(Cathy Duffy review is below this Monkey and Mom review.)
(User submitted reviews and review submission form are below the Cathy Duffy review.)
This Christian Spelling Curriculum Teaches the Rules Behind English — Not Just Word Lists
By Laura (MonkeyandMom.com) May 7, 2026
Inside: Steps to Superb Spelling is a rule-based Christian spelling curriculum that can carry your family from 2nd grade through high school in a single workbook. It teaches spelling rules and phonics principles, and for Christian families looking for faith-integrated language arts, it’s a solid, affordable option. Here’s what’s inside, who it’s for, and what you should know before buying.
Marc recently discovered online spelling games. He’s been low-key obsessed, practicing tricky words on his own, quizzing himself, asking me to throw hard ones at him during dinner.
And honestly, watching him do that made me look back over our 11 years of homeschooling to the very start, when teaching him how to read seemed like an insurmountable task. After some trial and error, the approach that worked for us was phonics. I still believe it’s the best way to make sure kids learn to read and spell at the same time. Many years later, I can see that the effort back then was fully worth it — my high schooler hasn’t needed a spelling curriculum since 5th grade.
So when I came across Steps to Superb Spelling by Janice O’Brien, I wasn’t looking for a spelling program for us. I was curious about it because it’s a phonics-based spelling curriculum.
What I found was a program with more going on than I expected and we ended up using parts of it for fun even now, in 9th grade.
At a Glance
| Program | Steps to Superb Spelling by Janice O’Brien, M.A., SLP |
| Format | Coil-bound student workbook (240 pages) + teacher’s manual & games (130 pages) |
| Grade Level | 2nd through 12th (sections vary in difficulty) |
| Approach | Rule-based, phonics-grounded spelling generalizations |
| Faith Content | Christian — Scripture integrated throughout, especially suffix review |
| Price | Student book $49.95 + Teacher’s manual $36.95 (~$87 total) |
| Publisher | stepstosuperbspelling.com |
| Bottom Line | A workbook-based Christian spelling program that teaches rules and patterns of spelling. |
What Is Steps to Superb Spelling?
Steps to Superb Spelling is a Christian spelling curriculum built around what the author calls “spelling generalizations” — the rules and patterns behind how English words are spelled. The program includes nearly all the principles one needs to know about spelling, and can be completed in one or two years if started in middle or high school, or used over several grade levels starting as early as second grade.
The author, Janice O’Brien, homeschooled her three boys, then went back to the University of Florida for a master’s in speech-language pathology. She spent 15 years working in schools and clinics, including work with the Barton Reading and Spelling Program. That background comes through in how the program is built.
One thing worth noting: this spelling program is not designed as a remediation tool for students with reading or spelling disabilities.
“My Steps to Superb Spelling program is geared toward learners without disabilities who’ve been taught to read through phonics and are able to identify sounds accurately.” —Janice O’Brien, Steps to Superb Spelling
That’s a helpful distinction. If your child needs intensive intervention, something like Barton or an Orton-Gillingham approach would be a better starting point.
What’s in the Box
The program has two parts: a 240-page Student Workbook and a 130-page Teacher’s Manual & Games. Both are mostly black and white (with a few pages exception), coil-bound, so they lie flat which is handy when you’re dictating words or checking answers at the same time. (I received mine as digital copies since shipping them here would take forever.)
1. The student workbook covers sections on Alphabetizing, Plurals, Suffixes, Consonants, Vowels, and Helpful Hints (from pronunciation to spelling difficult words). The consonant and vowel sections alone make up most of the workbook, organized by consonant sounds and long, short, and r-controlled vowel sounds so that when spelling words are dictated, the student only has to recognize the sound and apply the right pattern.
2. The teacher’s manual provides an answer key, teaching notes, dictation word lists, and a full game system with printable cards and boards. Each student needs their own workbook, but one teacher’s manual covers the whole family.
What Does a Typical Session Look Like?
The workbook is written directly to the student, not to the parent. It explains each rule, gives examples, and then moves into exercises. An older, strong reader could work through much of it independently. They would have to read the explanation, do the exercises, then bring it to you for checking.
