Opinions please, could there be a problem here or is this in the range of normal...

[Kimber]

It's in regards to my dd10's paper. I have thought it was normal to write backwards and be a poor speller--at least for some people. Anyway, I read a post by Reya that one of her students is dyslexic. It got me thinking about my poor spellers, especially my daughter. I dismissed the idea when she was younger because many kids reverse letters and numbers. And since her reading was always above par, I pretty much said she must be okay.

 

If your 10 year old wrote this, would you consider this normal or maybe an indication of dyslexia. I won't blame you for the diagnosis :), but I wonder if I need to follow up on this. I've bolded some of the misspelled words. We're heading out to the park, but I'll be back soon.

 

 

 

 

Xenphon was chosen leader of the Greeks and as their leader he regaured that the obey him. Then they began the journy home over deserts and moutains and were forced to seize all their food. The Greeks also fought the persians while they marched and when the persains retrated althought it was night they countinued marching.

 

The Greeks were awake and marching before the persains even awoke. While they marched the neighboring peaple treid to stop them by rolling rocks and logs at them.

 

When they reached the sea, instead of resting, they marched up and down because they did not have any money to pay the captins for their pasage to Greece. So they rodded towns to odtain mone for their pasage. However, they decied to stay and help fight a war to free the Ionia cities from persaia.

 

Xenophon flet proud that only a thousand men died. He then led them to pergamus where he handed them over to their new leader. Then Xenophen went back to Greece and worte a really good book adout his journey home.

 

The End.

 

Thanks a bunch,

 

Kimberly

[Lolly]

I have two dc who are dyslexic. These errors are typical for the age.

[Cheryl in NM]

I have no experience with dyslexia, but these errors seem to be the result of inattention.

[SwimmyKids]

I have A LOT of experience with this subject and the errors are really small, not at all dyslexic.

 

At most, inattention to detail, either because (1) your child is rushing and needs to take time to proof and edit at the end or (2) spelling okay during spelling and then poorly during an assignment is age-appropriate.

[Elm in NJ]

I'm voting normal. They seem like careless mistakes to me.

 

Elmery(with J12, C9, R7,L7)

[Reya]

It really depends on how hard the kiddo was trying! If she is really, really trying and CAN'T see the difference between Persians and Persains, then there may be a problem. If she's just cruising along, I wouldn't worry about it. :-) That's the only one that's dyslexic-like--the rest seem inattentive errors!

 

With my dyslexic DS, he had tons of figure-ground issues early on, and he read, for example, "spaghetti" correctly the very first time he saw it (with no clues in a picture to help) but at the same time had a lo-o-ong list of three- and four-letter words that he read right only 50% of the time because he couldn't see what order the letters were in. Left and felt were two. So was saw and was. This wasn't an occasional mistake--this was the norm. So for him, a spelling program is an extension of other methods of training the eye and mind to move from left to right and to see all the bits that are missing! It used to be pretty spectacular, and not in a good way.

[Pine Ledge Academy]

my 8 yo dd does this too, usually when I make her read it aloud to me, she sees the mistakes, sometimes I have to read it aloud to her, and say "moutains" when it is "mountains" and then she gets it. She is writing well, and I think they will get it eventually....but I am not an expert :)...."line upon line, precept upon precept", which I have discovered means saying the same thing over and over again. HTH

and, we have spellcheck and still can't always get it right!

[Quiver0f10]

My son is almost 9, undiagnosed dyslexic and couldn't write any of those words. He isn't even writing simple sentences yet. So my vote is for normal with possible careless errors.

[Kris]

I can only tell you my experience. Looks like what my daughter would have written at ten, and she wasn't dyslexic.

 

My son has always been an excellent speller, not dyslexic, and he made similar errors -- though my daughter had him beat in that department.

 

Another vote for "normal" -- whatever *that* is. :-D

[Lori D.]

Okay, I am NOT an expert; this is just my opinion, for what it's worth, but this seems like VERY normal spelling -- in fact pretty good spelling for a 4th grader who is writing and spelling simultaneously. Would your student be able to see that a word is misspelled when revising the writing at a later time (i.e., not immediately after writing it)?

 

 

At age 10 my son tested as *mildly* dyslexic. This is what mild dyslexia looked like for him:

 

- Letters written backwards/upside down.

He usually didn't notice this at the time he was writing unless it was pointed out to him; sometimes he would notice it himself at a later time when we went over together.

 

- Words missing letters or letters out of order.

When he wrote, he often left out the vowels, or would mix the letters of the word, even a short word. (ex.: "battle" = "bttl"; "bread" = "berd")

 

- Couldn't tell by looking that a word was misspelled.

