Please. Please just tell me the truth about spelling....

[Nicole M]

I just want to know once and for all whether there are some people who will never in their entire lives spell correctly.

 

If this is the case, does one simply have one's child forever type with spell check and hope to high heaven that his (beautifully!) handwritten, grossly misspelled pieces will never cost him a job or a raise or lose him a good woman? (I'm embarrassed to say that once received a love letter that included "can't tell you enuf" and that was the end of that relationship!)

 

Do we keep plodding on? Even if it's hopeless? I had hoped that by 10th grade we'd have had some kind of breakthrough, and that spelling would no longer be a thorn in our side. Alas. And there are no learning disabilities going on here, either.

 

Just tell me. I'm strong. Lay it on me, ladies.

[Moira in MA]

I have to say that I have never found spelling programs to be effective. I have 1 dd who is a natural speller and another who, I'm being gracious here, isn't. The one who isn't a natural speller does just as well on the spelling tests as her natural spelling sister. It is a very different matter outside of spelling class.

 

Use of the spell checker and reading your writing aloud are required in this household. I try not to expose either of them to incorrect spelling which is harder than you might imagine with a Brit, a Canuck and 2 Americans living in the same home. ;)

[percytruffle]

...I will share from my personal experience.

 

I have always struggled with spelling. I continue to progress even into adulthood because I desire to improve and make an effort to improve. I must tell you though, there are many words that I can't seem to recall no matter which technique I've used to memorize them or how frequently I use them. With some words it "feels" like I come up against a locked gate and don't have the key. There is a missing pathway or something. some dendrite grew incorrectly and never made its connection. I'll be writing along and stop to ponder a word, then I'll either have to look it up or ask dh (who is an excellent speller) who chuckles and spells it out for me. It is frustrating, but I work with it.

 

Ds, who is mildly dyslexic, (I am not) has terrible spelling issues. He struggled so to learn to read and spent so much time mastering phonics that he spells phonetically, which usually doesn't work in our perplexing English language. He always types papers using spell check. I'm sure he will make errors in hand written notes along life's path.

 

My uncle, my father's twin brother, was also a horrendous speller. We would receive notes from him when I was a kid and we would all have a good-natured laugh! He was a very successful businessman in the LA area of California who sold building materials to companies who built many of the skyscrapers there. He had a secretary.

 

Consequently, I don't believe spelling will necessarily hold one back in life, but it may create hardships along the way. Growth will continue to occur, especially if it is desired. There is even the possibility that maturity will flip a switch and spelling will become easier.

 

Don't fret, but keep plugging along. :)

[Gwen in VA]

Our story with spelling --

 

Ds1 is a brilliant speller -- and he NEVER did a day of spelling in his life. In fifth grade I gave him a spelling test to see what level to start him at -- and he made it through all the words until he hit the word catastrophe. He didn't spell it correctly, but he also had to ask what a catastrophe was! So he has never done any spelling.

 

Dd1 was a horrible speller. She misspelled and misspelled, and spelling programs made no difference. Eventually when she was in the middle of sixth grade we chucked spelling. She uses spellcheck EXTENSIVELY. She has improved considerably over time. Her poor spelling has never held her back, but it is something she is aware of -- when she went to write the thank you note for her scholarship she didn't think to bring a dictionary and was too embarassed to ask how to spell certain words, so her thank you note is full of very simple words! Next year she intends to remember the dictionary!

 

So my advice is -- ENJOY LIFE AND DON'T SWEAT THE SPELLING!

[Antonia]

My son, unfortunately, takes after him. We plug away in hopes that he will at least pick up the rules and have some chance of spelling words correctly, but I must admit I have very little hope he will ever be even an adequate speller.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

I just want to know once and for all whether there are some people who will never in their entire lives spell correctly.

 

If this is the case, does one simply have one's child forever type with spell check and hope to high heaven that his (beautifully!) handwritten, grossly misspelled pieces will never cost him a job or a raise or lose him a good woman? (I'm embarrassed to say that once received a love letter that included "can't tell you enuf" and that was the end of that relationship!)

