One last gasp at spelling for older student...

[6packofun]

Any resources you can recommend? I'm just about ready to make my 15yo go through Phonics Pathways again just for the rules. LOL He's an average reader and has always struggled with spelling. Anything self-directed that would give him one last go before I send him off into the world? :D

[Orthodox6]

High schoolers write many papers, brief or long, for the various school subjects. Perhaps you could just make spelling lists from anything he misspells in his papers, or other assignments.

 

Sometimes a homeschooler uses the vocabulary list words as spelling words. (e.g. "Vocabulary from Classical Roots", "Wordly Wise", etc.)

[Julie in MN]

A couple of things I like...

 

1. Learning spelling rules by themselves. Possibly copying them into a notebook & listing a few examples under each.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/taylor/taylor79.html

http://www.dyslexia.org/spelling_rules.shtml

 

2. Learning spelling in terms of word roots. Seeing "groups of letters" rather than sounds. Michael Clay Thompson really advocates this method, and there are lots of other word root programs.

 

Julie

[Pamela H in Texas]

Sequential Spelling has an adult program. That is what my daughter used as a teen.

 

BTW, A LOT of parents of dyslexic and dysgraphic kiddos find that buying them a Franklin Speller (brand doesn't matter) makes a HUGE difference. It seems counter-intuitive to some, but my daughter getting one jumped her ability up SIGNIFICANTLY. I might not buy one for a 3rd grader who was struggling, but for a teen? I wouldn't hesitate!

[Gwen in VA]

As an adult, you have access to spellchecker or a dictionary most of the time. In college, little has to be hand-written, and little writing is done in class. Misspelling on exams are usually not counted against the student, possibly because everyone is so pressed for time that even great spellers make silly mistakes occasionally under pressure.

 

Poor spellers will find their own survival mechanisms, and our society is kind towards poor spellers. I think spelling is similar to handwriting -- these days no one seems to care whether or not you can do it well.

Edited September 15, 2009 by Gwen in VA

[Jean in Wisc]

Any resources you can recommend? I'm just about ready to make my 15yo go through Phonics Pathways again just for the rules. LOL He's an average reader and has always struggled with spelling. Anything self-directed that would give him one last go before I send him off into the world? :D

 

Well, when we hit that age, I removed the spelling book from the pile of books and told her Spell Check was her best friend. And when she was on her own with her spelling, she learned to spell. I'm amazed. Go figure.

 

Jean

[TravelingChris]

My severely spelling deficient daughter did the Apple Spelling Drills when she was in 8th grade. Her spelling improved tremendously. It is now about average. I can't say how much was the book itself and how much was her finally getting it, but nonetheless it helped. In our family, two of us are natural spellers and three are poor spellers. Both dh and now the middle dd have been able to overcome their deficiencies. Now I am working with the last dd.

[Myra]

We used AVKO spelling/typing program. It has the student learn to type/keyboard by typing in spelling patterns. It's not the most interesting program (no cutsey typing games just copy the sentences 3x each for each exercise) but it really helped review spelling basics with my 8th grader while teaching keyboarding at the same time. It was my last ditch effort and it did help out!

 

Myra