Franken Spelling: How I’m Making All About Spelling Work for Us
Homeschooling often means adapting resources to fit our unique needs, and that’s exactly what I’ve done with our spelling curriculum this year. Enter what I’m calling Franken Spelling—a mix of the original All About Spelling program and the newer, more colorful activity book. Let’s dive into how I’m making it work for my third grader!
Our Spelling Journey
For those unfamiliar, All About Spelling is part of All About Learning Press, the same company behind All About Reading. I absolutely love All About Reading for teaching children to read because it builds a strong phonics foundation through phonograms, syllable division, and spelling rules. It’s a fantastic approach that makes spelling more intuitive rather than just memorizing word lists.
We started All About Spelling later with my older child after struggling with other programs, and it worked wonders. Unlike traditional spelling programs that rely on memorization and weekly tests, All About Spelling teaches spelling rules that make words decodable. My oldest completed through level five before we moved on, and today, she’s a strong speller!
Now, with my third grader, I knew I wanted to stick with All About Spelling, but I also wanted to make it more engaging. That’s where the Franken Spelling solution was born.
What Is Franken Spelling?
Recently, All About Learning Press introduced a color version of All About Spelling, which includes fun, interactive student activity books. The catch? The new activity books don’t sync perfectly with the older instructor manuals. Since I already owned the older instructor manual and didn’t want to repurchase it, I decided to stitch together the two versions to create a customized learning experience.
Here’s what I’m doing:
- Teaching from the original black-and-white instructor’s manual (because I already own it and don’t want to buy it again).
- Using the new, colorful student activity book to add engagement and hands-on fun.
- Matching up lessons as best as possible, even though the activity book has more lessons than the old instructor guide.
- Adjusting and skipping activities as needed to make it work without frustration.
How It Works in Practice
The original All About Spelling instructor’s manual has 27 lessons, while the new student activity book has 38 lessons. This means that the lessons don’t always align perfectly, but with a little planning, I can make it work.
For example:
- The instructor manual might introduce a concept like the pH sound in lesson 19.
- The student activity book might cover that same topic but break it into multiple lessons with different activities.
- I note which activities match the current lesson and skip or modify the rest.
While it requires a bit of extra effort on my part, it’s worth it because my child is more engaged and excited about spelling
Would I Recommend This Approach?
If you’re new to All About Spelling and haven’t purchased materials yet, I would recommend buying the updated version with the matching instructor manual and student activity book.
However, if you already own an older instructor manual and want to incorporate the fun new activities without repurchasing everything, this method works! It’s not always seamless, but it’s effective.
Final Thoughts
Homeschooling is all about flexibility, and my Franken Spelling experiment is proof that you don’t always have to follow the “official” way to make a curriculum work. By combining resources, I’ve created a fun, effective, and budget-friendly spelling solution that my third grader enjoys.
Would you ever consider “Frankensteining” a curriculum like this? Let me know in the comments or over on Instagram @makingeverydaymagic!
P.S. If you want to see a full look inside how I’ve pieced together this spelling monster, check out my YouTube video on Making Everyday Magic!