 

Do we keep plodding on? Even if it's hopeless? I had hoped that by 10th grade we'd have had some kind of breakthrough, and that spelling would no longer be a thorn in our side. Alas. And there are no learning disabilities going on here, either.

 

Just tell me. I'm strong. Lay it on me, ladies.

 

My dh can't spell. He proved his love to me mathematically, so I didn't give the spelling much notice, though I was a spelling snob. :rolleyes:

 

Dd can't spell. She used the fact to her ultimate advantage when applying in 8th grade to a selective boarding school. When asked to write an on-the-spot essay about who she most admires and why, she selected George Bernard Shaw. A terrible speller, Shaw spent a good deal of his personal fortune attempting to regularize the English language and make spellings more phonetic. At the end of the essay, she pointed out that one who admired Shaw for the reasons stated would of course be expected to make spelling errors galore. So, she said, please don't be surprised when finding them sprinkled throughout the writing. She even inserted a word spelled wrong, then right, crossed out both with an x, then put in the incorrect spelling as her final choice.

 

She got in. :D

 

I think she'll always struggle. But I don't think it's going to stand much in the way of her getting where she wants to go, wherever that turns out to be.

[Harriet Vane]

I just want to know once and for all whether there are some people who will never in their entire lives spell correctly.

 

If this is the case, does one simply have one's child forever type with spell check and hope to high heaven that his (beautifully!) handwritten, grossly misspelled pieces will never cost him a job or a raise or lose him a good woman? (I'm embarrassed to say that once received a love letter that included "can't tell you enuf" and that was the end of that relationship!)

 

Do we keep plodding on? Even if it's hopeless? I had hoped that by 10th grade we'd have had some kind of breakthrough, and that spelling would no longer be a thorn in our side. Alas. And there are no learning disabilities going on here, either.

 

Just tell me. I'm strong. Lay it on me, ladies.

 

One example might be a note he left me:

 

Please find me some close.

 

(He meant "clothes.")

 

The man is eloquent and witty, and mathematically *brilliant* but he cannot spell. It doesn't really matter--he is an actuary. He uses spell-check for documents. As long as his numbers are correct his employer is happy to have him.

 

Your child will be okay. :)

[Janet in WA]

I have to say that I have never found spelling programs to be effective. I have 1 dd who is a natural speller and another who, I'm being gracious here, isn't. The one who isn't a natural speller does just as well on the spelling tests as her natural spelling sister. It is a very different matter outside of spelling class.

 

Ditto. The only value I believe a formal study of spelling had for our sons was to familiarize them with the spelling generalizations (what some call rules). Beyond that, 100's on weekly spelling tests meant nothing.

 

Use of the spell checker and reading your writing aloud are required in this household. I try not to expose either of them to incorrect spelling which is harder than you might imagine with a Brit, a Canuck and 2 Americans living in the same home.

Another ditto. We found reading one's own writing aloud to be the most effective proof-reading tool. Probably the best thing that happened to my poor speller was word processing WITH spell-check on. Contrary to what many think, spell-check is not a crutch that keeps one from learning to spell. It is a spelling teacher because it reinforces correct spelling rather than letting bad spelling habits go uncorrected.

 

As a bit of encouragement, that poor speller is about to earn a degree in journalism with a minor in English.

[Michelle in MO]

:)natural spellers . . . one has an MBA and is extremely intelligent; the other is a lawyer and is also very intelligent. Neither one of them can spell very well! Fortunately, my lawyer friend (who is currently not practicing law) uses the tool that most lawyers do----dictation! She hires a competent secretary who can spell for her!

 

Just do your best with whatever spelling program you've chosen. My youngest is still not a great speller, and I have her copy her spelling list every day and spell the words out loud every day several times. She still struggles. Hopefully something will catch on!

 

But---there is always spell-checker! :)

[readwithem]

I have tried at least 5 spelling programs with my now 16 yo dd. She's definitely not a natural speller (nor is her dad). She just finished Phonetic Zoo "C" which was probably the best of the bunch. R&S was interesting because it discussed word origins, but her spelling didn't really improve :rolleyes:

 

I finally gave up on formal spelling, and decided maybe all her reading would make her "see" how words are spelled. And yes she relies heavily on spell check. :)

[langfam]

Here is a great article, I found several years ago. It gives me great comfort.

