This is a new program for our school this year, and only the third graders are using it. It is useless for my son, but I think that is more because of the implementation of the program, than the content. His class in the only one in the grade that actually groups the children by ability, and even then they only have two groups. He is in the high group, but even then the words are too easy. I have stopped making him do the sorting activities and only have him do the work that he has to write down and turn in. He still makes 100's on the tests.
Last year they had a more traditional spelling program, and the kids either got the regular list or the "challenge list" if they could spell at least 8 out of 10 words from the regular list at the beginning of the week. The challenge words were still too easy, but there would occasionally be one that he couldn't spell, or didn't know the meaning of. The biggest difference was that the activities they did to learn the words were far more interesting and promoted development of writing skills.
