learning spelling

Making Spelling Sense and Making Spelling Sense II*

*Digital PDF Download

$79

Learn to Spell with the 8 Spelling Patterns
Learning to Spell Doesn’t Have to Be So Hard

“For my struggling speller, I use Making Spelling Sense. My son appreciated the puzzles the most! I found that everything was well laid-out and easy to follow. I particularly liked the pretest method that is in the book. As far as the approach, my son does better with a focus on spelling patterns than rules. He doesn’t have to memorize over 30 spelling rules when he uses the 8 patterns. It is much easier for him. If your student is having trouble with the spelling rules, focusing on the eight spelling patterns may be just what they need to get them over the hurdle.”

Heidi P, OR

“This is a simple approach to teaching children to be able to spell any word by using 8 basic spelling patterns. You learn to spell the 500 words in the book and then are enabled to spell thousands of other words using the same patterns. I like the fact that I can use it with all my children who are of writing and spelling age. It does start off very easy, as it is sequential. So your first lesson contains words like “if” and “has”. By the book’s end you’re spelling words like “distance” and “usually”. My third grader and eighth grader easily learned the patterns and liked the puzzle pages. Spelling time became easy and fun!”

Lynn F., NY

Many children and adults have problems with spelling. Spelling problems often run in the family. Did you know that your child does not have to have a learning disability or dyslexia to have problems with spelling?

Any child can be overwhelmed with spelling. Even gifted children can be overwhelmed with learning to spell… It doesn’t have to be that way!

What if Learning to Spell Was a Lot Easier?

Can you imagine spelling not being hard for your child? Can you imagine the day you read their writing assignment and you understand words they wrote because they didn’t misspell them? It can happen! Spelling doesn’t have to be hard if you understand the 8 ways we actually put letters together to make words, the spelling patterns. We have two types of letters: vowels and consonants. We only put letters together 8 ways to make words. Large words are just combinations of the patterns.

Your child or students are learning to spell over 500 of the most frequently used words in the English language quickly. By using this learning to spell step-by-step method, you will be learning to spell of thousands of words. Using visual, auditory, and tactile modes of learning, your students are sure to learn. Making Spelling Sense and Making Spelling Sense II are phonetically and sequentially based and make learning to spell easy. Learning to spell with this method also strengthens visual perception through the puzzles and other exercises that are provided. There is a structure to English, and if we teach spelling according to the structure, everyone can spell!

A Family is Learning to Spell Together

Watch a family learning to spell with Making Spelling Sense. There are 3 children of various ages and abilities learning to spell at the same time.

Is your child having trouble with spelling?

Is your child struggling every week with their spelling lists?
Do you get frustrated trying to help them with their spelling assignments?
Does your child apply the spelling they have learned to actual writing assignments?
Do you wonder if there is an easy way to help your child remember how to spell?

Learning Spelling With the 8 Spelling Patterns

With Making Spelling Sense™ you learn the eight spelling patterns of the English language. In Making Spelling Sense™ II you will learn to combine the spelling patterns in order to spell more difficult words. Making Spelling Sense™ II is a step beyond the 500 most used words. Learn to spell the most frequently misspelled words, words with prefixes, suffixes, root words, and word origins. Making Spelling Sense™ II also uses a step-by-step method with the eight basic spelling patterns of the English Language with visual, auditory, and tactile methods of learning.

After my students completed Making Spelling Sense™, I started teaching them about prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Numerous teachers and parents wanted to go one step further and asked me what to do and could I just write the sequel so learning spelling more difficult words would be easy. So, I created Making Spelling Sense™ II. I developed Making Spelling Sense™ II at the request of hundreds of teachers and parents. They wanted a spelling program they could use with their older students that would teach them the spelling patterns as well as get into more advanced topics such as prefixes, suffixes, root words, and word origins. The whole point of Making Spelling Sense™ II is to make spelling make sense to everyone. There is an actual structure to our language, and if we teach spelling according to the structure, everyone can spell.

The first Secret about learning spelling is that spelling is closely related to phonics and the word attack skills of encoding and decoding. In fact, there is a direct connection between spelling, phonics, decoding, and encoding. When you are trying to spell a word you usually sound it out as you are spelling it and then check it over once you’ve written it down. That process is encoding. When you come upon a word you don’t know you usually try to sound it out. That is decoding. So working with words whether you are encoding or decoding them, you are actually working with spelling. When spelling (encoding and decoding) improves, reading improves. You know what it’s like, each week your child comes home from school and has to get ready for another spelling test. You quiz them on the words, because that is what your parents did when you were learning. You might even have your kids write their spelling words down a few times to help them remember them. And often they come home upset because they didn’t do well on the spelling test.

The Story Behind the Learning Spelling Secrets

When my daughter was in the first grade she would come home from school and immediately run into her room and fling herself on her bed crying. This happened every Wednesday. It was like clockwork. She always wanted to get a top mark in spelling and really struggled with it. Unfortunately, at that time I did not have the knowledge about learning spelling that I do now. So I did what most parents do, I quizzed her on her spelling words.

The Underlying Cause

Over the years working with my students, I’ve found that those that had a difficult time learning spelling usually had some sort of an auditory processing difficulty. Often the problem isn’t even one you would see the schools address because it isn’t enough of a problem to warrant intervention. It is only one that makes for ‘poor’ spelling for your child. So I knew I needed to teach spelling with some sort of a system that would address the auditory problems.

The Second Learning Spelling Secret

I started using a process for teaching spelling with the sounds of the letters and my kids started to improve. But they got to a certain point and then they were stuck again. So I continued to search for a better way. When my daughter was in the 6th grade I attended a seminar and came across the second learning spelling secret, the eight ways (patterns) we use to put words together. Once I discovered the 8 patterns, I used that knowledge along with the sound system for teaching spelling. But I was using twice the time to teach it, so I finally decided that I needed to combine the processes and developed a way to put the patterns together in an auditory, visual, and tactile method to teach spelling. This special way of teaching spelling then became one where the underlying cause of learning spelling problems is addressed at the same time as teaching the structure of the English language (eight patterns).

After 30 + years of developing my program with students, teachers, and parents, and taking time to perfect it, hundreds of requests from teachers and parents came in. They all wanted to use the system I had developed. So, I wrote my method down and created Making Spelling Sense™. With it, your child can become a good speller and learn how to spell over 500 of the most frequently used words in the English language. By using this step-by-step method, your child will be able to spell thousands of words. Using visual, auditory, and tactile modes of learning, your child is sure to learn. It is phonetically and sequentially based. In addition to teaching spelling, it also teaches your kids how to decode (sound out words) and encode (put letters to the sounds that make up words). It also strengthens visual perception through the puzzles and other exercises that are provided. There is a structure to the English language, and if we teach spelling according to the structure, learning spelling becomes easy for everyone!

Or if you’re looking for more support…Bonnie walks you through learning spelling with over 50 audio and video lessons including application lessons.