My ds can memorize lines and lines of computer code, but still can't spell his middle name, Sebastian! Fortunately for him he has a short first name...

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27074-2005Feb15.html

[Ruth in Canada]

I am not a natural speller. I depend on spell-checkers--and used to depend on a dictionary. However--having watched my kids do spelling with "Spelling Power", I wonder if I could have been a better speller had I also been taught with the multi-sensory approach. "Spelling Power" has the kids practice words they misspell in 10 different ways--we just used the "look and try to remember" method.

[percytruffle]

Thank you for sharing this. I just finished reading it out loud to my ds. I had to remove my reading glasses once to wipe away tears of laughter! Seriously though, the author's experiences and the science to back it up really ring true here. Ds enjoyed the article immensely (I just had to spell check that word, and it was wrong:D).

 

Thanks again,

Lisa

[Samuel]

I scored in the top couple % on the GRE verbal, but in order to type this post correctly, I'm using spell check! I certainly expended a lot of effort trying to learn how to spell, but nothing stuck. I can actually spell better (except for accents and irregularities) in romance languages because they are more phonetic. While having trouble spelling is occasionally annoying, it hasn't been a problem for me academically or professionally.

 

Number of words that spell check fixed on this post (admittedly typed quickly ) 5.

[percytruffle]

"Number of words that spell check fixed on this post (admittedly typed quickly ) 5."

 

It caught 2 on mine. :o

 

I agree about the Romance languages. Spelling in Spanish was no challenge at all. Unfortunately (I spell this word correctly about 1/3 of the time. Success is random) for us, English is not on the same branch of the language tree.:D

 

Thanks for sharing.

[Quiver0f10]

This is so encouraging! My DH is a horrible speller and a few of my kid s are following suit. I have worried over it and it's refreshing to read your posts!

[Mom0012]

One of mine is a natural speller and the other is not. My son is the one who is not a natural speller. He was reading fairly well, but could still not spell a simple word like "rat". I have used SWR from the beginning and I think it has made all the difference for him. He is not an excellent speller now, but he is spelling at grade level.

 

I'm using a modified SWR with my daughter. I suspect she doesn't even need a spelling program, but I don't want to just totally ignore this area and it only takes us about 10 minutes a few times a week to do what I need to do with her.

 

Lisa

[Jean in Wisc]

My dd has gotten into college with a good scholarship and is even doing articles for the school newspaper. LOL! I guess she has gotten use to spell check.

 

I've always read the spelling and intelligence do not go hand in hand.

 

:confused:

 

I've also read that people who are poor at spelling often gradually get better as they mature into adulthood.

 

:D

 

I'd quit doing spelling.

 

Well, maybe better said, I have already quit doing spelling!

[Laura in CA]

My husband works with brilliant physicists at a national lab, and there is more than one man there who, as my husband says, "can't spell his way out of a paper bag." One scientist will even make final viewgraphs for presentations that still have the red underlining on lots of words (the red dots that Microsoft Word uses to tell you a word is misspelled)!! He just doesn't notice or care about the spelling -- and it hasn't hurt his science career.

 

My son was spelling schedule "skejul" -- and my mother showed me a very useful tool. She took Scrabble tiles for S, C, H, etc. and had him try to spell it using those. Since there were no J or K tiles, he couldn't use them! When he got it right consistently, she took one tile away at random and he had to figure out which one was missing. I have to say, he has *never* misspelled that word again. We use this occasionally for words he *has* to know (like his middle name LOL).

[Nicole M]

I also know a very talented scientist, a professor, whose emails are so horrendous that you would think the man had some kind of mental disability.

 

For me, I became a better speller as I grew older. I did have an "a-ha" moment, though, in about the 7th grade. Until then, I don't think anyone ever made me aware of my misspellings. I was working on a report about Julius Caesar, and couldn't spell "Caesar". My step-mother sent me to the dictionary. I searched and searched every word that began with C-E and just could not find it. When I came back to her in tears, she had this most shocked and embarrassed look on her face, and said, in a voice I'd never heard out of her before, "Honey, look under C-A and see what you find." After that I just noticed things that I'd never seen before.