He could look at a word (whether it was his spelling, or in a test), and have no idea if it "looked right" or was spelled right. (ex.: "trout", "trowt" or "trote" would all look equally correct to him)

 

 

Based on the sample you gave, all of the misspellings seem to me to be very logical -- either a mistaken phonetic attempt ("mone" for "money"), or just a forgetful leaving out of a letter ("moutains" for "mountains"). The first type of error is usually caught by the student when they revise the writing (at a time later from the writing, so the brain has time to switch from "writing mode" to "revising mode"); and the second type of error comes out of learning how to put your thoughts onto paper -- it takes time to be able to:

1. simultaneously think of what to write

2. how to spell the words you want to write

3. and how to physically form those letters and words onto paper with your hand holding a pencil

Three different skills, each using a very different portion of the brain -- it's like learning to juggle!

 

I'd suggest making revising a normal step of your writing process -- do it later in the day, or even better, on the next day. One lady on this board has a great idea -- she just marks a little arrow with a colored pencil in the line where there is an error to be fixed, and has the student practice finding and correcting the errors.

 

 

If you are at all concerned about a learning disability, then it is always best to seek professional testing/assistance. So there's my 2 cents worth! Hope something is of help. : ) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Sue G in PA]

Looks like normal, albeit rushed, KWIM? My dd11 is a great speller but when she writes her narrations/paragraphs she frequently misspells common words due to inattention and rushing. My ds10 makes mistakes in spelling much like on your dc's paper. He had a poor foundation in phonics and will often make phonetic mistakes. We are going to start AAS with him to nip those issues in the bud. My ds10 spells the word money like your did "mone". I just use his misspelled words as a separate spelling list for him to practice and try to go over any rules that there might be to help him spell the words correctly next time.

[Kimber]

Everyone said normal, and I've always thought normal too. But I just had to get an objective pair of eyes. I know she's not at all concerned about being perfect and having her work look polished and well done. She only wants to be done!

 

But I just had to ask. In the past I have dismissed little warning signs that have come back and bit me on the back side. The nice thing about this board is the many pairs of eyes that are willing to offer advice. You guys are a real blessing at offering constructive advice. I especially liked the disclaimers about seeking professional help, if I really felt the need. :) You guys are awesome.

 

I did ask the eye doctor who is supposed to be really good. He checked her tracking and all that stuff and said she was okay. But she's my first and I have made a ton of mistakes on her and I'm just checking to make sure I'm not missing anything. I have had to apologize to her quite a few times for my lack of skills in teaching and parenting. She just thinks it's funny.

 

Maybe I'll be more confident by the time she gets to college, maybe.

 

Thanks a ton!

 

Kimberly

[8filltheheart]

Hi Kimber,

 

I do not think that it is dyslexia; however, I do think that it is the sign of spelling issues. I have 2 that have had serious spelling problems. Most of the words in her work should have been mastered by a 10 yr old.

 

What have you been using for spelling? I wish I had taken it a lot more seriously with my oldest when he was 10. I did this yr with my 12 yos. His spelling is improving, but we have made it a priority.

[Kimber]

Yes, the spelling is bad, and it's worse with the upcoming son. I started out with workbooks and those were no help at all. We did PZ for a while. That helped some, but it was hard to make it happen because of it being on CD's. I may start her over with that this summer, now that she is becoming more independent and responsible.

 

We also have Calvert Spelling. That was working okay, but we have stopped because I purchased the new editions for fourth and fifth grade, and they are not compatible to our old computers. We're actually buying new computers this week.

 

So what you see now is actually a major improvement over what she had been producing. This is way better.

 

At one point, I dropped everything and just tried to get her to hear the basic blends--bl, pl, br, dr, gr,...

I came up with my own list of words and had her spelling these for tests. You know, going back to the basics. She eventually spelled them correctly, but now she still gets them wrong on occasion.

 

What have you used to improve your sons spelling?

[8filltheheart]

I have been using Apples and Pears. The combination of practice with basic phonics rules, looking for base words with added suffixes/prefixes, and constantly repeated dictation has forced him to pay more attention.

 

I think it is a great program for "disabled" spellers. I used PZ.....didn't help transfer to written work. How to Teach Spelling worked, but it was too much work for me. A&P is laid out so all I have to do is dictate. It takes about 10-15 mins per day.

[Kimber]

I will look into this. Thank you, Karen! If it's open and go, then we may be able to do it.

 

Thank you again,

 

Kimberly

[Lori D.]

1. One other sign of the dyslexia is that it is going to show up in her reading, too. Does she do a lot of this: scramble letters around in words and misread them as some other word, or struggle a lot to figure out how to sound them out? Dyslexia will also show up in reading as well as writing and spelling.

 

2. Along with what momof7 said about help with spelling -- what's really helped my son with spelling is Megawords. It teaches vowel patterns and syllibation -- in other words, how to break words down into small chunks in order to understand how to spell them. Megawords is done mostly by the student. It can be used as either a sole spelling program, or as a supplement. (We use it as supplement to an individualized spelling program for our mildly dyslexic son, and Megawords has helped him *dramatically* improve in spelling.) Megawords is inexpensive; in the standard 36-week school year, most people get through all of one workbook and then 1/4 to 1/2 through a the next level workbook.

 

See sample pages of the various levels at:

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntk=keywords&Ntt=megawords&action=Search&N=0&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1&Go.x=24&Go.y=8&Go=Go

 

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.