So, I’ve settled into a routine with school, and am very happy with the choices I finally made.  Anyone who has read my blog knows the deliberation that went into choosing the curriculum for our first year of homeschool. And it wasn’t even a matter of choosing a company, because it didn’t take much comparing to realize that Sonlight was right for our family.  So, I finally decided–Sonlight Core P 4/5, with Readers K, A Reason for Handwriting K, Pattern Blocks for math, and extra Read-Alouds in the form of the Little House and Rocky Ridge series (and I know that most of that probably only made sense to those of you that are involved with homeschooling, because when I first started looking at this stuff, it sounded like a foreign language to me!).

So, we have our materials, and I’ve even planned long term what cores/readers we’ll use each year, God-willing, as long as this continues to work for our family.  And even though we’re only in week seven, I’ve especially started looking to what we’ll be doing for first grade next year, because I still think we may finish this core early, and even if we don’t, we’re looking at a more year-round approach to school, so I’ll need the new materials sooner than the average family would.

But then today, it hit me–spelling.  We should probably start some kind of spelling program next year, and that hadn’t even occurred to me before now.  What to use?  Sonlight offers two options, but neither one of them is “theirs” as far as I understand, so I don’t really feel any particular loyalty to them, and frankly, I’m having a hard time getting excited about either offering.  

I did, however, stumble upon A Reason for Spelling today.  I had forgotten that the company that makes A Reason for Handwriting does anything else–I haven’t even looked at their website since we first decided to homeschool, and I was trying to decide on a handwriting program.  But, on a message board I frequent, someone mentioned A Reason for Spelling in passing.  So, I looked into it, and I have to say, I’m impressed. I already love A Reason for Handwriting (as do Turkey and Bunny).  I love the Bible focus, I love the treehouse approach to letter formation, which seems to be really helpful in teaching children how to properly write letters, and I love the fun page that’s included with every lesson (as, again, do Turkey and Bunny).  

So, I’m thinking that since I’m already impressed with the company, I should stick with it, especially as it appears that the spelling and handwriting books starting with Level A at least try to have complementary lessons, which would be beneficial.  After looking over the placement test, Turkey and Bunny would already be well suited to Level A, although I’m not planning on starting them on it now…apparently, they’re better at spelling than they are at reading (is that normal?  I have no idea–I’m still new to this!).

So, does anybody have any experience with A Reason for Spelling?  Fell free to comment, as I’m still open to suggestions!