 

But that said, I'm a terrible typist. So I've had, oh, maybe 10 words so far in this message that I've had to correct!

 

I love all your stories. George Bernard Shaw! "Please find me some close..."!!! Skejul! This is so comforting. Thank you all.

 

Oh, and I haven't read the article yet, but thanks for posting that.

[Quad Shot Academy]

This is a tough question! I am a horrible speller and so is my oldest. I could not get a college degree because my spelling is so bad. I continually had to drop any foreign language or history courses that I tried to take. If I misspelled any word, they counted the whole answer as wrong. I plan to just keep trying and trying . . . We have been spending 1 hour a day on spelling for the last 4 months and I have gotten him from words like "cat" to words like "train". Good luck!

[langfam]

I used to have a list of famous bad spellers , but have lost it. I remember a few:

Einstein, Ben Franklin, JFK, Edison...

 

So take heart!

[Guest Lorna]

I have several in-laws who really, really can't spell. In fact I am asked frequently to write Christmas cards, invitations, etc on their behalf.

In this family the worse they spell the more they earn. They are all outstandingly successful in business.

I love being able to spell well and rate it highly but it is a dull life doing everyone's correspondence!

The only drawback with using a spell check....

 

Spell Check Poem

 

(Read it out loud!)

 

Eye halve a spelling chequer

It came with my pea sea,

It plainly marques four my revue

Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word

And weight for it two say,

Weather eye and wring oar write

It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid

It nose bee fore two long,

And eye can put the error rite

Its rare lea ever wrong.

To rite with care is quite a feet

Of witch won should bee proud,

And wee mussed dew the best wee can,

Sew flaw's are knot aloud.

Eye have run this poem threw it

Your sure reel glad two no,

Its letter perfect awl the weigh

My chequer tolled me sew.

-Sauce unknown

 

 

 

My dear niece's transcript for her wedding married her to a man called 'Brain', throughout the whole beautifully printed, embossed, gilded book.

 

[Linda in NM]

I have a friend who can't spell to save his life. He's retired--he's a former CEO. He's 57. He still can't spell, but he can buy and sell most other people I know. Financial success is not dependent on spelling.

[Carolfoasia]

My dad was a horrific speller and graduated from Cal Tech! He was so bad that he once spelled "those" four different ways in the same letter!

 

I have one pretty good speller and one pretty bad speller. I did test prep for the CAT test we have to take every other year, and the bad speller did great in all subjects EXCEPT the spelling. He got 50% almost every time! Then, we went to the test and found out that Oregon doesn't require the spelling section! LOL! I am grateful.

 

He is now typing, and he uses spell check. I have noticed some improvement. I am encouraging him to look at how words are spelled as he is reading. That is how I have improved my spelling. I try to memorize my hard words as I read them.

 

My oldest son is much better.

 

I think you either have it or you don't. This is what my girlfriend's mother says. She taught elementary school for thirty years and thinks it is this way.

[Kimber]

JFK was a speed reader and an avid reader from being sick in bed for so much of his youth. I believe he was always a poor speller.

[Carol in Cal.]

I'm a natural speller. I learned spelling and vocabulary from reading.

 

My dad is a terrible speller, but not much of a reader, so I thought that that made sense. My DH, likewise.

 

But my DD! Now, she stumped me. She was an avid reader. She has a great vocabulary. And she had NO CLUE about spelling. She would spell randomly. She would have 3 different spellings for the same word in the same 2 paragraph page. She would do spelling sentences and not bother to spell the spelling words correctly. Yes, even though she had to LOOK at the spelling words to see which one to use. And do not, PLEASE do not, get me started on the homonymn issue. OMGosh.

 

She told me once that I could maybe make her spell things correctly but I couldn't make her care about it. And, in truth, I didn't want to squelch her writing style, which was pretty impressive, by insisting that she spell correctly. I was sure that that would lead to lots of baby words in simple sentences, squandering her writing voice in the pursuit of the elusive spelling gene or equivalent thereof.

