Natural Speller

by Kathryn Stout

Design-A-Study: Resources for Creating a Custom Curriculum

Everything necessary for spelling instruction for grades 1 through 8 is included in this 78-page book. Spelling rules are provided with charts that include suffixes and prefixes along with phonic and writing rules.

Basic word lists are given for each grade with words containing similar patterns grouped together. Special word lists (e.g., calendar words, contractions, measurements, homophones, Latin roots) are also provided. Kathryn Stout strongly advocates keeping separate those words with similar sounds that are formed by different letter combinations (e.g., though, bow, sole). Lessons can be developed from the word lists or with words of your own choosing.

Instructions are provided for teaching spelling and for studying words. Greek and Latin roots and activities included in the Natural Speller should be used primarily with students in grades 6 to 8 as an aid to vocabulary development. Note that Natural Speller is not a student text but a parent/teacher resource book.