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PERSONAL BEST SPELLING SITE
User feedback
Ten out of ten every week
"Prior to Lincoln starting to use Personal Best Spelling, he was getting on average, only two out of ten words right in his weekly spelling test at school. Within one week of using Personal Best Spelling, Lincoln got ten out of ten in his weekly spelling test and he has continued to get ten out of ten, each and every week."
It gave Marian confidence and method
"Your program gave Marian the confidence and the method of how to learn and remember her spelling words. This in turn greatly improved her reading ability. Marian's confidence in herself has helped her to believe in herself."
Gets 100% on his weekly tests
"After beginning to use the Personal Best Spelling program, my son has successfully gotten 100% results on his weekly tests. I have recommended your product to others and hope that they find the success that my son has."
The only tutor (including human) that has helped him
"I wanted to take a minute to let you know how much your program has helped our son. He is 11 and in the 5th grade. He has struggled with spelling since at least 3rd grade. Your program is the only tutor (including human) that has helped him."
The notion of a "dumb child" disappears
"The greatest thing about Old Way/New Way® is the self-correction children do. It's such an amazing thing to say to a kid, 'Can you see any Old Ways? ... Now, can you do the New Way for me?' and then they select their Old Way and do the New Way all by themselves without me doing a thing except ask those two questions. Old Way/New Way® is so much less stressful for teachers. I no longer get frustrated when some children have so many errors to correct. The notion of a 'dumb child' disappears and instead you know that they simply have more resistant Old Ways."
Personal Best Spelling and our other learning systems are being used all over the world. Here are some of the latest additions to the many schools, home schools and early learning centres where Old Way/New Way® Learning is improving learning and performance in spelling.
Spelling program for home and school—Personal Best Spelling
Learn spelling—your way
This children's spelling program:
- Transformed many poor spellers into proficient, confident spellers when all other methods failed.
- Is a genuine learning tool for spelling, not just another computer game dressed up as educational software.
- Does not insult the learner's intelligence.
- knows how the brain learns, so it works with you, not against you
- Is being used by school teachers, students of all ages and home schoolers to improve spelling.
- Identifies your child's bad spelling habits (habit pattern errors) and quickly corrects them, once and for all.
- Helps your child learn and remember words from one day to the next.
- Tests spelling and tracks progress.
- Uses proven learning methods endorsed by Australian education departments.
- Is the only spelling tutor that uses Old Way/New Way®, an effective research-based and user-friendly learning method.
- Uses an improved version of Look Say Cover Write Check, the old standby method for learning spelling.
- Provides hundreds of editable word lists in both U.S. English and U.K./Oz English, plus you can create and edit your own lists.
- Provides both adult and children's versions for the one low price (CD ROM version only).
- Requires Windows 98 or later operating systems.
- Is available as an affordable Windows software program or as a low-cost one-page, self contained, multiple-user, re-usable, printable spelling tutor.
Features
Personal Best Spelling is three great programs in one: learn new words, test your spelling and correct problem words that you keep getting wrong or are unsure about.
Spelling program - Learn New Words
This helps your child learn new words quickly so that your child remembers them better. It uses a modified form of the widely used and recommended method of learning spelling called Look Say Cover Write Check. Practice or drill is built into the program in a special way to improve learning and memory.
You can create your own word lists, use the inbuilt lists or use a wide range of ready-made special purpose word lists that you can download from this web site. Ready-made word lists include lists of commonly misspelled words, words that cause special difficulty to learners and other useful lists.
You can learn sentence structure using the special contextual learning feature that allows you to enter more than just one word at a time. Foreign language learning is also possible using this feature because you can learn words in their proper context.
You can also learn specialised occupational vocabularies.
Spelling Tester
You can test your spelling of previously learned words. A special feature is that the program remembers any errors you make. If the error is consistent , i.e., you spell it incorrectly in the same way, the program recognises that you have developed a learned error and it automatically saves these errors in a separate word list for special treatment and correction.
Spelling program - Correct Bad Spelling Habits
The program uses a new learning method called Old Way/New Way®. With Old Way/New Way® you can correct persistent, learned and habitual errors. You can also, once and for all, learn to spell those tricky words that you are uncertain about and often have to look up.
Homonyms, words like "their" and "there", that sound the same but have different meanings, often create confusion but this can be readily resolved by placing the word in context when using Old Way/New Way®.
Old Way/New Way® is a new user-friendly and truly effective method for changing incorrect learning to the correct version and for eliminating uncertainty.
Personal Best Spelling is especially licensed to use Old Way/New Way®. The learning advantages that Old Way/New Way® gives you and its other special benefits are all described and explained in this web site
And you can read some typical case studies where Old Way/New Way® has helped people of all ages become competent and confident spellers.
Reviews
Endorsed by Education Network Australia—EdNa Online
Old Way/New Way® Learning is a quality endorsed resource.
Five Star rating
Personal Best Spelling received the Five Star Rating at TUKIDS, the children's software section of the TUCOWS software library. The adult version was Editor's Choice in the ZDNET software library.
The school teachers, parents, learning support tutors, and their students in these spelling case studies tried many different spelling programs, mnemonics, and other spelling aids, including catch-up classes or personal tutoring, before they tried Personal Best Spelling.
Using these conventional, and some not so conventional, methods of teaching spelling they found that children still forgot the words they had learned from one day to the next.