 

So I did the best I could. I separated proof reading from composition. I stopped having her copy her compositions over (so that she would keep writing long ones.) I continued with grammar, which covers some spelling rules--how to make plurals and possessives, for instance. I stopped spelling instruction completely, for two years. (That was hard, I was out on a limb for sure.) We had her tested by a developmental optomitrist, which found that she had trouble with visual sequencing memory, so we did Brainskills for a while. (The DO suggested therapies, but it was not clear to me that these would really help with her specific problem, so we opted against that course.)

 

I instituted mandatory, daily copywork that I was an absolute B**CH on. It had to be PERFECT. One missed comma, and it was a do over. My theory was that she really wasn't looking hard enough at what she was reading to be able to use that to learn to spell and punctuate, and that the demand for perfect copywork would make her do that. This really helped. Finally she improved her spelling to the point where there were patterns in her mistakes, not merely random guesses to get words on paper. Then we started Phonetic Zoo, which has been miraculously effective.

 

She still has trouble with homonymns, and I no longer believe that everyone should be able to learn spelling from reading.

 

Funnily enough, she is proud that she can spell better now; a phenomenon I have noticed with other skills. She had convince me and herself that she really didn't care about this, but actually she was kind of embarrassed about it. I'm glad that we didn't give up on it, but I'm also glad that homeschooling gave her the space and time to learn this in her own way without ridicule or humiliation. And that she was still able to keep writing without being able to spell.

[Jan P.]

I always had a hard time understanding why my dc (other than youngest) couldn't spell. I was a runner up in a spelling bee and my dh spells well too. However, my two oldest have had a time with spelling. I have taught them all the spelling rules, but somehow it doesn't click with them. I had my oldest (ds) use the Daily Apples Spelling book his 9th grade year. But after that I simply made him correct his spellings in his papers. He is now in his first year of college and getting A's and B's in his classes. I don't know if his professors are pointing out his spelling mistakes, but I'm sure he'll learn to spell words quick or otherwise be embarassed.

 

My middle dc is dyslexic, so I will probably have her do some sort of spelling program until she graduates.

 

I personally wouldn't have your child spend a great deal of time on spelling. If it's important to continue, then find something that will only take about 10 minutes per day. That is why I do like the Daily Apples books. They are simply daily exercises and there are no tests. You don't even have to report it to anyone that you use them if that is a concern.

 

HTH,

Jan

[Nestof3]

Yes -- my son. He scores in the top 4 percent on the IOWA, but only scores in the top 75% in spelling!

 

He always aced spelling tests, but never wrote them correctly once the test was over.

 

He's almost 18, and he actually told me the other day he didn't know how to spell "bored." I about fainted.

 

But, he has lots of other strengths, so there you go.

 

I had a boss a long time ago who read all the time. He didn't know how to spell "Tuesday."

 

He got along just fine in life.

 

BTW -- Spelling was one of my favorite subjects. I just loved those class spelling bees.

[Sahamamama]

You might want to Google Spelling Power, by Beverly Adams-Gordon, and read up on her research. The author spent a lot of time studying how people learn (or don't learn) to spell. Hope this helps!

[chelsea in TN]

Sequential spelling. My DS can't spell his way out of a paper bag. He is in 6th grade. He misses words on his 1st grade sisters lists - that she can spell!

 

I remembered the other day that my oldest DS (9th grade) sis sequential spelling. I think we did level 1 and part of sequential spelling. Followed by apples in spelling. His spelling is not perfect BUT passable. Spell check and a little book my dad had and I bought a copy of - 20,000 most common mispelled words. Have helped. My dad is an engineer and has used this so much - he wore it out and had me buy and a new copy for him one year for Christmas or birthday. I bought a copy for my house hold as well. Spell well is great but if you butcher a word enough it won't catch it.

 

I am a horible speller. My spellling only inproved after teaching my children spelling LOL. I never learned phonetics - i learned the "see it say it methos" they were experimenting with in AL when i started school.

