Ok, few points to make here:
1. When you say "spelling", I presume you're not really talking about your child learning how to SPELL out the word, ie., letter by letter, because learning to be able to spell out words come very much later. For me, the order of learning is typically this:
- learning how to 'sight-read' - ie., recognizing the whole word. Like recognizing a Chinese character, you either know it or you don't.
- starting to figure out the rules of phonics - ie., starting to be able to associate different letters with different sounds, and also starting to figure out that words are broken up into different units (syllables)
- once having mastered phonics, being able to read any word phonetically
- being able to spell out the words and construct words
2. On the subject of testing, experts like Glenn Doman would tell you that you should NEVER test your child. For me, I agree with this principle, except I may have a different definition of 'testing'. The key is to always keep it fun and light-hearted, so that it's more a GAME than a pressure-filled 'test'. And even then, we don't often do it.
3. Repetition - If you follow Glenn Doman's method to the letter, you would always retire one of the words from the Category and introduce a new word each time, therefore keeping the material fresh. Martina (pupisek) will be able to tell you more about this.
We've also tried to keep the materials fresh by having more than one pictures for each word, so taht it's a different picture each time, and also to give you the ability to randomize many things like the order, the font styles and font colors, etc.
Children get bored very quickly and it's very important that we keep the materials fresh.
4. It is NOT important that your child knows all the words before you move on to the next batch of words! If you try to do that, and if you keep testing him to see if he knows it or not, that would be setting up yourself and your child for pressure, stress and disappointment.
Always remember this: THE GOLDEN RULE IS TO KEEP EVERYTHING FUN. Your focus when doing all this should NOT be on the results, but on having a good time with your child and bonding with your child. If you keep to that, then results will be a very pleasant side-effect. 
KL
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