Spelling for an older child

[Quiver0f10]

We're finished with Barton's and he reads fairly well but still struggles with spelling. I think he just can't remember the rules. I'd love to do a quick review of all of Barton but I don't think there is a simple way to do that. He's older and wants to just be done. Part of me thinks just allow spell check and be done with it too but I'd really like to spend this next year focusing on improving as much as we can in this area. Any suggestions?

Edited May 6, 2017 by Quiver0f10

[PeterPan]

Is he using spell check? My dh says the visual input of spell check taught him more than rules and programs did.

[OneStepAtATime]

He went through all 10 levels and still struggles with spelling and is not fluent in reading? Maybe I am not fully understanding your post.

 

Did he have any evaluations? What are his strengths and challenges? Sorry for all the questions. Not sure what to recommend without a fuller picture.

[Quiver0f10]

He went through all 10 levels and still struggles with spelling and is not fluent in reading? Maybe I am not fully understanding your post.

 

Did he have any evaluations? What are his strengths and challenges? Sorry for all the questions. Not sure what to recommend without a fuller picture.

He reads well and fluently. He still struggles with spelling though when he is doing written work.  He did have a full neuro-psych eval when he was 12.  His challenges were a lower than average IQ, slow processing and working memory issues. He was diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia. He has come a long way since then and does fairly well in most of his subjects at this point. He loves to read history related books, go figure  :001_smile:

Edited May 6, 2017 by Quiver0f10

[FloridaLisa]

We're finished with Barton's and he reads fairly well but still struggles with spelling. I think he just can't remember the rules. I'd love to do a quick review of all of Barton but I don't think there is a simple way to do that. He's older and wants to just be done. Part of me thinks just allow spell check and be done with it too but I'd really like to spend this next year focusing on improving as much as we can in this area. Any suggestions?

 

Forgive me for barging in, Quiver, I just saw your name pop up on recent posts and wanted to wave hello. From one old timer to another. I mean long-timer. :D 

[OneStepAtATime]

Well, if you went through all of Barton at an appropriate pace for your child, and you gave the post tests to confirm he was internalizing all the rules so he wasn't just memorizing them, and you were reviewing and reinforcing what he learned with Extra Practice pages, etc.  and the spelling in Barton still didn't really sink in then repeating Barton will probably not net him that much more.  

 

If you really want to review Barton then give the post tests starting with Level 2 and moving forward.  See if there are gaps.

 

Other than that suggestion I'm not sure.  Maybe there is another program that would help him with spelling more than reviewing Barton.

 

In the meantime, yes if he went through all of Barton he should be pretty good at spell checking with the Barton spell checker by now so I don't see why he shouldn't be using that for his writing.

 

FWIW, my dad and my husband are terrible spellers.  They still were very successful in their careers.  They did better typing than with hand writing, though.

 

You might look into Touch Type Read and Spell.  It is a typing program that is OG based.

[Heathermomster]

IDK, spelling lags reading. After a time, we gave up with an official spelling curriculum. DS types the majority of his work so relies on spell check. He's 11th grade now and just took the ACT. Based upon the results, you would never imagine that he had dyslexia. Son has continued to improve across the board by typing and reading with Immersion tech. DS tested out of Wilson late 6th grade.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Heathermomster

[Ottakee]

I love Apples and Pears Spelling.  It is not babyish and very easy to use.  If the writing is too much in one sitting you can split it up into 2 ==1/2 lessons a day or just 1/2 of a lesson a day and still make great progress.  Do the placement tests though and if in doubt, go down a bit lower rather than pushing too high at first.

[Quiver0f10]

Forgive me for barging in, Quiver, I just saw your name pop up on recent posts and wanted to wave hello. From one old timer to another. I mean long-timer. :D

 

 

Hiya! I don't get here often but its so good to you too! :-)  

[MerryAtHope]

We're finished with Barton's and he reads fairly well but still struggles with spelling. I think he just can't remember the rules. I'd love to do a quick review of all of Barton but I don't think there is a simple way to do that. He's older and wants to just be done. Part of me thinks just allow spell check and be done with it too but I'd really like to spend this next year focusing on improving as much as we can in this area. Any suggestions?

 

How old is he? I find with teens that they really have to be on board or it's harder to work on this. That said, I've known quite a few people to go from Barton to All About Spelling for extra concentration on solidifying the spelling rules and for more practice on certain lessons and words that were sticking points for them. Since your son has completed Barton, he wouldn't necessarily need to start at the beginning of AAS as a student usually would--you could look through the scope and sequence links and start at a struggle point (such as working with suffixes or specific phonograms).