“Mom, can I not do spelling today? Please?”
If you have a child with dyslexia or who struggles with spelling or reading, you may hear the same thing in your home.
Whether you have a child who is diagnosed with dyslexia or if you merely suspect something, let’s pretend that we’re having a cup of tea and talking mom to mom about a fantastic resource I discovered.
It’s called Nessy Learning, and it’s amazing.
Honestly, amazing.
Our Journey Before Nessy Learning
After homeschooling for over a decade, I know that I have children with different strengths and weaknesses—not dissimilar to your home, I bet?
And when it comes to spelling, some take to it like a fish to water, and some hate it. Hate isn’t even a strong enough word to describe how they feel about spelling, and the same goes for reading. Sure, they love to hear stories, and they want to read them, but what happens when they can’t decode the words?
A natural speller myself, I thought I must have failed somewhere. What was I doing wrong? Did I not have the right curriculum? Wasn’t I able to homeschool my kids?
So, I got online and visited conferences, seeking out any spelling program that could possibly help them. I used workbooks, textbooks, and hands-on programs. Even though my children didn’t complain as much, we weren’t getting to the heart of the matter.
Another thing I noticed with my kiddos who struggled to spell and to read—their performance improves when they use an online program.
Our Journey After Nessy Learning
Nessy always draws a crowd, and they all beg for a turn. (Real, unstaged crowd shown).
A few months ago, I began using the Nessy Parent Pack. Not only do I think it’s fabulous, but I’m genuinely excited to share our experience.
If you’ve been a reader of my blog over the years, you know how I feel about educating children with learning disabilities—I know that all of my children are capable of learning, but they may learn differently. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! The beauty of homeschooling is being able to tailor a unique educational experience for each child, right?
So as soon as I read this statement on the Nessy site, I was already won over:
The Nessy purpose is to help children who learn differently.
Cue the happy mom! A curriculum created by people who understand!
The material is encouraging, it’s fun, it’s non-intimidating, and beyond the initial set-up and screening, it’s self-managed and independent. I never imagined that my struggling spellers would use a spelling curriculum that wasn’t parent-intensive.
We began by having them work through Yeti Mountain, a screening tool for dyslexia but the kids simply think they’re playing a game. While this isn’t a diagnostic test, it provides information and feedback to share with your provider or therapist.
The Parent Pack includes:
- 1 license of Dyslexia Quest
- 1 license of Nessy Reading & Spelling
- 1 license of Writing Beach
- 1 license of Nessy Numbers
I also downloaded their e-book, Dyslexia Explained, a “fun, illustrated look at dyslexia that you can read together.” I wholeheartedly agree with them, and it’s interesting even to a parent who is a natural speller.
Download your own copy of Dyslexia Explained now.
If you have children who struggle with dyslexia, chances are they may also have low self-esteem. This little e-book packed enough of a punch and ideas for discussion that it not only inspired my kids, but it also inspired me! They get to learn about careers and even famous people who also have dyslexia.
Afterward, they began the lessons, and not once did we have a single tear or complaint about spelling.
(And spelling is a lot less scary.)
Do you know how it feels to go from having children crying over spelling to smiling about it? To have children who felt like they weren’t smart because of a diagnosis or learning challenge to suddenly realizing that they have unique strengths?
I do, and it’s incredible.
Save Money While Giving Nessy Learning a Whirl in Your Home
Get 15% off your subscription when you use the following codes:
For the Parent Pack use code: PPBLOG15
For the Nessy Reading & Spelling use code: NRSBLOG15
The offer is good through October 16, 2017.
Note regarding the monthly memberships and discount code: The discount applies to the first month. All subsequent months will be at the regular monthly rate.
Do you still have questions?
Moms, spelling and reading are only the beginning. Even while writing this post, my son piped up asking, “Have you told them about Monkey Town? What about Nessy Numbers? Tell them about the trophies!”
And regarding spelling, he says:
“Nessy helped me so much with spelling. I’m able to spell more words now and understand how letters fit to make words. I recommend it for any kid who struggles with spelling. It’s so much fun.”
If you have questions, visit Nessy Learning and find them on Facebook or Twitter to learn more. They’re also on YouTube and Pinterest.
Have you used Nessy in your home? Comment below with your experience.
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I thank you for this post. I have been homeschooling for almost two years. I am using the Spell to Write to Read curriculum. I have been very impressed with the curriculum. However, my little one has been struggling. I thought we were on to something. I went to call out the phonograms by sound so she could try to write the words out. She began to cry after the 3rd word. She said I don’t know nothing. I felt so bad. I told her that I would walk with her and we would take it step by step. This is why I am homeschooling. I know she would never get the one on one that I can provide for her.
Maybe she has dyslexia. I do not know. She is 6. Last week I tried to call out just the letters. That frustrated her. Then I said I will only call out letters that have one sound. That frustrated her. Then, I said I will only focus on one letter a day. She seems okay with this but forgot the phonogram that we went over the previous day. My next try is to do a phonogram a week. If that is still hard and frustrating to her, I think I will give this program a try. I will definitely pray about it and see how the LORD leads.
Thank you for sharing!
Sure! Let me know if you give Nessy a try and how she does. My son LOVED Nessy, and they do have a nice little screening game that the kids can take. When we saw a vision therapist a few months ago, he told me that until they’re 9, he doesn’t stress out too much over reading/writing. (This was only *his* opinion though and others may differ.) My teen can’t always tell which direction letters are going, so that got his attention more than when I said my seven year old was struggling. 😉 Even so, it can be frustrating, and of course, we want to do the absolute best we can for our kiddos.
We have just started the process to get my son tested for dyslexia. Bookmarking this info once we get the results. Thanks for posting!