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Stanford 10 Results: Way Behind in Spelling


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My 5th grader got his Stanford 10 results. He was in the 95th-99th percentiles for math, science, and social science. His reading comprehension was maybe the high 80s. Vocabulary was the second lowest at 80th percentile. Then there was spelling, at the 42nd percentile. The last three years all had similar gaps between spelling and everything else.

 

When he writes, his misspellings are usually phonetic, but with the wrong phonogram or occasionally the letters out of order. I've tried several spelling programs and he only gets in the 60s on spelling tests. His spelling is improving, but it severely lags behind his other skills.

 

Any ideas?

 

ETA: He likely has ADHD and tends to rush through things. He also took the OLSAT and got a 123 for his School Ability Index (93rd percentile). He raced through that and made several dumb mistakes on verbals problems because he didn't read the choices carefully.

Edited by HoppyTheToad
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Any program with spellings lists for the week doesn't seem to have good results. We are currently going through Mega Words 1 and he still has poor spelling test scores. I own Sequential Spelling and could try that again.

 

I suspect he might do better with a rules based approach that shows how to select the right phonogram. Just memorizing the right one doesn't seem to be working well enough.

 

I am a natural speller, so I am at a loss with understanding the giant gap in his ability. He reads a ton, but I guess that isn't enough to help it sink in.

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We've liked Spelling You See.  It isn't an instant fix.  We've had measurable, forward progress, though.  It has kids color code spelling patterns/rules in a text, so the kids are scanning for and highlighting them in context, then writing them either via copywork or dictation.

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One of mine has similar scores. We weren't surprised. We said, thank god for spellcheck, and I once again told the story of my favorite college professor who stunk at spelling and would ask us how to spell things as he wrote on the board. Somehow he still had a PhD and a happy, successful life.

 

We've used Sequential Spelling, Rod and Staff, MCP, and Spectrum and nothing magical has happened. We'll probably continue a formal spelling program through middle school, but I don't have high hopes. What I am hoping will improve is that she'll buy into my idea that one does not get to guess at spelling. Some words she doesn't realize she's getting wrong, but a lot of times she knows when she's taking a stab at it. She's just always in a hurry and doesn't want the hassle of checking her spelling. I'm going to keep insisting that she look up words, and she'll probably get the sermon a few more times about the people out there who will make inaccurate judgments about her based on spelling, so she should try not to undermine herself in that way.

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I have no idea if that is a large enough gap to be wary of dyslexia or not. Going from distant memory, my dyslexic that took the Stanford scored something like the high 90s in math, mid-to high 80s in the other major categories.  His spelling scored was in the 3rd %ile.  (The spelling is burned into my memory bc it couldn't go any lower.  :( )

 

FWIW, the only spelling program I have had any success with for my dyslexics is Apples and Pears.

 

 

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My gifted, driven, strong willed dd14 has scores like this. I think it is bc she learned to read very early and didn't really need phonics to learn to read. Therefore, in her mind, phonics is not needed and something to be ignored. She did excellent in spelling curriculums bc she is a good memorizer but she is a horrible speller. She also has difficulty pronouncing words she hasn't heard before and will make up her own way to pronounce words and I'll catch it in conversations with her. She is very strong willed and putting her through another spelling program when she doesn't want to do it will be like hitting my head against a wall. Looking back, I think early typing also handicapped her ability to spell because of spell check. I think the physical act of handwriting a word over and over helps to cement a word to memory. She has been a prolific writer since about 4th grade but it's all typed. Her grades are excellent and we are looking at dual enrolling her soon and bc of her strong will, at this point, there is not a lot I can do.

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My ds is 2e with dysgraphia. We abandoned all programs because he knew the rules, but he couldn't chose between different representations of a sound ea, ee, ie etc. We switched with great effect to typing dictation. We use a favorite novel and he types as I read, and I correct him word for word. We do this 30minutes per day 4 days a week and have for a 1.5 years now. It is making a huge difference. Basically, he just needed to write *more* and have immediate feedback on the spelling.

 

Ruth in NZ

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Did you check the number of questions that he actually missed? One of my kids scored above the 90th on everything except spelling, where they were around the 50th. When I checked the actual number of questions, they got 36/40. So, most kids could get around 90% of the questions right - it wasn't that my kid did poorly, but that the test was fairly easy relative to what the average kid that age could do. I know that it varies between grades, but your kid may be doing OK with spelling despite the results.

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Basically, he just needed to write *more* and have immediate feedback on the spelling.

 

 

Hey, that is an interesting idea I've never seen mentioned. I think the first thing I need to do is find a list of the spelling rules and teach them. I never learned the rules growing up and when he was in 1st grade or so, I bought All About Spelling, but it was too fussy with so many pieces, so we never used it. Because of his attitude, I also had to delay writing (not handwriting) until about 3rd grade when I could finally get him to write a sentence or two once or twice a week. I didn't really start spelling regularly until maybe 4th grade because he had been so writing resistant.

 

The good news is that I can finally get him to write 1/2-1 page if he gets to write an original story. (Written narrations don't go over well.) 

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