AVKO is one of those companies that doesn’t reveal its “offerings” in its company name – though their most popular program, Sequential Spelling, gives an easier clue to what the company offers homeschoolers and other educators. I remember looking at ads for Sequential Spelling a little over a year ago and being very intrigued by the program’s way of teaching. Though we didn’t end up purchasing it, I still think the methodology makes sense. Beginning with a base word, students can build up to spelling increasingly longer and more difficult words. For example:

all
tall
stall
install
installment

Through The Old Schoolhouse Crew, I received a complimentary membership to the AVKO website and was able to learn more about the company’s founding and mission. AVKO stands for Audio Visual Kinesthetic Oral, and the company is dedicated to teaching every student to read and spell regardless of any difficulties or learning disabilities. Founder Don McCabe is still AVKO’s Research Director and is on the Board of Trustees.

McCabe’s book To Teach a Dyslexic is available online as part of the AVKO membership along with over $400 worth of other e-books. According to the website, benefits to a Basic Membership are:

• Discounts on AVKO printed materials (25% off)
• Hundreds of dollars worth of FREE e-books (PDF)
• The Patterns of English Spelling (All 10 Volumes) with Word Families in Sentence Context
• To Teach a Dyslexic
• Starting at Square One
• The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: a Continuum from Kindergarten through College.
• The Reading Teacher’s List of Over 5,500 Basic Spelling Words
• Access to the Member Only section
• AVKO Newsletter with freebies, discounts, resources, and promotions
• Access to Don McCabe’s most popular workshop recordings in MP3 format.
• Supplemental Curriculum Materials including word games, worksheets, activities, and more!
• Access to Pretests and Placement Tests
• Access to the Answer Keys for the Unscramblers and Family Reunion exercises of the Engaging Language Kits

A Deluxe Membership comes with all of the above as well as:

• Read-only access to ALL AVKO curriculum materials (except for Sequential Spelling and Engaging Language Kits)
• Access to AVKO’s newest e-books:
• Word Family Supplements 1-7 for Sequential Spelling
• Spelling Remediation Test Kit

I found the member site overwhelming at first – there is so much information, and I honestly didn’t know what I should be looking for. Neither of my children struggle with reading, spelling, or learning disabilities, and I didn’t feel that I needed the ‘helps’ on the AVKO member site. If I were searching for information on these difficulties, though, I doubt I would have any trouble finding what I need at AVKO’s site.

Some of the files are in “document” format, which means they will open using Microsoft Word, Open Writer, or another word processing program instead of in your web browser. I found a number of ‘humorous’ documents under the “Readings for Comprehension” section whose purpose on the site I don’t quite understand. They were very similar to items people forward on email with titles like “Top 8 Morons” and “Southern Speech.” Maybe the AVKO authors have included these for a little comic relief in the school day…

It would be a good idea, in my opinion, for anyone using the AVKO member site to read each document before using it with children. I found one that I thought seemed great at first – “Fun Quotations for Spelling Dictation” – but contained quotes that I would definitely not give my children as part of their school lessons. A few examples:

“It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me; it’s the parts that I do understand.” (Mark Twain)
“If the headache would only come before the drinking, drinking would be a virtue.” (Samuel Butler)
“The only really happy folk are married women and single men.” (H. L. Mencken)

Aside from the immoral slant, isn’t it a little foolish to ask a child to spell “ain’t” during his spelling lesson?

I think an AVKO membership would be best for educators who are already using an AVKO curriculum or who need information on teaching children with learning disabilities to read and spell. A Basic Membership costs $25 per year, and a Deluxe Membership is $100 per year. Full details are available at the AVKO website.

Thank you to AVKO and The Old Schoolhouse Crew for sponsoring this review.