There’s no fixed daily schedule so you decide how much to cover based on your child’s age and attention. I’d estimate a realistic session is probably 15–25 minutes, three or four days a week. Some pages go quickly (a list of plurals to practice). Others, like the vowel charts or the suffix rules, need more time and discussion.
There’s also no fixed sequence, which I think is one of the program’s real strengths. The book is divided into sections and you can jump to whatever your child needs most regardless of grade level. If your 4th grader is solid on plurals but shaky on suffixes, skip ahead. If your 7th grader needs consonant spelling patterns, start there. This flexibility works well for families who don’t want another start-to-finish curriculum.
The parent’s job: check work, dictate words when the teacher’s manual calls for it, prepare and play the review games, and be available for questions. You’re not teaching from a script. But you’re not fully hands-off either.
What the Teaching Actually Does
A few things stood out to me as I went through both books and I want to offer you some examples so you see the full picture.
Alphabetizing gets real attention.
This might sound basic, but from my experience, many programs skip it or don’t offer real strategies for it. Marc had trouble with alphabetical order well into middle school. Every time he had to do it, he sang the ABC song from the beginning.
This program takes a simple progressive approach: it prints the alphabet across the top of the page and asks students to draw lines connecting each word to its starting letter. They can visually see which word comes first. Then it removes the scaffolding gradually — second-letter alphabetizing, third-letter, guide words.
By the end, students are alphabetizing 16 words starting with the same two letters (like a page of ci- words: circus, cinch, cigar, cite, cider, citizen…). It also teaches how to use dictionary guide words, which is a practical skill that pays off every time your child needs to look something up.
Homophones are threaded throughout the entire program.
They’re not a standalone chapter you cover once and move on. Instead, a homophone lesson appears at the end of every section. Each lesson teaches a new set, with practical strategies for telling them apart.
For example for your/you’re, the workbook says: test whether “you are” fits in the sentence. If it does, use you’re. If it doesn’t, use your. For guessed/guest: ask whether the word is the past tense of “guess.” I love that these aren’t just definitions but decision-making tools that teach word meanings in context.
Then each homophone lesson ends with a crossword puzzle that uses the words in context sentences, so the student practices meaning and spelling at the same time in a fun format.
The 1-1-1 rule is taught as a decision chart.
Before deciding whether to double consonants when adding a suffix, students fill in a three-column chart for 20 words: “Is it 1 syllable?” / “Does it end with 1 consonant?” / “Is there 1 vowel before it?” Only words with three yeses get the doubled consonant.
It turns spelling into an analytical process which helps a lot since the student isn’t told “dropping has two p’s.” They figure out why.
Then the next page has the same words with actual suffixes added, so they apply what the chart just showed them. I noticed that the program also extends this to a 2-1-1-A rule for multi-syllable words, which covers word endings like “occurring” and “beginning.”
The vowel charts are the most comprehensive part of the book.
The consonant and vowel sections make up most of the workbook, and the vowel charts are unlike anything I’ve seen in a standard spelling program.
For each vowel sound (long A, long E, long I, etc.), there’s a two-page grid with consonant sounds running down the left side and every possible spelling of that vowel across the top.
Students fill in partially completed words to see which spellings appear in which positions. Then the workbook asks analytical questions: “Which spelling is more common, ai or ei?” “Before which letters is ey most commonly found?”
The charts include some simple graphics to help organize the information. After filling one in, the student has a visual map of that vowel sound that’s actually useful as a reference.
The Games
The teacher’s manual is mostly games which I love!
The answer key is only about 38 pages, and the rest is game cards, boards, and instructions. This is the program’s review system and I believe it’s the best way to drill and review. All kids love games and a more hands-on approach to learning whether it’s for math or spelling, and a good spelling program should, in my opinion, include games.
The homophone games alone include over 200 cards, numbered by lesson so students only use sets they’ve already learned. Each card shows a sentence with a homophone used either correctly or incorrectly, and the student has to judge which is right. There are three game formats: a draw-and-discard card game, a rummy-style matching game, and “Pens” (played like Spoons). Some can be played solo.
