I get asked a lot about the Franklin Spelling Checker introduced in Level 4—and I’ve spent quite a bit of time thinking through its usefulness.

I currently have a student in Level 8 who has been with me for quite a while. Early on, I had him purchase a Franklin Spelling Checker (we found one discounted on eBay), and we used it consistently up through Level 7.

What I liked most about it was how it allowed us to isolate just the tricky portion of a word, rather than checking the whole thing. That ensured he was mastering the parts he could spell independently and only relying on support for the unknown part. That feature is still one of the strongest reasons I appreciate the Franklin device.

That said, things have shifted even with this same student. When he was younger, he was homeschooled, very sheltered, and not tech-exposed—so the Franklin was perfect. But after he turned 13 and got a phone, everything changed. He became more tech-savvy, a better typist, and much more fluent with modern tools. Because of that, we’ve used the Franklin less and less.

So here’s my take: it depends on the student.

If the student is in a brick-and-mortar school, completing work in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, I’d recommend moving away from the Franklin and instead teaching them to use built-in spelling and editing tools. These are the tools they'll actually use in real time at school—so our support should align with that environment.

Ask questions like:

How are they completing assignments?
Are they using a laptop?
Which platform or tool are they expected to work with?
For homeschool students with limited tech exposure, the Franklin may still be useful—if the parent is engaged and willing to reinforce its use between sessions. If the student primarily handwrites work and the parent isn’t tech-oriented, it might not be a worthwhile investment.

At the end of the day, this is a case-by-case decision. For tech-comfortable students, our role is to help them build real-world spelling skills using the tools they already use. For others, the Franklin can still be a helpful stepping stone—as long as it's the right fit.

Hope that helps! Let me know if you'd like to talk through a specific student scenario—I'm always happy to help.