
At one point, Nancy Beattie who taught middle school for over 25 years, started referring to the middle school experience as the “forgotten years.” Every spelling-curriculum search resulted in a dead end. This frustration brought up a slew of questions: Why were there so few spelling curricula out there– were some accepting a dependency on technology (i.e. spell check) and abandoning the acquisition of language? Why wasn’t there more available for middle schoolers during these three formative, inquisitive years? Nancy knew that time during the Language Arts period was tight. The budget was tight too. But, the need was there and it was glaring.