Here is an article which will help not only the student, but you, the homeschooling parent/teacher. It will clarify some things for you as you teach phonics and spelling. One thing I would like to add — over the years, English pronunciation has deteriorated significantly. Take a look at McGuffey’s Eclectic Spelling Book. There are […]

“Have you ever wondered why some words have a double consonant at the end (such as sniff), while other words do not (such as dog and bat)? The answer is easy – and we call it The Floss Rule. The Floss Rule is a really simple spelling rule that helps kids remember when to use […]

“Learning how to spell words that don’t follow the rules can be a bit boring. And we can’t have that! So the All About Spelling program has a fun and motivating way to teach these Rule Breakers. We throw them in jail, of course!….” In Marie Rippel’s newest blog post on How to Handle Spelling […]

Since everything is carefully laid out in the phonics curriculum All About Reading, you can avoid the “curse of knowledge” as you teach your child to read. Read about this “curse of knowledge” here.

In 1978 I started teaching my oldest to read. This is by no means a recommendation, but only the story of a small part of our homeschooling journey. When Nathaniel was just an infant, I read the book How to Teach Your Baby to Read by Glenn Doman. This book teaches a pure form of […]

Use a curriculum which is based on the Orton-Gillingham Approach. This free e-book will give you a look at the elements of this approach for teaching reading and spelling. Long ago, I used The Writing Road to Reading by Romalda Spalding, which was one of the first reading curricula based on Orton-Gillingham. It was good, […]

The Ron Paul Curriculum has two different phonics courses. 1. Kindergarten Introduction to Phonics taught by Cheryl Page This free kindergarten phonics program is an introduction to phonics curriculum. It’s not a complete phonics curriculum. Each lesson is video-based, with instructions for the mothers on how to teach basic phonics to their children. All the […]

We were sorry to hear that Samuel L. Blumenfeld died this week. Mr. Blumenfeld is known mainly for two things: 1. His work in encouraging homeschoolers during the very early days of homeschooling. He was a staunch defender of parents’ rights in education and was a pioneer, encouraging the pioneers. He supported homeschooling because “it […]

I started my Blend Phonics web site back in 2007 when I began using Hazel Loring’s 1980 Reading Made Easy with Blend Phonics for First Grade with my tutoring students. Reading Made Easy with Blend Phonics for First Grade interested me for several reasons: It was free. It was very simple to teach and learn. […]

Don Potter just published a new edition of Webster’s 1908 Elementary Spelling Book. His title better reflects the true nature of the book, Noah Webster’s Spelling Book Method for Teaching Reading and Spelling. He has spent years investigating how the syllabary was used to teach reading and spelling and has been using it lately with […]