Personal Best Spelling changed all this. Learners who used this program actually improved on spelling tests immediately after they started using the program; their vocabulary increased; they actually remembered the words they had learned the day , week or month before; their self confidence improved; their teacher's assessment of their learning ability changed and their outlook on learning became a lot more optimistic. This was empowering for both teachers and students.
These spelling case notes should be read in conjunction with the spelling program theoretical underpinning of and the long history of successful spelling method research, workplace trials and independent evaluations to which the underlying teaching and learning methodology has been subjected. The sum total of this evidence will stand up to the closest scrutiny.
Computer Corner review of Personal Best Spelling by Bill Gillespie, school Principal
".... This program takes a no nonsense approach to the teaching of spelling... This is not a game dressed up as educational software.... One advantage of this approach is that it can correct persistent, learned and habitual spelling errors... It is worthwhile visiting the web site just to read the information on the Old Way/New Way® approach to learning." Education: Journal of the New South Wales Teachers Federation.
The Way Ahead: Old Way/New Way® and Mediational Learning
Classroom. Issue 7, 2000, pages 12 - 13. Scholastic Australia
Pty Ltd.
This article describes how Old Way/New Way® is used to
improve spelling.
ZDNet Software Library review, 17 December 1998
Personal Best Speller received a four star rating and was the Editor's Pick.
"Learn new words and correct problem spelling with Personal Best Speller. Using an innovative and progressive method, this program encourages you to say the word, asks you to type it several times and tracks your problem areas. Three modules include learning new words, testing and correcting problems or habitual errors. The error correction uses a psychological approach by having you analyze what it is that you do wrong and repeatedly spell it the wrong way and then the correct way. You're asked to state what you've been doing wrong, typing in this statement and then correcting the spelling several times. Two word lists are available to work with in the demo version and registered users will be able to input their own lists. Personal Best Speller requires dedication and time, but its effective methods are sure to improve your spelling."
Mediational Learning: Old Habits No Longer Die Hard
By Dr Paul Baxter. Write On: Queensland Council For Adult Literacy Newsletter. Volume 18, No. 1, September 2000, pages 10 - 15. Discusses the theoretical background to Mediational Learning (a derivative of Old Way/New Way®) and its application to literacy teaching. Contains 32 references to research journal articles and links to other Old Way/New Way® web sites.
Classroom. Issue 7, 2000, pages 12 - 13. Scholastic Australia Pty Ltd.
This article describes how Old Way/New Way® is used to improve children's and adults' spelling.
You can also read all the scientific publications on the Old Way/New Way® learning method in our annotated adult spelling method bibliography.
Preview
Before you buy, please check out the many spelling program features. You can preview this spelling program, download and try the demo adult version for free, and then purchase either the download or the CD version using our secure spelling program order form.
Word lists
Personal Best Spelling comes complete with hundreds of word lists once the program is registered. Unregistered, the program contains two word lists for demonstration purposes.
Registered users with earlier versions can download and use one or more of the following word lists, as well as create their own word lists. Please note the following details about these lists:
- Lists are zipped text files (ASCII DOS TEXT), take up very little disk space on your computer, will download quickly and are accompanied by a brief description.
- Unzip the word list files to the same directory as the one in which you install the spelling program (usually c:\windows\pbs16adu), so that the program can automatically find and use the word lists.
- Words are in both US English and UK/Oz English.
- New lists are added from time to time. These are the currently available lists:
Download lists of commonly misspelled words (demons).
Download lists of the most common words in children's reading.
Download lists of the most common nouns in children's reading.
Download lists of a core of words that students should be able to spell on sight, without sounding.
Download lists of the most common words that cover about three-quarters of children's reading.
Download all the above word lists in one file here: U.S. English and U.K./Oz English.
Versions
Available on CD or as a download, the children's version contains some animated characters but this is kept to a minimum so as not to distract the child from the learning task.
Before you buy, please check out the many spelling program features. You can preview this spelling program, download and try the demo version for free, and then purchase either the download or the CD version using our secure spelling program order form.
Printable Version—one page printable, multiple use spelling lesson
For those who don't want to use a computer but still want to benefit from the Old Way/New Way® learning method and improve their spelling, Personal Best Spelling is now available as a low cost one-page, self-contained, individualised, printable, multiple use spelling tutor for adult learners, teachers, students and children for only AU$9.95. More...
Breaking bad spelling habits
Spelling teachers and students try to get it right the first time but invariably end up spending a lot of time trying to correct bad spelling habits that somehow develop. Or, they just give up altogether
Because these errors were not corrected early, and were repeated over and over (i.e., practiced), many spelling errors quickly develop into bad habits and are then much harder to eradicate. For example, some people always write "recieve" instead of "receive".
We all know that old habits die hard and many spelling errors therefore defy correction by conventional methods.
The usual advice to practice the correct spelling over and over is not very effective. The next day learners seem to have forgotten what they've learned and the same old spelling errors resurface. It seems we just keep falling back to old ways and, consequently, transfer of learning (memory for correct spelling) is poor.
Fortunately, a cognitive science discovery called Old Way/New Way® Learning, endorsed and gazetted by the South Australian Department of Education and built into Personal Best Spelling, offers learners of all ages:
1. A new perspective on the transfer of learning problem in the learning of spelling.
2. A fast and practical way to learn to spell new and unfamiliar words.
3. A user-friendly method for quickly and permanently eradicating bad spelling habits.
