All About Spelling vs Spelling Workout

The sharpest difference is parent involvement: All About Spelling is parent-taught, Spelling Workout is light. Four more separate them, so this is not a close pairing.

At a glance

All About Spelling

Grades 1-12

Owners report it suits

Struggling learnersHands-on learnersDyslexia2e

Spelling Workout

Grades 1-8

Owners report it suits

Independent workersReluctant learners

Skip to who fits

Where they differ

Attribute	All About Spelling	Spelling Workout
Parent involvement ? How much the parent is present and teaching. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale: 1hands-off 2light 3shared 4leading 5parent-taught Read the parent involvement guide
Independence ? How much the child can do alone. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale: 1adult-led 2guided 3semi-independent 4mostly independent 5fully independent Read the independence guide
Approach	Mastery	Blended
Format	Hands-on	Workbook
Used as	Spine	Spine or supplement
Best for Tags show where owners consistently report a good fit. They are not exclusions.	Struggling learnersHands-on learnersDyslexia2e	Independent workersReluctant learners
Method	TraditionalClassicalEclecticOrton-Gillingham	TraditionalTraditional word listsSynthetic phonics
Grades	1-12	1-8

Solid tags are unique to that program. Muted tags are carried by both.

Where they match

Rigorboth on grade
Prep loadboth open-and-go
Screen timeboth fully offline
Time commitmentboth 15 to 25 min
Faith contentboth None

How each one plays by grade

All About Spelling runs 4 grades further than Spelling Workout. If you want one program to carry the subject for the long haul, plan on leaving Spelling Workout around grade 8 and choosing again.

All About Spelling

Grades 1-12

Everyone starts at Level 1 for the foundational rules, even older kids, then moves at their own speed. Level 7 carries through high school with Latin and Greek roots.

Spelling Workout

Grades 1-8

Levels A and B lean on picture and phonics work with more parent help. Levels F through H drop the opening narrative and move into word origins and vocabulary, where students are most independent.

Cost

Cost item	All About Spelling	Spelling Workout
Price	$49.95-69.95/level plus one-time tiles	$13-30/level (workbook or bundle)
Consumable	Partial	Yes
Per child / year	~$65-90 first year, ~$50-70/level after	~$22-30 for the bundle, ~$15-20 workbook only

Where to buy

What parents report

All About Spelling

Consistently praised

Open and go scripting any parent can teach
Tiles make spelling rules click for hands-on kids
Move on when mastered pacing
Reusable across siblings
Strong for dyslexic and struggling spellers

Reported as challenges

Teacher-intensive every single day
Pricey for one subject with an only child
Tiles and flashcards take storage and table space
Doing every review activity balloons the lesson

Spelling Workout

Consistently praised

Cheap enough for any budget
Kids can do most of it on their own
Short lessons that do not cause tears
Puzzles and activities keep it from getting stale
Frees up the parent's time

Reported as challenges

Light on explicit rule teaching
Proofreading and unscrambling can confuse a struggling or dyslexic speller
Can get reading and writing heavy
Teacher edition is written for a classroom

Who All About Spelling fits

A structured, multisensory spelling spine for families who'll sit down and teach it daily, and it's the common pick for a struggling or dyslexic speller. Parents who want a hands-off or independent workbook a child does alone should go a different direction.

Read the full All About Spelling entry Check price All About Learning Press

Who Spelling Workout fits

Cheap and open-and-go, a workbook a child can mostly run themselves, and a good landing spot for kids who get bored with rote drill. Families who want heavy explicit phonics rules, a multisensory approach, or dyslexia support should look at All About Spelling instead.

Read the full Spelling Workout entry Check price Savvas

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Still deciding?

All About Spelling compared with

Spelling Workout compared with

Descriptions aggregate what homeschool parents consistently report across public community sources together with each publisher's own materials. Prices and editions change over time. Both entries last reviewed August 2026.