Thank you for letting us know that your son enjoyed these, Jess!

You’re so welcome, Tanya! Let me know if you need anything else.

You’re so welcome, Mary!

You’re welcome, Trina! I’m glad these are helpful for your teaching.

Angela,
We do not have a version that focuses on British spelling; however, numerous people around the world that use British spelling use our programs. Teachers and parents adjust for the few spelling differences as they teach. One New Zealand mom told us, “In fact my daughter learnt those words easier because they became discussion points!”

You might like this blog review from an Australian mom who completed all 7 levels with one of her children.

We’ve received suggested alterations from a few different customers for those using British spelling/pronunciation. Sometimes North Americans need to make slight alterations based on regional pronunciation as well, so we recommend making changes that are helpful to you and your students. Very few spelling words actually need to be changed. Some people will just omit them, and others might choose to teach that word with the British spelling.

If you are interested, we have a document that outlines the changes needed for teaching British spelling with All About Spelling.

We do have a UK distributor as well, Conquest Books.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Tina,
It’s actually pretty common for kids to have more trouble once they hit consonant blends, especially at the beginning of a word. These are just harder for them and take more practice than the easier bits of reading that they started with. You can do the switch-out tiles activities–here are examples with beginning blends:

pot-lot-blot-scot-trot-tram-scam-cram
lip-blip-clip-clap-lap-lad-clad-brad
sip-skip-drip-drop-crop–clop-cop-cob-rob-rib-crib
rag-brag-lag-flag-flap-rap-trap

Just do a short switch-out activity each day to help him work on this. If he wants to try to switch out letters and make words for you to read, let him! Hearing you sound out words (even if they are nonsense words), will help him with blending.

Another thing that you can do that’s fun: (First the parent demonstrates this, and then the child mimics.) Lay 4 sheets of colored paper on the floor. Write one letter on each sheet of paper, like P-L-A-N. Jump on the first paper and say /c/. Jump on the second paper and say /lllll/. Jump on the third paper and say /aaaaa/. Jump on the fourth paper and say /p/. Then start over, and do it quicker. Finally, run across the papers and say “CLAP!”

You can do a similar game with phonogram cards on the table. Let your son run a race car over them as he blends the sounds into words.

Another helpful thing is to play oral blending games. You say the sounds of a word you are thinking of, and then he blends them into a word. Can he guess a word that you mean if you just say the sounds? Do easy 3-sound words first if needed, then add in words with blends. This is a game that can help develop his blending skills. If he can blend orally, then he is on his way to being able to blend what he reads.

There are a lot of ideas for fun ways to review with the word cards, or index cards, on this blog post.

Hopefully, he will have mastered beginning blends by the time he has tired of these ideas, but if you need more just ask.