Suffix Rummy uses color-coded root and suffix cards — green for roots, peach for suffixes, with little I strips for the change-y-to-i rule. Players form valid words by combining cards and applying the drop-e and doubling rules in real time.
Toss ’n Spell uses 17 custom dice which you need to buy separately (12 black letter dice, 5 red spelling-pattern dice). Students roll and race against a timer to form words. Red dice are worth more points.
Sufficient Suffixes is the high school level game, and it’s genuinely challenging. It’s a bingo-style board game where two players place root word cards (like “substance,” “proceed,” “politics,” “religion”) onto suffix squares on the board (-tial, -cious, -sion, -ure, etc.) and then spell the derived word on paper.
For example, if you place “substance” on -tial and spell “substantial.” Place “suspect” on -cious and spell “suspicious.” Bonus moves for adding a prefix (indecision) or stacking two suffixes (dangerously = -ous + -ly). First to five in a row wins.
It covers over 100 derived words and is the kind of thing that could genuinely challenge a high schooler and something that Marc LOVED playing with me.
The No-Frills Factor
The pages are mostly plain. There are no color illustrations (except for some simple graphics in the vowels section), no clipart, no decorative borders.
If you’ve used Growing with Grammar, this has a similar feel which I’ve grown to appreciate in our homeschool especially in middle school and beyond. It’s clean, direct, and predictable. For kids who feel overwhelmed by busy pages, that can be a real plus. There’s nothing competing for their attention except the spelling instruction. Also, Marc kind of liked the predictability.
And a fair warning… it also means the program doesn’t look exciting at first glance. A child who needs visual variety built into the workbook pages may resist. The games help with engagement, but the daily workbook experience is traditional and text-heavy.
About the Christian Content
Steps to Superb Spelling is marketed specifically as a Christian spelling curriculum. The subtitle is “A Comprehensive Workbook for Christian Students.” Scripture is woven throughout as a real part of the program.
For example, the most significant section is the suffix review, which is entirely Bible verses. Students practice combining roots and suffixes by completing passages from Genesis, Isaiah, Romans, Acts, Daniel, and more. Homophone game cards also include Christian references, and some alphabetizing exercises use biblical names (the twelve apostles, Old Testament figures).
For Christian families, this integration may be exactly what you want. For families who prefer faith-neutral resources, this is something to know before purchasing. The spelling instruction itself is solid, but you can’t separate it cleanly from the Christian content. I’d say if you really want to, you can work around it, but you might have to skip entire sections.
What I Wish Were Different
I honestly wish this program had video instruction, especially for the games. The workbook explains the rules directly to the student, and the explanations are clear, but some kids (and parents) would benefit from seeing and hearing the concepts taught before working through the exercises.
There’s no placement test. The author gives general age guidance (Alphabetizing and Plurals from 2nd grade, Suffixes around 4th, Consonants and Vowels for middle school and up), but you’ll need to make the placement decision yourself based on what your child already knows.
Who It’s For (and Who It’s Not)
This is a good fit if you:
- Want a spelling program that teaches rules and spelling patterns instead of word lists
- Have an older student who still makes pattern-based spelling mistakes in their writing
- Want one spelling course that lasts several years instead of buying new each grade level
- Are a Christian homeschool family looking for faith-integrated language arts
- Don’t mind parent involvement: dictation exercises, checking work, prepping games
This probably isn’t your fit if you:
- Need a fully independent, open-and-go workbook with no parent teaching
- Want colorful, visually engaging pages for younger learners
- Prefer faith-neutral content
- Have a child who isn’t reading fluently yet (the workbook assumes strong reading comprehension)
Pricing
The Student Workbook is $49.95 and the Teacher’s Manual & Games is $36.95. About $87 for the full program. Since one teacher’s manual works for all your kids and the program can span multiple years, that’s reasonable compared to buying a new homeschool spelling curriculum every grade level.
