Saturday, April 17, 2010

SpellQuizzer Product Review and Give Away

Sorry GroovyOldLady, I won't be giving away my home school in this give away. But, I will be giving away a fabulous spelling program to one fortunate reader. A while back, I posted about one of my favorite subjects: SPELLING. If you missed this post, please read it, it will help you understand my thoughts on this subject.

I enjoy reading but when I came across a spelling error, it annoys me. I understand this is like the person in the Bible who has a log in their own eye and is trying to remove the speck from someone's eye. I am not a perfect speller, but when I grow up, I hope to be. My kids run the gamut from being excellent spellers to put it nicely, "really creative spellers".  Creativity is something to strive for in art, but not spelling.


SpellQuizzer is a spelling program that helps kids learn their spelling and vocabulary words. The SpellQuizzer web site has pre-made downloadable spelling lists that you can download and use with SpellQuizzer.



When I was given the opportunity to try SpellQuizzer in our homeschool and review it honestly, 'cause that is the kind of girl I am, I jumped at it. I waited until we had ample uninterrupted time to get started with it. I didn't need to do that.


The first great thing I discovered about this program was how easy it is to use. I thought I would need a few hours to get familiar with it. The loading and start up took a whole 3 minutes. I was entering the first word list within 5 minutes. The program is self-guided. I consider myself to be somewhat computer literate, but my pet peeve about so many computer programs is the time spent learning to implement it. I have lost numerous hours of my life, maybe days, trying to tweak S.O.S. from Alpha Omega. I don't have the time or brain cells left for that nonsense. SpellQuizzer gets an A+ for simplicity.


The fun began when I was loading my son's spelling words. I typed each word into the program and read a sample sentence from my The Wise Guide for Spelling. This works fabulous with Spell to Write and Read. The sentences in my book are quotes from the Bible, great literature or famous people. I used some of these, but quickly tired of them. I started making up my own sentences that encouraged character (yes, a little mommy nagging, but gentle) and reiterated some things we were learning in other subjects. Now this was done quickly. Each 20 word list took about ten minutes to enter.


My 3rd born son, whom I will refer to as Random, decided to make his own list. Of course Random's voice lacked my monotone droning. He was using many voices and showing his dramatic leanings. I will be letting him enter his own words, because he really enjoyed this part. The SpellQuizzer web site has pre-made downloadable spelling lists that you can download and use with SpellQuizzer. These were also very easy to download. Random tested himself on the frequently misspelled word lists that I had downloaded. Standardized testing is coming up next week, so let's cram and not make mommy look bad.


This is the opening screen shot, this is easy enough for an early reader to use.


This is the simple layout, I did not even have to adjust the audio levels.


With the word lists that were created, my boys now test themselves each day, without any help. They play the list and enter each word. At the end of the list, if they spelled all of the words correctly, they will hear a loud cheer. If they missed any, they were asked if they would like to retest the words they missed. The next week, I bumped them up to 40 words a week. Now once the lists are created, you can reuse them for other children. This is going to be an incredible time-saver. If I was not so self-conscious, I could share my lists with others on the SpellQuizzer web site. There is an excellent support board, similar to the Well Trained Mind forums. I suspect as this program becomes more popular, the forums will be an invaluable tool for families.


If you are like me and troubled by poor spelling, SpellQuizzer could be what you are looking for. It costs $29.95 and is downloaded from www.SpellQuizzer.com. It's very flexible and can be used with virtually any spelling or vocabulary program. It has a page on their website for homeschool support. You need not be a crazy home school parent to use SpellQuizzer.


Here's the best part:

I will be giving away one licensed copy of this program to one most fortunate blog reader.

To enter my first official give away:  

1. Leave a comment with some creative spelling on this blog post.
For additional chances to win, do more, let me know in an additional comment!
2. Share this giveaway via Twitter
3. Share this giveaway via Facebook
4. Share this giveaway on your blog
5. Follow/subscribe to this blog  
6. Find the two spelling errors in this post(Just tell me you found them. I'll trust you, don't give away the answers.)

This drawing will be held on Monday, April 26th.


If you can't wait to win, you can try it free for 30 days from their web site. It's a great chance to try before you buy.

Thanks for spotting bye!!!
~TerriG


I welcome reader comments with open arms. I also understand if you aren't the commenting or hugging type of person, you can drop me an email at accidentallyhomeschooling@gmail.com.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I just learned how to spell reiterated from reading this review....I would have given it three " t's". This spelling program sounds neat. We will try the free 30 day trial before we buy, unless we win one here first!!

Unknown said...

It took me a while, but I located the 3 spelling errors.

Unknown said...

I checked out the Spell Quizzer website. A County Spelling Bee contestant who placed 2nd over 4,000 students used this program! I really want to win this give-away!

Unknown said...

I'm sharing this with my Facebook friends.

Unknown said...

read your personal ad on 5 halos and I love the spelling error thing, I can't spell to save my life, and I have a learning disability to use as my excuse LOL but seriously it's tuff and I was afraid to take on blogging because of it-sounds like a fun giveaway I am your newest follower. I am from wasabi mommy
http://nf1andpre-kwhisper.blogspot.com

The Cochran Family said...

I would love this program for my children. As for fancy spelling, hmm. Supercalafragalisticexpialadocious... Does that count? :)

The Cochran Family said...

Sneaky sneaky. I found your spelling errors.

The Cochran Family said...

I have twittered about your site and this giveaway... Just hope they let me win!

The Cochran Family said...

I have also Facebooked your giveaway and site!

The Cochran Family said...

I am also now subscribed to your blog. Can't wait to get more ideas about FG and HSing.

Tifani said...

My favorite spelling error is my own name. It is Tifani. Yes, that is the correct spelling. Thanks, Mom! You are so "kreAtiv." If you look closely, my name is "in a fit" backwards. Thanks again, Mom!

mommapowell said...

This spelling program looks great! Thanks for the recommendation!