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Review: The Phonetic Zoo

Ever since my daughter was in Kindergarten she has struggled with spelling. We had a few good years due to a great curriculum and active hands on word studies. However, as she hit the junior high level she was no longer interested in spelling games yet still lacked spelling skills. She is a very intelligent girl but spelling is not her forte. I thought that she would simply have to live out the rest of her life as a poor speller. After all, I know plenty of people who have resigned themselves to be poor spellers.

My daughter, now in 7th grade, was not satisfied being a poor speller. So I was on the hunt again for a spelling program that would speak to my child. Once we pinpointed her trouble stemmed from phonics, I wanted to find a program that addressed this issue in particular. Well, short of Hooked on Phonics for a child half her age I was out of luck. That is until I found the Phonetic Zoo.

The Phonetic Zoo is unlike any program I had used before. Instead of textbook that had you memorize spelling in a one dimensional manner, The Phonetic Zoo is multi sensory. The child will have the opportunity to hear the word while seeing the word and vice versa. The Phonetic Zoo breaks learning style barriers by effectively teaching spelling properly to all students. The program is based on how the brain stores and retrieves information. The program is not designed so your child will get 100% on a spelling test only to forget the words the next week. This program is designed to teach your child how to spell which will in turn make him a better speller all around and not just a better speller for one test.

So far my daughter is seeing great success with this method. She enjoys the multi-sensory and unique approach. I enjoy seeing her succeed in an area she was struggling in for so long.

So my challenge to you is to visit the site, read the teacher’s notes and have your child take the placement test. The program is guaranteed to improve your child’s spelling or you will be refunded. You have nothing to lose!

Phonetic Zoo Package includes:

5 audio CDs (Level C has 6 CDs)

Spelling and the Brain and Introduction to The Phonetic Zoo DVD with the following:

– Spelling and the Brain video seminar

– Introduction to The Phonetic Zoo video

– The Phonetic Zoo teacher’s notes PDF file

Lesson Cards with all three levels of spelling words and jingles

Personal Spelling Cards to keep track of your student’s typical misspellings.

Zoo Cards, which serve as a way to practice jingles or as rewards.

Cost: $99.00

Disclosure: Program provided by the Institute for Excellence in Writing for the purpose of review. The thoughts and opinions presented are my own. EIW may or may not agree with this content.

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About Richele McFarlin

Richele is a Christian homeschooling mom to four children, writer and business owner. Her collegiate background is in educational psychology. Although it never prepared her for playing Candyland, grading science, chasing a toddler, doing laundry and making dinner at the same time.