 

I do think spelling is important in life. It affects how people look at you. Just like i think hand writing is important - it says something about you and the pride you take in your work.

 

If you can't spell - learn to use a dictionary. For most bad spellers spell check won't help.

 

On the AVKO website it states that for homeschoolers doing 2 10 minute lessons a day (AM/PM) 365 days a year. you can complete 4 levels a year - they are 7 in all. I can not see anyone keeping that up for long - but maybe at first.....

 

just completing one level could help a lot. At 12.95 a level and with the first 7 weeks on line what do you have to loose ?

 

Chelsea

[chelsea in TN]

See above post....

I am too tired to edit it right now :)

 

Chelsea

[sagira]

OK, please don't hate me, but as a great speller, I have a tip (or secret weapon):

 

I know Spanish and Papiamento, two phonetic languages. If I'm learning a word, let's say, the word "unfortunately", I just say it to myself in the way it would be read phonetically, in my language or Spanish. This way I can spell long words because I remember them. Just a trick I taught myself ;)

 

I'm very visual (every word in the English language I read in my head, spelled correctly LOL), so it's not a big leap. My mom and dad both really stressed correct spelling too, and aided me with mnemonic devices.

 

HTH someone!

 

(I don't use spell checker for these posts, but maybe I should start as I'm usually holding a child and typing with one hand -- like right now! :tongue_smilie:)

 

Loved the article. I sent it to my mom. She doesn't understand why people have problems spelling :)

[Jean in Wisc]

I gave up doing spelling with one child about 4 weeks into 9th grade. Believe it or not, the child is now a communications major. She even wrote articles for the college newspaper last year!

 

Repeat after me: "Spell check is your friend."

 

Sometimes they just have to decide it is important in their lives and make it a personal priority...or they just live with it. Some never do pull it together. There is only so much a mother can do. LOL!

[Harriet Vane]

Yes, plod on, because every little bit helps.

 

Yes there are people who never do learn to spell. My dh is one of them, God bless him. My dh is truly a brilliant man (he's both an actuary and a certified financial analyst) but he cannot spell to save his life.

 

He left me a note once, that his mother found at my house. She laughed so hard she cried, and kept the note because of the fond memories of his childhood that it brought her. "Some things will never change . . . " she said.

 

His note to me said, "Plese find me some close."

 

He wanted me to lay out his clothes for the evening.

 

As I said, the man is brilliant. He understands the current economic crisis in a way I never will. His math ability is off the charts. He just cannot spell.

 

May I comfort you with the fact that my dh's spelling has never been an issue, either in terms of women feeling attracted to him or in his professional life? Yes, he relies on spell check, or I proofread things for him as well. He's been quite successful professionally. I'm sure your child will be too, spelling or no.

[Jann in TX]

I can figure out patterns pretty quickly--when it comes to numbers--but I just can't make much sense when letters are involved--too many 'rule breakers'...I ALWAYS made perfect scores on any spelling or vocabulary tests--I have a great SHORT-term memory.

 

DH laughs at me all the time--he 'jokes' that I find spelling any word over 5 letters long a CHORE...(well--he is right!).

 

Couple my lack of ability in the spelling department with dysgraphia and it usually takes 20-30 points off of my perceived IQ...some days even more!

 

Luckily I can use spell-check on my posts (when I remember!).

[Nan in Mass]

I have to admit that my two younger ones' spelling was so awful that I decided our time would be better spent elsewhere, like practising piano or drawing. And I just point blank told my older one that he'd always have to have someone proof anything important for him. Both of them are slowly getting better, just by me pointing things out to them. The younger one isn't as bad. They both worked on it until 5th or 6th grade and then we gave up. My own spelling was absolutely horrible until I had children. Then for some reason (probably just a coincidence) it suddenly improved. I still don't spell well, but I don't misspell half the words in every sentence any more. The only price I paid was not getting into the spelling bee in 8th grade (to my relief - way too shy for that sort of thing) and making a few people when I was working groan and tell me to make sure someone looked over my stuff for spelling errors. I am convinced that some people are born not being able to spell.