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Cathy Duffy’s Review
Steps to Superb Spelling by Janice O’Brien
Reviewed 15 April 2026
Would you rather teach spelling with just one course rather than buy a new course each year? Steps to Superb Spelling: A Comprehensive Workbook for Christian Students gives you that option.
It has a teacher’s manual and a student book, both with a metal-coil binding so the books lie flat. You can begin some sections with a second grader, introduce others in middle school, and save the most challenging for high school. On the other hand, if you’ve got a junior high student who struggles with spelling, you might use most of the book in one school year.
Clearly, this isn’t your typical spelling workbook. It teaches spelling skills, rules, and generalities rather than lists of particular words. But it’s not an information book the teacher has to read, process, and figure out how to teach. Generally, the instruction is brief and is accompanied by exercises and games.
The Student Book
The student book is arranged in sections that can be used in whatever order you wish: Alphabetizing, Plurals, Suffixes, Consonants, Vowels, and Helpful Hints.
Alphabetizing might seem an odd topic to begin with, and it’s also unusual that it has an entire section. However, alphabetizing remains a useful skill, and it forces students to look carefully at words, especially when they practice alphabetizing by the second or third letter.
The Alphabetizing section includes a lesson on homophones (e.g., passed and past), and subsequent lessons on homophones are inserted frequently throughout the book. Several pairs or triplets of homophones that frequently cause misspellings are taught and then practiced with a crossword puzzle and games.
The other sections highlight aspects of spelling that are likely to be problematic. For instance, the Suffixes section includes lessons on syllables, since the spelling of suffixes is sometimes dependent on the number of syllables in a word. There’s even a lesson on the schwa sound, those muffled vowel sounds that are so difficult to identify. Spelling tips and tricks are included to help students think through possibilities.
Exercises vary from lesson to lesson. Some are familiar, such as adding suffixes to words. Others are unusual, such as using a chart to analyze words with two or more syllables according to a rule taught in this book and the charts students complete in the Vowels section to familiarize them with possibilities for spelling long vowel sounds. Some advanced exercises on vowel digraphs are most appropriate for older students, so a fourth or fifth grader generally shouldn’t work straight through all the lessons.
The Teacher’s Manual and Games
The teacher’s manual has a two-page introduction, a 38-page answer key, and pages for games. The majority of the pages are for games!
Occasional teaching notes are included within the answer key along with reminders about playing the games, so it’s important to check the answer key even before a student starts a lesson. Also, a lesson on pronunciation—since mispronounced words are often misspelled—has a pretest in the answer key to be dictated at the beginning of the lesson. (This is also noted in the student book, but it doesn’t tell where to find the pretest.) So parents need to guide students with teaching notes and game reminders, and they also must check answers, dictate the aforementioned pretest, and maybe serve as a second player for games.
The course has six games for helping students develop automaticity: three for alphabetizing, three for homophones (with 205 homophone cards), two for easy and advanced suffixes, general spelling (a dice game), and bingo for practicing words with either one or two consonants (like super and supper). Cards, bingo boards, and instructions for the games are in the teacher’s manual. Cards for games should be copied onto cardstock (printed only on one side). Homophone game cards are numbered so that students use only those for lessons they have covered.
The beginning of the games section of the teacher’s manual lists other items you will need: a dictionary, sheet protectors, a dry-erase marker, 17 blank dice (or cubes), red and black fine-tip markers, a timer, a shaker cup for the dice, bingo chips or counters, and cardstock. Since the cards are one-sided, copying and cutting them is relatively easy. It requires some prep work, but once that’s done, the course is easy to use. Most students can work independently through the lessons. Some games can even be played alone, while others require two to four players.
Christian Content
Written for Christian students, Steps to Superb Spelling uses occasional biblical and Christian references, and the suffix review on pages 63 to 72 has students fill in the blanks of scripture verses.
Summary
Steps to Superb Spelling is a viable alternative to traditional spelling programs. If students can learn how to analyze words and predict likely spellings, they won’t be limited to learning only the prescribed lists each year.
Pricing Information
When prices appear, please keep in mind that they are subject to change. Click on links where available to verify price accuracy.
student book $49.95
teacher’s manual – $36.95
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