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.