Customer Reviews

Spelling Made Simple

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pros: The developer has thought of everything (almost). I used trials of several programs before purchasing this one. I was extremely impressed with Spelling Made Simple and was even more impressed with the price for what I was getting. This may be the best value for the money of any software program that I have purchased. This was exactly what I was looking for. I was tired of being embarrassed in business and public settings because of my poor spelling. I especially like the fact that SMS has no animated characters jumping around on the screen saying cute things. I drill myself twice a day on the commuter train and quite often on plains and in airports. These animations would add to my embarrassment. My experience with other programs is that they were fun little games but very light on substance. The audio features on SMS are excellent. Downloading the audio for my own list of words was a snap. Recording audio for the few words that SMS did not already have recordings for was even easier. It has proven very easy to create my own lists or to use the lists from the SMS website. The drag and drop feature is especially easy for creating lists. I have found various lists of commonly misspelled words and have incorporated them into SMS. I also keep track of words that I have misspelled. Don't forget to download the SMS free Office Add On program. It automatically keeps track of all the words that you misspell while using Outlook or Word. It then loads them into SMS for you. It lets you differentiate between a typo and a true mispelling.

Cons: In all fairness, I must say that I wish I could sort the words in my spelling lists or move words up or down in the lists to put a word closer to a related word. The program requires that the words stay in the order that you enter them or it can drill you randomly. This is a minor thing compared to all the other very intelligent things that have been incorporated into the program. Also, be aware that this is a serious program and not really a game so it may not be suitable for kids under 7 or 8 years old.

I am a homeschooling mom of three kids, two of whom (5th and 2nd grades) use Spelling Made Simple. Spelling made Simple is an amazingly elegant software program that is easy to program and easy to use, and highly customizable. I have not explored all the things that Spelling Made Simple can do. Check out the website (same name) for details of all the bells and whistles.

How we use it with my 5th grader: I have used several spelling curricula over the years (Spelling Power, Spell and Write, and currently K12 Spelling). The best things about Spelling Made Simple are that it works well with any program, and that it requires little to no supervision. At the beginning of the year I input the spelling lists, and it runs itself for the rest of the year. My daughter starts her unit by doing Spelling Made Simple twice, with the words being flashed on the screen for a couple seconds accompanied by audio. The program automatically re-tests words she got wrong, so she must spell every word correctly before she can move on. If she doesn't know the definition of a word, it can tell her that, too. These preliminary drills help the written exercises go faster. Before the spelling test, she runs through the list twice more, but with the words being flashed very briefly accompanied by audio. You can also use audio only. A word about the audio: Of an entire year's worth of spelling words, I think Spelling Made Simple didn't have ready-made audio for only a couple. My daughter is always happy when she sees Spelling Made Simple as her assignment.

For the past month, we have not used Spelling Made Simple because our computer crashed. I always knew I loved it, but didn't know how much I'd miss it till it was gone. My daughter now protests about studying for her spelling, she's often halfway through a unit before I get around to realizing she's not pronouncing words correctly, we've fallen behind on our tests because she avoids studying, and the tests she has taken, she has not done as well on. I e-mailed the administrator late last night, and by this morning it was up and running again.

How I use it with my 2nd grader: One day, out of the blue, my second grader asked to do Spelling Made Simple. This is my kid who has never asked to do anything academic, and here he is asking to do a subject he isn't even required to do. He also *loves* flashy video games, which Spelling Made Simple is not. But, I figured, I might as well let him try it; the license is per computer, not per user, so it wouldn't cost anything. And it's so fast and effortless to get started. Within moments he was ready to go. I just created a user name for him, loaded the first spelling list, and he took it from there. Since the computer crashed, he's asked me a couple times when he can do Spelling Made Simple again.

When the time comes, I will use Speling Made Simple for my youngest, too. My husband has been wanting to improve his spelling, and this would surely be a quick and easy way to do it. One of these days, I may even get around to doing it myself. We love Spelling Made Simple. I've recommended it to friends, family, and fellow homeschoolers. It's definitely right up there in my list of all-time favorite homeschooling purchases.

