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Spelling in 9th grader??


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My rising 9th grader is a terrible speller. It is not for lack of trying. We did SWR in the early grades. I've supplemented with MegaWords, and now we are doing Spelling Power. I am also supplementing with Word Roots. This dc is an excellent reader. She is also excellent at grammar, but she struggles with the writing process. Her writing showed tremendous improvement this year and overall, I'm pleased.

 

But, spelling is going to slow her down. I really would like to do something over the summer to improve her abilities in this area. Does anyone have any suggestions??

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Do you notice any patterns in her spelling difficulties? If you have her write the same word over a period of several days, is she consistent in her spelling (right or wrong), or are the mistakes more random? This could help you figure out what is wrong-did she learn a word incorrectly, or is it more of an issue of carelessness/speed.

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I'm asking, b/c like you, I have a dd that is an excellent reader and excellent with grammar, but struggles with spelling. Our background has also been SWR with some Megawords thrown in. My dd is 7th grade.

 

This year she has improved tremendously. In fact, this was the first year her spelling surpassed her grade level when given the diagnostic test. I attribute this to returning to SWR and continuing to move forward at an intensified pace. I stopped getting bogged down by mastery and really pushed forward. We also did not dictate the words SWR style, but rather dictated by syllable, used them in a variety of ways, always discussed rules, etc. We also began using IEW (in 6th grade) and writing more. We're almost at the end of SWR now...two more weeks and then we'll work on testing out of it.

 

I just wanted to offer you some hope and perhaps another way of looking at SWR if you didn't finish the book. I really believe the rules have helped and the exposure to more words at a faster pace was key. We're planning to use R&S grade 7 next year b/c this is where their root study begins.

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At this age I recommend using something customizable.

 

You might want to check out Spelling Made Simple:

http://www.spellingmadesimple.com/

It's a program written by someone who needed help with his own spelling. A friend of mine is a spelling coach, and she has used SMS for several years. The programmer is very receptive to suggestions. He's incorporated many of her ideas.

 

My 12yo son has used this program extensively to prepare for spelling competitions. It is extremely flexible. You and your 9th grader can input lists of words that have been misspelled, lists from the SMS website (lots there), word lists you find on the internet (I recommend searching for "frequently misspelled words"), or any piece of text (such as a report typed in Word). SMS will make drill lists on these words.

 

You will need to input audio if it's not available for your words. SMS's audio is ok, but we prefer the free program called Audacity.

 

I must tell you that when we first downloaded the SMS demo, I gave up on it because it seemed too difficult for me, but I have since learned how to do it. My son really took off with the program; he's recorded audio for several thousand words - so PM us if you use the program and want some help.

 

We are not associated with SMS in any way, but it has been a good study tool.

 

HTH,

GardenMom

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My 10th grade dd has always been an excellent reader/terrible speller. She does love to write stories though, and the last couple years, she has been doing a lot of writing (typing) on the computer using spell check. Her spelling has improved tremendously just from having to correct the same words again and again. I am really convinced that more writing improves spelling more than any spelling program alone.

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Just a thought. I have a 10th grader in SWR. He has always been spelling challenged and has a diagnosed Auditory Processing Disorder.

 

We started the program in the sixth grade and have worked through it, slowly, taking a year of time for a break. (Big mistake) But we're back on track now and his last diagnostic test put him at a 9.8 level. He is definitely improving.

 

We are on list Y. I began to wonder what to do for spelling for him, and I began reading the SWR manual once more. Did you know that some people cycle through SWR once more after reaching the last list?

 

I'm considering it, especially since he's made so much progress when I've used it as prescribed, and remained stagnant when we used something else.

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