Spelling Power - help please

[dcjlkplus3]

We are finishing up level B in Spelling Power and are having trouble passing the end of level test. There are just some words my dd7.5 just CAN NOT seem to spell. I can't tell you how many times she has missed voice, poison, holidays and animals. She has does the 10step study sheet, she has copied them corrrectly (many times) and even unscrambled them.

For the most part she is a good speller (for a second grader). Why isn't she getting these words??

 

Is there a better way to teach these problem words to her (if it helps she did spell them all right at some point, to pass that group in the first place)?

 

(where is the frustrated mommy icon???)

[tjarnold]

For the most part she is a good speller (for a second grader). Why isn't she getting these words??

 

Is there a better way to teach these problem words to her (if it helps she did spell them all right at some point, to pass that group in the first place)?

 

(where is the frustrated mommy icon???)

 

I'm not positive I'm the best person to help, as my advice would be to wait a bit and see whether she improves over time. She's still fairly young. My two big kids are at completely opposite ends of the spelling ability spectrum -- the 11yo is a spelling bee champion-type, and the 10yo has struggled and struggled, but gradually shown improvement.

 

I did try Spelling Power for a while, but it didn't work very well for us. My 11yo didn't need it, and my 10yo (who was probably 8 then) didn't improve. This past year, we switched to the Phonetic Zoo (Excellence in Spelling, from IEW), and she has improved SO MUCH. I think part of it is developmental though.

 

Good luck,

 

Tiffany

[East Coast Sue]

I'm no expert but my advice- let her move on to level C, but keep practicing the trouble words every few days by writing them in sand or on a dry erase board (something fun). OR, give Spelling Power a break for a couple of weeks and come back to it generating your own list with some easy words and a few of the challenging words just for review. It may be that she will master them if you give it time to soak in. In any case, I wouldn't push it too hard at 7.5 yrs old.

[MerryAtHope]

Maybe slow down how quickly you go through it--I think Spelling Power recommends not starting until 3rd grade/age 8.

 

How many words is it? Could you go back and do a review covering those words, and then try the final again?

 

Merry :-)

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I think that in Spelling Power the point is to keep those as words you work with even when you move to the next level.

[dcjlkplus3]

Thanks for all the advice. We only have 3 days left before we are "officially" done with second grade and spelling will stop until about September when we start 3rd grade. At that point we will start with the placement test again anyway (which will probably have us going on to level C). I just sometimes get frustrated (her not so much), especially when her mistakes aren't from the rule. (the problem with voice isn't the oi part - it's the ce part)

[JennyW]

I agree, I think you should just keep the words she's struggling with and she'll eventually get them. Perhaps skip a few weeks where you just do other new words, then bring the old trouble ones back into the fold and see if a fresh perspective helps. Good luck!