-Nan

 

PS - My middle one made the weirdest (to me) spelling errors. It took me a long time to get him spelling phonetically, even though he knew phonetics fine. It turned out that he would take a word like call, remember that there were tall letters at the end, and put in tall letters - so call could be spelled codd or cokk. Just in case this helps someone...

Edited October 3, 2008 by Nan in Mass

[Nan in Mass]

My youngest says spell-check has improved his spelling more than anything else.

[turnin' 360s]

What an encouraging thread. I needed to hear these things. I am a terrible speller and my very bright child is horrible at spelling, even though he excells in all other areas.

[Kendall]

I worried about exposing my sons to British spelling, but then I realized that my non speller hasn't picked up correct spelling from years of reading American English, he probably won't notice British spelling either LOL!. My strong speller during a spelling test will say, the British or English spelling? And knows which is which. So either way I'm thinking it might not matter!

[amyable]

I know Spanish and Papiamento, two phonetic languages. If I'm learning a word, let's say, the word "unfortunately", I just say it to myself in the way it would be read phonetically, in my language or Spanish. This way I can spell long words because I remember them. Just a trick I taught myself ;)

 

 

 

I do the same thing and am teaching my poor-spelling dd to do the same. It can be quite helplful! We call it "speaking for spelling". :001_smile:

[langfam]

I worried about exposing my sons to British spelling, but then I realized that my non speller hasn't picked up correct spelling from years of reading American English, he probably won't notice British spelling either LOL!. My strong speller during a spelling test will say, the British or English spelling? And knows which is which. So either way I'm thinking it might not matter!

I used British spelling for the first 26 years of my life. Since I've been here for 18 years now, I've gradually changed over to to American spelling without even noticing. I've even lost my accent that people don't ask me where I'm from anymore.

[TravelingChris]

My first was a natural speller like I am. I stopped teaching him spelling by fourth grade. My second and third have taught me a thing or two. Particularly my second. I was so worried about my second. Her memory is poor, her spelling is poor, and she was slow to learn to read fluently becaue she had vision problems. Now she is 15. She is in an honors program in community college. She loves to write and writes well. She is such a hard worker and a voracious reader. She loves to learn and has erased my worries about her. She still can't spell although she now scores in the 60% in spelling instead of 25%. She hears what she reads, she thinks in audio (or maybe stereo) but certainly not mainly visually. Her younger sister is even worse. I think her deal is that she is slightly dyslectic while older sis is only very auditory. SHe learned to read at the usual age but took some time moving to harder books. At around nine and half, she moved onto reading long books but her spelling is still atrocious.

[sagira]

I do the same thing and am teaching my poor-spelling dd to do the same. It can be quite helplful! We call it "speaking for spelling". :001_smile:

 

Hmmm.. "Speaking for Spelling".. I love it! Maybe we can both devise a lesson plan or curriculum plan ;)

[cathmom]

It has been my belief for years that either one can spell or one can't spell. So I don't do spelling programs with my dc.

[Nicole M]

I'm surprised this thread bubbled up to the surface again. Seven months later, and pressing on with Phonetic Zoo, we're still floundering. Last week my son was studying for a German test, making note cards, and he asked, "How do you spell 'purple'? Is is u-l or e-l at the end?" I just looked at him, stunned. "Please help me out here, mom! I don't have a lot time!" Oh, dear.

 

I'm having him type more of his work, and that seems to help. All your responses were heartening. Belated, but sincere, thanks.

 

Nicole

[Quiver0f10]

Well I am ecouraged by the responses above! I just ditched another spelling program with my 7th grader and I think I am going to just give up trying. He can learn to type and use spell check.

[Jan P.]

:) I've owned almost every homeschool spelling textbook at one time or another. My oldest (#1 bad speller) is in college and pulling A's and B's. I'm still teaching spelling to child #2 (10th grade), and my youngest (8th grade) is the best speller of the lot. In fact the other two come to the youngest to ask how to spell words!! I have decided from mistakes with #1 that the others will get spelling lessons through their vocabulary and writing assignments. It does help to have my children type their writing assignments with the use of Spell check.

 

So don't despair!

Jan