Mrs. Mandy's Musings: Talking Fingers

Friday, May 20, 2011

Talking Fingers–TOS Review

Teaching my 8 year old his spelling rules and trying to get him to stop using invented spelling has been a source of stress for me lately. It is with great pleasure I introduce to you all the reason I am still alive to tell about it.Talking Fingers Wordy QWERTY. Geared to grades 2-4, Wordy QWERTY is a online software program that teaches reading and spelling. It is the follow-up program to Read, Write & Type Learning System.

Teaching children about spelling rules and word construction can seem daunting and tedious, however, using Talking Fingers program makes it fun and exciting. There are 20 lessons that teach using games, music, and catchy tunes called JingleSpells. You will even find yourself singing along, I know I did. My son and I really enjoyed this program. I have been worried about how to teach him the spelling rules and break his habit of using the invented spelling he was taught in public school. I notice he doesn’t remember the rules very well when we do them during spelling but once he started Wordy QWERTY he remembered the ones he learned rather quickly and easily. He has even been caught singing them just when he is around the house!

Talking Fingers from the website:

“The Talking Fingers approach is unique and is based on a simple idea: text is speech made visible! We use our mouths to talk, to make the sounds of words. We use our fingers (with a pencil or keyboard) to represent those sounds on paper. When children learn to link speech sounds with letters, they can use the alphabet code to write any word they can say. Their fingers are "talking". This approach is aimed at maximizing the activation of the left side of the brain where skilled reading and writing are processed.”