It may be that this program is good for adults and older kids. I got it for kids ages 8 to 14, and this isn't a good program for them. The one advantage is that you can make lists for them to study, but there isn't much that they can do with them. A word flashes up on the screen and then you type it, that's it.

I used this for one of my children in 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, to help improve her spelling, and did it ever! I made up my own lists for her, depending on what spelling book she was working from, it was really easy to learn to do.
Not all the words I typed in had an audio to go with it, but that's actually good! You can either go to the definition tag, and record it from there, or you can use your own microphone to record the pronunciations, which we had a lot of fun with! Different family members would say the word, and it made it more interesting when she practiced her lists. I sometimes would also add the definition in audio to help her remember.
Definitely worth the money!
My other kids did not need this kind of program, because spelling came easy for them, but it doesn't for everyone!!!
Spend some time getting to know the software, and then it's easy to use.
I'm not that great with computers, but did well with this software.
I highly recommend this!
It can be bought also from the website, which has the same name.

This is the best spelling software that I have ever used. The program can be modified and adjusted according to a student's needs. I like that I can make my own recordings to my standards rather than relying on other people's. I highly recommend for student's of all ages. It isn't a game or toy, though. If you're expecting an animated show for your child this one is not for you. It has helped my children in many ways including preparation for the National Spelling Bee. This is a great product and I can wholeheartedly give it two thumbs up. Way to go Spelling Made Simple!

I'm going to start at the beginning of my relationship with the folks from Spelling Made Simple. I just searched my old emails it was January 9th, 2005. My daughter came home from school that day with a very long list of words. She was going to be in a contest and needed to study the words. I can program, so at dinner I was talking with my daughter and wife about what I was thinking about writing. I thought, there must be some commercial software available that does what I need. Most of the stuff I found didn't meet my needs list. Spelling Made Simple looked very interesting and it proved to be exactly what we were looking for! I purchased the program, introduced it to two elementary schools I had relationships with, and emailed all my friends that had younger children.

The software is excellent. The best investment you could possibly make in your child's spelling skills.

I have tried many, many spelling programs, and invested quite a bit of money in some of them. Nothing, to date, has worked as well as Spelling Made Simple. It is easy to use, very simple and straightforward. I will admit that I was skeptical at first, we have been through so many programs that make amazing promises, just to end in dissapointment. But after using the program for a little over a month my son's spelling ability has improved noticably and although there are no bells and whistle he doesn't baulk at the assignments. I could have saved a lot of money if I'd found this years ago.

I purchased Spelling Made Simple so I could have my children practice spelling when we were away from the internet. You can make a list and download audio--it does not have plurals of a lot of words. Definitions are obtainable from the internet, but it did not work on my computer. The worst part is the test only gives the word, no sentences. Had I realized this, I would not have purchased it. If you are home-schooling, and have internet access, try the free spellingcity.com. Create a log-in, then you can make lists, which automatically give definitions and audio. The tests are just like "real school", i.e. the word and a sentence.

This is the first time that I gave a review of a product. Spelling made simple is just a great spelling program it has all the feature that I want and need. It's not only a learning tool but it's fun to use. They have list to download. But what I do is go to a site and cut and past the words that I use every day then I put them in the program and I start studying the words that I use most frequently. Spelling made simple put's the words in order, and when I learn a word the next time I download words it does not put the words in that I already know. That's a great feature. Well I could talk all day about spelling made simple but I keep it short, it's a great program

Thanks for the new upgrade. It has all the things I need from a spelling helper. My daughter is in 7th grade and thanks to SMS, I can proudly say she is an "A" student. The program is great, and now with the select all and recorder added to it, everything I need is right in the program. Once again, keep up the good work. Having the audio words at the click of a button is one of the best parts of this software. God bless all at SMS. I hope you sell many copies of this around the world. Thanks again. Andre Abella