My Very First Catholic Speller

Product Code: MVFCS
Format: Softcover
Binding: Spiral binding
Page Count: 85 pages
Dimensions: 8.5″×11″
ISBN: 9780988379756
Returnable? Yes, view return policy.
Consumable? Yes, purchase one per student.
Answer key: A removable answer key is included in the back of the book.

Nancy Nicholson is one of the founding authors of Catholic Heritage Curricula. Equipped with an abundance of God-given talent, a major in Secondary Education–English, and years of experience homeschooling her own children, she has written over thirty educational titles, beginning with Little Stories for Little Folks. Her unique ability to develop programs and workbooks that “fit” both advanced and struggling students is due to her experience raising children of different ability levels and learning styles: two of her children are developmentally challenged, while another went on to graduate from Harvard and is now a college professor.

Q: How much reading and phonics instruction is necessary before beginning My Very First Catholic Speller?

A: Before beginning this worktext, the child must be able to identify all uppercase and lowercase vowels and consonants, both by name and by their most common sounds. The child should be able to read at least short-vowel words such as “Dad,” “big,” and “hand.”

Q: How do I know which book to choose for appropriate placement level?

A: The best way to determine the appropriate level is to print the sample pages provided within CHC’s Grade-level Interactive Guides. Then you can give the sample lessons to your child to complete in order to see which grade level is most appropriate. You can access the Interactive Guides for different grade levels here.

Q: Do I need a separate phonics workbook in addition to this spelling workbook?

A: Whenever two subjects can be incorporated into one, it is beneficial to student and teacher alike. Since spelling is based upon phonics, having two separate programs is a little like having a class in numbers in addition to a math class. Some schools teach phonics separately because the whole language or sight-reading program that they also employ doesn’t include phonics.

So the phonics materials become an add-on to make up for a deficient reading program. The problem with this approach is that the phonics is being taught separately from reading, which again makes as much sense as teaching numbers as an afterthought to math. If the student has learned to read and spell phonetically since the first grade, he probably won’t need the additional “busywork” of a separate phonics workbook.