Choose Curriculum for Your Speller
When there are so many incredible homeschool options available today, you may find yourself wondering—why choose a curriculum that’s specifically created for spellers?
It’s a valid question. After all, plenty of homeschool programs offer engaging content, hands-on learning, and flexibility. But here’s the catch: most of them were not built with spellers in mind. In fact, many of the “speller-friendly” curricula currently on the market are simply adapted from traditional models. These can work to an extent, but often they require extra tweaking to make them truly accessible—and even then, they might not meet your speller’s needs in the best way.
Most homeschool programs assume that students will demonstrate their understanding by writing, reading aloud, or completing paper-based tasks. These expectations involve a level of motor planning that may not be accessible to many spellers. Sure, you can adjust and use a letterboard to ask the questions orally, but this still involves a lot of heavy lifting on the parent’s part. You have to reword, reshape, and sometimes completely rethink the question so it fits your speller’s current motor skill level. For example, you can’t ask a student who isn’t open on the boards to “write a sentence about the sun.” And now imagine a 7th grade writing prompt… it becomes clear very quickly that these materials were not designed with spellers in mind.
And let’s be honest—curricula that are labeled as “for autistic kids” often fall short, too. While they may offer simplified content, they don’t always presume competence or offer age-appropriate material. Spellers are often intellectually capable of far more than they’re given credit for, and a curriculum that talks down to them can be just as frustrating as one that demands too much motor output.
Creating your own curriculum is another route, and I know this path well. I used to fly by the seat of my pants—pulling from different sources, rewriting lessons, and trying to make every subject into a spelling lesson. It was a full-time job just to prepare for teaching. And the result? My speller and I were both stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Learning felt like a chore, not a joy. We finally had to step back and ask: what’s the point? Education should be empowering, engaging, and even fun—not just a to-do list of spelling drills and motor tasks.
That’s where Dare to Homeschool Your Speller comes in. Our unit studies were born out of that very struggle. We needed a curriculum that filled the gap—a program that delivered rich, academic, age-appropriate content in a format spellers could access. No endless writing prompts. No forced reading. Just meaningful, engaging learning that’s built for the way our spellers communicate.
These unit studies are designed with INPUT in mind. There’s no expectation to handwrite or read aloud. (Of course, if your speller enjoys or is able to do those things, you can easily weave them in!) Instead, we use multi-sensory methods to bring learning to life: hands-on projects, read-alouds, movement activities, cooking, music, art, and videos. Every week offers something new to engage your speller without overloading their motor systems.
And yes, we absolutely include spelling—but not in an overwhelming, constant way. Each unit includes carefully crafted spelling lessons that connect to the content without overloading the day. We’re not asking comprehension questions after every video. Instead, the curriculum is set up so your speller can enjoy rich, engaging input and have daily spelling practice that’s connected to what they’ve learned—without making every moment about the letterboard.
Because here’s the truth: spelling is just one piece of your speller’s learning journey. It’s a powerful tool, but it’s not the only one. With the right curriculum, learning becomes about discovery, connection, and growth—not just spelling practice. And that’s exactly what your speller deserves.
Looking for your next step? Here are some great places to begin:
Visit our store page to learn about all the great options we currently have. Visit Store!
You can see a sample of our newest mini unit here: Wild West Preview
Schedule a FREE 15 minute call with me, Laurie Geary, to discuss all our program options and chat about what might be the best fit for YOU and your speller! Schedule 15 Min Call
