Word Qwerty

Talking Fingers has created a Reading and Spelling Software for children aged 7-9 or in the Second and Third Grades. Word Qwerty picks up right were Read, Write and Type, another product from Talking Fingers, finishes.

Comprised of 20 lessons, Word Qwerty focuses on teaching the following spelling rules:

•   Silent E
• Sounds of C
• Sounds of G
• J or DGE
• W or WH
• C or K
• CK or K
• CKS or X
• CH or TCH
• LL, SS, FF, ZZ
• OI or OY
• VE Words
• Open Syllables
• Double Consonants
• Doubling rule
• ER, IR, OR, UR, EAR
• I Before E
• Plurals: Add ES
• Plurals: Y to IES
• Plurals: F to VES

There are many different games your child will play to help reinforce all of the spelling rules.  Hunter's favorite game was the balloon pop.  The program gives you a sentence, and you have to recognize each different word in in the sentence on a balloon.  Don't go too fast.....because the program tries to trick you !!!  you have to watch carefully to make sure that you have the right word before you pop! 

Games like the one above were great to help him discriminate between the beginning sounds of words, something that Hunter does struggle with.  He was able to see the word... and a picture to match the word, and then place it in the right list.

There were portions of the program that Hunter was very frustrated with.  There was a dictation game, and if you didn't type as fast as the program thought you should be.... It would talk to you and tell you to put your hand is a certain spot on the keyboard... (which is where they were but Hunter did not type fast enough.)  He would become very aggravated !!  It would halt his progress, because it would "freeze" the screen while it reminded you how to type.... and then you would have to begin again.  After a few weeks of playing and trying to get faster.... I would eventually just sit and type out those games for him.  He could repeat back what the game said.... just not input it in quickly enough.  Nor did he spell well enough to not have the game beep at him 50 times in a sentence.

If you would like to see the games played, they have created a video for parents to actually see the program in action.  To see a video of Word Qwerty click here.

Talking Fingers offers Word Qwerty in two different formats.

The online version which is a five year subscription

Or you can purchase a CD version.  ( note it is NOT  compatible with Windows 7 or Mac 10.6)

I really feel that Talking Fingers has done a great job and keeping their program affordable... especially for those families with multiple children in the 7-9 age range.  Their program is entertaining, and doesn't feel like you are doing the same thing over and over again.  As the parent, you can set the Mastery level from behind the scenes and build confidence by allowing your child to progress through the levels without becoming too frustrated with wrong answers.

While it wasn't an overall best fit for our family, there were many components we did like, and they DID reinforce and help Hunter grasp some of the spelling concepts.

Talking Fingers offers a variety of programs to teach typing, reading and spelling.  Stop by their website at http://www.talkingfingers.com/ and see their product list, or to contact them directly if you have additional questions.

Visit the TOS Homeschool Crew blog to see what other families have to say about how Word Qwerty worked for them during their school days.

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as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, Talking Fingers provided reviewers with limited time access to the online version of Word Qwerty.  This access was solely for the purpose of this review.  No other compensation was received.  All of the above opinions are my own.