Brother and Sister, Joe Hipps and LeeAnn Earl, teamed up with AVKO to adapt the Sequential Spelling program for Computer because of the great success they have seen using the program within their own home schooling families. 

Joe Hipps earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Limestone College. He has worked in the technology field for more than thirteen years, is a commercial artist, and owner of My Audio Video Learning www.myavl.com. His wife Jenna home schools their five children and has a degree in early childhood education.

LeeAnn Earl is a home schooling mom of eleven children ages three to thirteen. She received her bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Appalachian State University. Her husband Dennis is a public school teacher and a certified curriculum specialist. They live with their children in the beautiful foothills of North Carolina.

“My educational background is elementary education while Joe’s is technology. We both have children who have struggled tremendously with spelling. Joe’s wife, Jenna, and I found Sequential Spelling to be a gem. The method is simple but genius! It teaches patterns automatically without explanations and instructions. The coloring really helps break the words into manageable parts. This was so helpful for my kids who could identify the sounds they were hearing just not which order they were in. With training in teaching reading and spelling I had seen some of the strategies in this program used in programs separately. Sequential Spelling puts it all together in a multi-sensory approach that truly works. With my own children, I have some that really struggle with spelling and others who spell with ease. Amazingly the program works equally well for both.

In using the Sequential Spelling program we also found a great need for a delivery method that would maximize all the components of the program while enabling the student to work independently at their own pace. We kept saying to each other, “Someone has got to do it; it would help so many people!” Finally we decided to contact AVKO ourselves and express our interest in being part of a project like this. AVKO was already in the process of organizing just such a project and a partnership was born!