Sequential Spelling - Online vs. Books

[Erielle]

I have a struggling speller in grade 4. We've been using the online version of SS for a little while now. Both of us really appreciate and are enjoying how the program uses word families and word patterns to teach. The way the program builds on itself without my kiddo noticing such a big jump from easy to more challenging words has been a much needed breath of fresh air for us when compared to previous curricula that left him in tears of frustration. He is actually enjoying spelling now! However, we both hate the online voice that dictates which word to spell. It's terrible, hard to understand, and just all over the place. I, myself, at times have even had difficulty trying to decipher what the word is that my child is supposed to be spelling.

For those who have used the online version of SS, does the online voice get better, or should we consider possibly transitioning to the book version instead? And are the books straight to the point without any twaddle or busywork like the online program?

[Cake and Pi]

We've never used the online version precisely because I'd read that the voice was terrible. We've gone through several levels of the books, though, and like them. The teacher manual is very thin. There are just a few pages of instructions and then the rest of the book is devoted to daily lists of words with some brief explanations or notes about homophones at the bottoms of the pages. The student book is thick but very simple. On each right-hand page there are 25 numbered blanks to write in the daily words. On the backs of each of these pages there are optional extra practice exercises, things like word searches and unscrambling words. That's it. One of my kids doesn't even use the student workbooks anymore. He just writes on a white board as I dictate the list to him.