ONE-ON-ONE PERSONAL COACHING FOR BEGINNING SPELLERS

In the Personal Spelling Coach - Beginning Track (PSC-BT) program, students will be using multiple spelling word lists provided in our eMentor format plus assignments in Spell Buddies eMentor ($149/complete bundle), which are purchased separately. Your child will get 8 one-on-one coaching sessions for only $950! Spaces are limited, so fill out our student inquiry form if you're interested in signing up. For more information, view our downloadable brochure.  

BEGINNING TRACK PERSONAL COACHING DETAILS  

• PSC-BT is a one-on-one program with one coach and one speller.
• Spellers are given a short assessment so we can start work at an appropriate skill level.
• Assignments are made via email two weeks before each quizzing/coaching session.
• Assignments will be in the eMentor format for quiz files provided specifically for the coaching program.
• Spellers will also need to purchase the complete bundle of Spell Buddies eMentors ($149). This is a collection of words from Scripps' Class and School Study lists and words from offlist of the Pronouncers' Guides for schools. The words are grouped by grade level, and the total number of words is 8,000.
• After each session, the speller and parents will receive an email with feedback, including words covered and comments of missed words.
• Quizzing/coaching sessions will occur every other week at a time to be determined between coach and speller.
• Quizzing/coaching sessions will be 30 minutes for this level speller rather than an hour, which is the time for regular PSC sessions.
• We ask that a parent participate during the quizzing coaching sessions.
• The cost will be $950 rather than $1,725 for the more advanced PSC program.

INTRODUCE YOUR YOUNGEST CHILD TO THE LOVE OF SPELLING

Wondering if your youngster is ready to enter the spelling arena? Not sure where to start? Our Beginning Track program will allow you to explore your young child's potential while working with our head spelling coach, Michelle Horton. It operates much like our regular Personal Spelling Coach (PSC) program, but it is geared specifically towards young spellers. The only requirement is that your child must know how to read. This is a fun, once-in-a-lifetime experience to excite youngsters about the world of words! 

The format and assignments are meticulously designed to provide an excellent foundation. Spellers will learn many of the basics, including some language family rules, words from assignments in the Spell Buddies ementors (sold separately), words from some Latin and Greek roots, and some difficult-to-spell words.

Coaching spellers since 2008, we have come to some eye-opening realizations. Young children who have a desire to spell have many of the same characteristics yet can be uniquely challenging, spell at different levels than their peers, and move at a unique pace. There is no "one-size fits all" approach. Our primary goal is to to create strong, savvy spellers with a love of spelling and language.

Most young spellers have a word bank that expands as they mature and learn. On these words, and even on new words, they just want to rush through and spell. Our approach is to teach "smart" spelling strategies which include asking all of the questions for even words that they might consider easy. We will cover the skills of fielding new words by asking questions, thinking through the possibilities for spellings, and hopefully, applying new patterns to words. 

Starting with basics of spelling, we incorporate a wide variety of skills as spellers are ready. These include the following:

- Explaining vowel sounds in words and what letter combinations produce these sounds by relating words and teaching about the schwa sound
- Teaching rules for words from other languages incorporated into our dictionaries along with lists of such words to study
- Providing an understanding of how Latin and Greek elements are found in over half of the words in the dictionary and teaching specific roots
- Covering difficult-to-guess words, such as homonyms, trademarks, geographic words, words from unknown or imitative origins, and more
- Working to build each spellers word bank
- Teaching skills to fielding words with which a speller is unfamiliar
- Learning to ask questions about words and use that information

Try the FREE Spelling eMentor demo to learn more about our online platform used by National Spelling Bee Champions!

MEET THE COACH

Michelle Horton is our original coach who assisted in developing the Spelling Coaching Program with Linda Tarrant. She has been coaching students using our system since 2008. She had been writing and editing Hexco products for several years before that. Prior to working with Hexco, Michelle coached all three of her children using Hexco products, and they together spelled at the National Bee a total of seven years. Michelle’s youngest, Mary, ultimately tied for fifth place at the NSB in her final attempt, and Jonathan, her oldest speller garnered the sixth place win. Michelle is an expert grammarian who holds a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education with a specialization in Chemistry. As head coach, she has developed instructions for approaching the spelling of words in various language families beyond what is in Hexco's Spelling Rules Book and has added multiple lists for many language families and beyond. Currently, Michelle is expanding the Personal Spelling Coach Program to include new areas for mastery by working with students in our coaching programs and in a new, unique approach to coaching very young spellers in our Beginning Track program. Her positive attitude helps build excellent rapport with students as she continues to receive stellar reviews from customers who have had the opportunity to benefit from her coaching, many of whom have made it to the higher rungs of the National Spelling Bee.