Description
Apples and Pears
Teacher’s Notes A
ISBN 9781905174256 (3rd edition)
This is the appropriate book for absolute beginners (use our Placement Tests to find the best starting point). Children should be able to recognise most letters by sound before they start. They should also have enough co-ordination to trace a letter approximately ½ inch high with reasonable accuracy. Apples and Pears Book A contains some handwriting practice, but this may not be enough for a dyspraxic child. If this is a problem, see Handwriting.
In the first exercises, the pupil writes or traces the individual letters dictated by the teacher. Pupils are taught to spell basic digraphs (sh, ee, ar, ch, th, ck, or) and the trigraphs ing and all. They are taught the patterns represented by me, she, he, we, be and my, try, why. Carefully planned multi-sensory sound discrimination exercises ensure that children’s phonological awareness and segmenting skills improve rapidly.
Additional basic spelling patterns, such as ay, qu, and igh are introduced later in the book. Pupils continue phonological drills (saying the phonemes in a word), and they start to learn a morphological approach spelling with the use of prefixes and suffixes. Mastery Tests ensure that the pupil has mastered the material and is ready to progress.
Nandini Charles –
I wanted to express my gratitude for the incredible impact the Apples and Pears spelling curriculum has had on my child. Over seven months, we’ve diligently worked through two of your books, and the results have been remarkable. Not only has my child’s spelling improved significantly, but his handwriting has also shown remarkable progress.
I am immensely thankful for the effort you put into sending us your books to India. Your curriculum has been invaluable to us.
Now, as we look ahead, I am eager to continue with the curriculum and embark on the next phase of our learning journey. I am keen to explore Level C and Level D with my child. Could you please provide me with the necessary details to acquire these sets?
Thank you once again for your exceptional curriculum and support.
Michelle Ossa, Singapore –
Both my daughters have used Apples and Pears for spelling in our homeschool from 6 years old. We love the easy, open-and-go set up, and lots of learning happens without having to memorise spelling lists! Morphemes and spelling patterns are repeated over the lessons and are learnt easily by the children without them even realising it. Word searches and puzzles provide a fun break from the writing so their little hands never get too tired. Apples and Pears has made spelling lessons easy and fun for us. Very happy that we found this curriculum!
Iain –
Thank you!
We have just finished apples and pears A with our son, and it has been transformative in his learning and grasp of spelling. Engaging with the book has helped grow his confidence in other ways too.
We really appreciate it.
Iain, Scotland
E –
My oldest, just turned nine, really took off with reading after Fast Track, and we have steadily been making our way through Apples & Pears for writing and spelling. She loves to write stories and letters, and I attribute much of that to her spelling and sentence fluency!
E
Massachusetts
Caroline – Cheshire –
We have worked through books A and B of Apples and Pears and we are about to start on book C. When we started our son, then age 9 and with a diagnosis of autism, was struggling to make sustained progress with spelling and handwriting. With the help of A&P he has made significant progress in these areas. The repetition and graduated approach of A&P has worked well for him. We try to do twenty minutes every day and find this is a good level at which our son can maintain concentration for the session. We are very happy with this scheme and would certainly recommend it to others.
ML –
I just ordered the Apples and Pears set B for my son and wanted to thank you. This program is excellent. We have tried countless spelling programs and he is finally learning to spell.