Traditional Spelling II from Memoria Press
We have been using Traditional Spelling II from Memoria Press as part of the Homeschool Review Crew. As always, opinions are own. Affiliate links for Memoria Press are used in this post and may result in a commission for purchases made through them.
The last 2 years of homeschooling have been done less structured than I would like.
It isn’t that I do not enjoy a delight-directed approach to homeschooling.
I am a learner by nature and enjoy chasing down rabbit trails.
However, there are times when more structure is a good thing.
The need for more structure is apparent with my 2nd-grade son.
In all the shuffle, I had dropped the ball on certain subjects including spelling.
We’d done pages from an online resource, but it didn’t have the right blend of material to help him develop the skill.
This need for a structured spelling program that was not super intensive when it came for teacher prep is what had me interested in the Traditional Spelling program from Memoria Press.
About Traditional Spelling II from Memoria Press
The Traditional Spelling series from Memoria Press takes a comprehensive, phonetic approach to teaching spelling.
Currently, there are 2 levels to this extensive mastery-based study of phonics for spelling and reading. The program can be used on its own or integrated as part of a curriculum
The program seeks to do things a little differently than some other homeschool spelling program options.
This includes:
- not confusing students with incorrectly spelled words which they have to identify and fix.
- color-coded phonograms to help students with visualization of each word and its phonetic chunks.
- a short story that has spelling words used in context.
- dictation which requires them to write phonograms, individual spelling words, and complete sentences with spelling words.
- multiple streams of integration to allow for vocabulary building.
For the review, we worked with Traditional Spelling II which is geared for grades 2 or 3.
Traditional Spelling II from Memoria Press Components
teacher guide
student workbook
practice sheets book
You do need to have both the Phonics Flashcards and Classical Phonics book which are used in their Reading & Phonics program.
Either blank paper or a whiteboard is also needed for the daily activities.
Samples of the teacher guide and workbook are included on the product page.
Using Traditional Spelling II from Memoria Press
This program is intended to be used daily for a 5 day school week.
This ensures small, bursts of guided instruction which helps the student build their ability to spell correctly.
The teacher guide walks you through exactly what to do with your child each day.
Memoria Press does offer the option to purchase lesson plans in digital format if you want it explicitly laid out by day.
A typical week looks like below:
Traditional Spelling II Day 1:
- Go over the phonics rule being seen in the list words.
- Review phonics rule(s) using phonics flashcards and Classical Phonics book.
- Go through list words for pronunciation, spelling, and definitions.
- List of word study questions to ask the student to help them find spelling words for set phonics rules, etc.
- Day 1 Activity
- First page of lesson completed which includes some of those questions done orally.
Traditional Spelling II Day 2:
- Day 2 Activity
- Second page of lesson completed.
This includes more answers to word study questions and a colorful letters section to help them parse the word phonetically,
Traditional Spelling II Day 3:
- Short Story read which incorporates several spelling words.
- Day 3 Activity
- The third page of the lesson completed which has the student place the correct word into a sentence.
Traditional Spelling II Day 4:
Dictation day!
Sounds, words and a sentence are written by the student via dictation onto the fourth page of the lesson.
Traditional Spelling II Day 5:
Test Day!
Use the reproducible sheet in the Teacher Guide for the student.
Our Thoughts on Traditional Spelling II from Memoria Press
I can honestly say that my son is enjoying this program.
It is one subject he does not mind doing with me right now. And, I love how easily we can work it into our busy days.
For a few weeks, we did condense 2 days of work into one.
For a child who is gifted with picking up spelling quickly, you can condense the schedule into 4 days on a regular basis. However, I do prefer the 5-day schedule.
This allows me to keep the amount of work per day more manageable and to provide more occasions of practicing the words.
Daily activities can be done on a whiteboard or blank sheets of paper.
However, there were a few (e.g. Lesson 4 Day 2 which has them underline words) where I typed it up and printed it for him to use.
This was more of a time saver for me and allowed us to work away from a large whiteboard.
There are 2 areas where my son has been a little resistant to doing as recommended in the teacher guide.
- Daily walk through the spelling words by saying, spelling and then saying again.
- Colorful letters where they mark parts of the word to highlight phonetic rules.
My compromise is to do the daily walk on the spelling words on Days 1 and 3.
If he misses several of the words during dictation on Day 4, then I will have him do the verbal walkthrough as well as use the practice sheets book.
I opted to not push the colorful letters at this time.
However, if he reaches a point when he is struggling with the phonics component, then I’ll be more strict on having him do the color-coding, etc.
For now, we use that section of the workbook to write the words out.
Final Takeaway on Traditional Spelling II from Memoria Press
Overall, this is a resource I highly recommend to homeschool parents wanting a structured program that is easy to implement.
Memoria Press truly delivers on their desire to offer simplicity, quality, and affordability of their product line.
My son truly has enjoyed his time working on the materials at the suggested pace and I expect him to continue through the end.
Don’t just take my word for how we found this to be. Visit Memoria Press post on the Homeschool Review Crew website to see what other homeschooling parents thought about this resource.
