Fun, Effective Spelling Apps for Middle School?

[MidnightCafe]

Anyone know of any?

I'm tired, tired, tired of trying to teach DD to spell. She has been through Logic of English. She understands the rules, but that doesn't help her know which rule to apply when. The trick for her really seems to be constant repetition. We used Spelling City last year, but it's really too baby-ish for her, and she got tired of all their games.

I want there to be an app like Reflex Math, which has worked wonders with her math facts!!

I'm looking right now at spelling apps for adults because they're more likely to appeal to her...if they're intended for the type of adult who gets bored easily & doesn't want to know they're learning but still wants to improve spelling.

I'll report back here if I find anything really great, but I also wondered if anyone had any suggestions. Thanks!!

---------- Post added at 06:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:43 PM ----------

Or software? I'm interested in software also. It does not have to be free.

Anyone know anything about Ultimate Spelling Software? http://www.ultimatespelling.com/

[MidnightCafe]

It's taken a very long time to decide what to even try, but we finally settled on Learn That Word for the next couple of weeks. It's a free online program (no software to download) by a non-profit foundation. Premium paid memberships are available, but I don't see why we would need it. I like their mission statement: LearnThat Foundation Manifesto, and I appreciate the page comparing their program to Spelling City, which we used when Mane was younger: Spelling City Comparison.

I see that this thread has had a LOT of views. I'll come back after a week or so to report on how it's going!

[The Tickle Momster]

I'm off to look at that site. My 12yo ds is getting better, but still spelling is HARD for him and his 10yo sister.

[MidnightCafe]

I should add that Learn That Word is not a "games" approach. It's more quiz based. But it is unlike traditional spelling because it has built-in repetition and review. Mane has already received thorough instruction regarding phonics and spelling rules. (We completed Logic of English.) If she had not previously received spelling instruction, I would probably consider this program too bare bones.

[doubleblessings]

Thank you!

[MidnightCafe]

Ok, so it also turns out that Learn That Word doesn't actually stay free for the spelling part of the program. They give you 5 "tokens" to begin with, and then with each word that is mastered, they subtract a token. They don't subtract tokens for words the learner already knows. It takes a few days to run out of tokens because a word isn't considered mastered until the learner has come back to the word and spelled it correctly three times on three separate occasions. You can buy tokens or you can buy a membership for a month, a year, or several years. If that isn't clear, feel free to ask me questions, and I'll try to help you out.

Sooooo...because Learn That Word isn't free, I downloaded Ultimate Spelling. This was AWFUL!! And I have already asked for my money back. The auto-generated lists are 45 words long, which means I still have to customize lists. This is something I am specifically trying to avoid. They also consider it practice to flash the word for a few seconds and then have the learner spell it (all 45 words in a row, which requires a considerable attention span). This flash-the-word approach seems reasonable for early practice but not later practice. Mane could do that 100 times in a row and still spell the word wrong later. They do not have an audio component to have learners practice words from memory. They do not have a method for assessing progress, marking words as mastered automatically, or moving to the next level. Words have to be manually marked as "mastered" by the learner (or the parent/teacher), and new words have to be selected to continue progress. Bleh! I will update on how the refund process goes. They have a money back guarantee, cancel any time policy.

Soooo...that's my update. Hope it's helpful to someone.

---------- Post added at 06:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:18 PM ----------

Also, for your entertainment... I looked at a bunch of spelling apps that were recommended online for android. I reviewed these about a month ago, and here's what I turned up:


Brilliant Spelling - uses google voice & is super annoying
Spell Friendzy - ok, but you have to keep doing things over & over to have enough points to unlock new levels
Spelling Mastery - cannot find
Spellvetica - wouldn’t load
Spelling Bee - opened with ads immediately
Painless Spelling - designed to go with the book

[MidnightCafe]

I decided to purchase 50 tokens at Learn That Word. When I got to the purchase page they actually offered them at a discount ($13.50, rather than $15). That will give us a little more time to figure out if we want to continue. It turns out that if you earn enough "gold coins" from taking quizzes and getting words right, you can spend your coins to play games - like hangman & such.