Simply Charlotte Mason — Charlotte Mason method homeschool helps.

by Sonya Shafer | 172–226 pages | Suggested grades: 3–12

You are viewing the British Spelling version e-book downloads of Spelling Wisdom. Also available: Spelling Wisdom American Spelling Version e-book downloads and Spelling Wisdom American Spelling Version printed books.

Teach spelling with some of the greatest minds in history!

Learn today’s 6,000 most frequently used words presented in the writings of great men and women of history! Now you can have the confidence that you’re teaching the words your student needs to know, using the Charlotte Mason method of prepared dictation.

• Easy — Teaches spelling and punctuation in just a few minutes each week.
• Thorough — Incorporates more than 12,500 words, including 6,000 most frequently used words in the English language.
• Effective — Uses the tried-and-true method of prepared dictation, which Charlotte Mason endorsed.
• Interesting and inspiring — Presents beautiful and fascinating ideas from great men and women of history that encourage and motivate children as they learn to spell the words.
• Flexible — Allows you to progress at each student’s pace.
• Saves Time — Can be used for copywork as well.

British Version Differences

Both the American version and the British version of Spelling Wisdom contain the same exercises; the only difference is in how some of the words are spelled (or spelt, as my British friend Diane taught me). The main spelling differences you’ll find in the British version are

• -our instead of -or (as in honour),
• -re instead of -er (as in theatre),
• -ise instead of -ize (as in minimise),*
• -lled instead of -led (as in travelled),
• -lling instead of -ling (as in equalling),
• -t instead of -ed (as in learnt).

*Note: I thought long and hard about the -ise vs. -ize question. The Oxford English Dictionary cites either spelling as acceptable but states that -ise is more popular in both Britain and Australia. A poll of UK homeschool mums confirmed that more than seventy-five percent prefer the -ise spelling. Therefore, I elected to use -ise.

Which Book to Use

The five books’ exercises become progressively longer and contain more difficult words as you work through the series. Each book contains 140 exercises. If you cover two exercises per week, you should be able to finish a Spelling Wisdom book in a little less than two school years. Charlotte Mason began dictation exercises with students around the third or fourth grade. With that schedule in mind, here is a rough model of which books correspond to which grades:

Grades 3, 4, 5: Book One

Grades 5, 6, 7: Book Two

Grades 7, 8, 9: Book Three

Grades 9, 10, 11: Book Four

Grades 11, 12: Book Five

Quality Sources

Compiled from more than 170 quality sources, including:

• Excerpts from more than 45 Literary Classics, such as Aesop’s Fables, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Black Beauty, David Copperfield, The Deerslayer, Freckles, Les Miserables, Little Women, Robinson Crusoe, The Secret Garden, The Story of My Life, and The Wind in the Willows.
• Speeches and quotes of famous men, such as Sir Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, and George Washington.
• Charlotte Mason quotes and excerpts from Ourselves.
• Letters written by famous men, such as Beethoven, Seneca, Mozart, and Abraham Lincoln.
• More than 60 Poems, written by such poets as Stevenson, Wordsworth, Emerson, Longfellow, and Holmes.
• More than 20 Scripture passages.
• Excerpts from Shakespeare’s plays, plus several Sonnets.

Subjects Included

Exercises thoughtfully selected to support a generous education and broad curriculum, including: