile and powerful tool for just about anyone with a school-aged child, whether the child is being educated at home or in a traditional classroom setting. It is not, however, plug-and-play. The program only includes a few sample lists, and is tool that requires input from a teacher, parent, or student, either in the form of custom lists or by downloading additional lists from SpellQuizzer. While it is fairly simple to use, it is not as immediately intuitive as some "kid" programs, and younger children may require adult support in setting up a spelling list. Older students can enter their own spelling words and even record audio in order to simulate their own spelling test at home.

The program's user interface is very spartan. There are no childish bells or whistles, making it suitable for use all the way through high school, though certainly spelling lists can be customized with amusing audio to entertain younger users. Upon loading it up, options are presented to create a list, edit a list, take a quiz, or to import/export lists, which I presume is especially useful for classroom use. The program includes suitable help documentation and an automatic spellchecker that includes both US and UK English.

Spelling lists can be created using any words you wish, and audio recitation of the word, including use in a sentence, is definitely recommended for optimum results. I was delighted to discover that the program allows for repeated instances of the same word, with different recorded sentences, which allows for diverse quizzing on homophones. There are options for spelling words to be quizzed in succession or in random order, or you can manually change the order of words in a spelling list if you choose.

On the technical side, while the user interface is nothing special, SpellQuizzer appears to be cleanly programmed. I did not encounter any bugs or crashes, and the program is not an inexplicable resource hog, which is something I've encountered with many other educational programs.

I can honestly recommend SpellQuizzer. For $29.95 it is a great, evergreen tool to have on hand for both classroom students and homeschoolers. Additionally, it would make a fantastic tool for many elementary teachers and English teachers.

Stay tuned, as we hope to host a SpellQuizzer giveaway in the near future!