spelling program for my dysgraphic son...need some input/suggestion

[prairiewindmomma]

Ds8 is finishing up AAS2. He is completely bored by the program, and doesn't want to continue on to AAS3. He likes the brevity of the lessons, but yells that he's confused when I explain the rules. He's actually become a fairly decent natural speller as he is reading more.

 

He still is not writing enough independently that he can write out spelling words. It's a fight to get him through HWT.

 

He does not want to incorporate spelling into his natural work. He wants a systemic program.

 

I own Spelling Power and all levels of Sequential Spelling.  My older child is using Spelling Workout and is still an atrocious speller. We had to move him out of Sequential Spelling after a year because he would memorize patterns and then dump the knowledge. I moved him out of Spelling Power after two years because I liked the vocabulary development aspect of Spelling Workout.  He is a different child than my younger son, though. My younger son is much more challenging in personality--quick to meltdown over any mistake made.

 

Ideas? He'll be rotating between me scribing, him typing, him spelling orally, and him using letter tiles. He likes the switch=up.

 

Thanks!

[Pen]

Do you not want to try Spelling Power or Sequential with him? Either way, you might want to wait a bit to let his physical writing ability improve first. Or you might want to try the computer version of Sequential if that would keep the writing down.

 

My ds 12 is currently using Spelling Power pretty much as the program says to use it and it is going well. He would not have been able to do it at 8. He mostly just asked me how to spell words and learned some from reading them, and so at this point placed into the D level, which is not far along for a 12 year old, but he is making steady progress, no meltdowns.

[SandyKC]

Ds8 is finishing up AAS2. He is completely bored by the program, and doesn't want to continue on to AAS3. He likes the brevity of the lessons, but yells that he's confused when I explain the rules. He's actually become a fairly decent natural speller as he is reading more.

 

He still is not writing enough independently that he can write out spelling words. It's a fight to get him through HWT.

 

He does not want to incorporate spelling into his natural work. He wants a systemic program.

 

I own Spelling Power and all levels of Sequential Spelling.  My older child is using Spelling Workout and is still an atrocious speller. We had to move him out of Sequential Spelling after a year because he would memorize patterns and then dump the knowledge. I moved him out of Spelling Power after two years because I liked the vocabulary development aspect of Spelling Workout.  He is a different child than my younger son, though. My younger son is much more challenging in personality--quick to meltdown over any mistake made.

 

Ideas? He'll be rotating between me scribing, him typing, him spelling orally, and him using letter tiles. He likes the switch=up.

 

Thanks!

Is there a particular reason you chose AAS to use with DS8?  

 

Have you tried Spelling Power or Sequential Spelling with your DS8 yet?

 

I have several free, online multi-sensory spelling sites listed at: http://learningabledkids.com/multi_sensory_training/free-multisensory-curriculum-online.htm. You may find your DS8 enjoys using one of those programs, and if you don't have a specific need you're trying to meet with one of the other programs, I would suggest letting DS try one or several of the audio-visual programs to see if that suits him better.

 

One of my thoughts here is that using a computer-based program will give him some typing and spelling practice.. At least, the typing portion will help with keyboard familiarity.  Since he likes the switch-up also, using a program adds in more variety.

 

Each child IS different, so it is difficult to figure out what needs changing for each child and from one child to the next!

[prairiewindmomma]

Thanks for your input!

 

I chose AAS at a time when ds was slow to start reading. I wasn't sure whether his reading problems were all visual in nature or what was going on. He had been slow with phonological awareness and I wanted something rule based and not pattern based. He is now reading well, and that has helped him with spelling.

 

I am open to using something I already own--I just don't know where to go from here given his dysgraphia.

[Pen]

I would try either Spelling Power or Sequential, make your best guess of which to try first, if not a good fit, try the other. They are both used with dyslexia, which very often also has dysgraphia as a sub-problem.

 

I am using SP now, bec. it pretty much had in a book what I'd been trying to cobble together. I sometimes organize things a bit differently based on our local way of pronouncing words (for example, I put "bank" etc. in with long a words, not short a). I also sometimes give even more rule information as with ie vs. ei. Or give some exceptions to rules such as rev ending with a v. For my son, the 10 step process seems to work well, which is to say using writing, visualizing, saying, etc.

If you need to use just letter tiles maybe Sequential would work better for that--I do not know.

[SandyKC]

Thanks for your input!

 

I chose AAS at a time when ds was slow to start reading. I wasn't sure whether his reading problems were all visual in nature or what was going on. He had been slow with phonological awareness and I wanted something rule based and not pattern based. He is now reading well, and that has helped him with spelling.

 

I am open to using something I already own--I just don't know where to go from here given his dysgraphia.

 

Since DS is reading well and he's finding AAS tedious, I'd think you would be fine if you choose to use a different program.  Given your DS' dysgraphia, you could have him finger-write the spelling words on carpet or fabric to help him have more of a tactile experience in his practice, and you could use any program as your guide for teaching the spelling.  Using a computer-based program would circumvent a lot of the dysgraphia issues and it'd allow your DS to focus solely on the spelling lesson. Really, I think you have a great deal of flexibility about what you do specifically for spelling.  

[prairiewindmomma]

Thanks for the great ideas!