I have a question!

I remember when I was deciding upon curriculums I came across one that taught spelling with word families.  I remember the example being something like:
a
am
ram
tram
trample
trampled
I remember it built on the root word by adding letters to either side of the word.  Does this sound familiar to anyone? 

I also remember they stressed learning to spell by seeing the word and spelling it correctly the first time, not guessing with the phonetics of the word.

If anyone knows what curriculum this is or if it sounds familiar please let me know!!!!

Thanks
Julie