Brooketopia Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Does anyone deal with this? Do you have ideas? My 2nd grader is testing in at a 7th grade reading level, but struggles greatly with her 2nd grade spelling curriculum. She does read fast and comprehends well. We do narration and dictation and she doesn't struggle with it at all. But she does have a hard time with penmanship, which I know can be pretty normal for accelerated learners. Does spelling go along with the penmanship thing simply because she's having to write out the words? We use Spelling Workout. If you have this challenge, what do you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Phonics helped my advanced reader. He taught himself to read, and it was largely by sight. We used AAS to fill in some gaps in phonics, and now we're using Apples & Pears to give more practice and give him the morpheme instruction. Original writing isn't happening here until he gets more confidence in his spelling. I started him a little lower in A&P than where he tested because I wanted to give him confidence. That seems to be working so far, but we've only used it a short time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Does anyone deal with this? Do you have ideas? My 2nd grader is testing in at a 7th grade reading level, but struggles greatly with her 2nd grade spelling curriculum. She does read fast and comprehends well. We do narration and dictation and she doesn't struggle with it at all. But she does have a hard time with penmanship, which I know can be pretty normal for accelerated learners. Does spelling go along with the penmanship thing simply because she's having to write out the words? We use Spelling Workout. If you have this challenge, what do you do? So far we have dealt with this twice. Sometimes spelling takes a while to catch up to reading. The process of writing and getting ideas down plus concentrating on the spelling is too much. It could be that she has to concentrate on her penmanship and it is "too" much to also keep track of the spelling. (As an aside, we use ideas from a website called OTMom to help with fine motor skills.) I also switched the kids to Apples and Pears which is a UK program that presents the words over and over again in different ways reviewing often. You can see full copies of the books here: http://www.prometheantrust.org/usshop.htm My sixth grades spelling also took a jump when he learned to type and started using a spell check. Choosing the word he needed seemed to help him focus. I sometimes type in my third grader's work so she can spell check them. Other times I circle the spelling mistakes and choose around 3 to see if she can spell them correctly. And, honestly, it helps a lot when I gently say to her that I want her to think about how to spell the words as she spells them. (This is during our spelling lessons which are parent directed.) AAS also uses a number of techniques that are wonderful for children who struggle with spelling. Dianne Craft has some ideas on her website, too, that I've used with success. I am giving you all this because it is our journey but your dd is still young and, as she does not struggle with spelling in dictation (as my kids do/did), chances are you will see a big jump in a year or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 I switched to All About Spelling (AAS). My son was a self-taught reader but if he didn't know a word he'd make wild guesses at it. We used SWO for 1st and part of 2nd grade but there was no retention whatsoever. I switched to AAS (started at Level 1) and that's where he's gotten his phonics. It's been wonderful and I've seen really good progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anabelneri Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 My daughter is like this; I'll be watching for what people have to say about what helps. Recently I read an article online about visual-spatial learners which was helpful for us. There are more identifying characteristics, but poor spelling and penmanship are two characteristics mentioned. There are some ideas for how to work with both issues. Here is an article about it. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 This is very common. I recommend taking a look at AAS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunshineMom Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 My dd8 has just made a progressive jump (in the last month) with regards to spelling despite being an advanced reader. She would consistently use all of the letters of a word but in the wrong order. However, out of the blue, she became more interested in spelling, and therefore is now paying more attention to it which is improving her retention. Interest vs ability issue in our case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 My DS is an advanced reader as well. His spelling is pretty good, but no where close to what he can read. We are using AAS as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewelma Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 My ds had a severe spelling problem because his early/advanced reading combined with a speech impediment caused him to map the letters to the wrong sounds. SWR worked miracles for us. It is very intense, so use it only if you really need to. It is based on the same research as AAS, but is just MORE. Ruth in NZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunshineMom Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Lewelma- we are back to using SWR, did you follow the program to completion? My dd8 is in the P section of the book. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 Both of my boys were/are like that. My oldest son showed tremendous growth around 2nd grade and spelling isn't an issue anymore. His spelling skills aren't at the same level as his reading skills, but they are strong. Doing writing on the computer with spell check seemed to really help him. I still use a phonics based spelling program with him (Rod and Staff) along with Webster's Speller. My younger son is in 2nd grade and struggles much more with spelling than my older son. His skills have grown quite a bit in the last year, but he is far from having strong spelling skills. I've been doing intensive spelling and phonics for the past year too. Handwriting is also an issue, but he is starting to form his letters correctly now. He is a VSL. I'm considering where to go with him after he finishes his current phonics program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in Richmond Posted March 18, 2012 Share Posted March 18, 2012 My VSL daughter was exactly as you describe: excellent at reading (both speed and comprehension), but just plain awful at spelling. Her father is exactly the same way.:) We started homeschooling in grade 2 using Spelling Workout. After a couple of years, it was very evident that she was making no progress in spelling. So in grade 5, we backtracked and did a year of extensive work in phonograms using Starting a Spelling Notebook by Mari McAlister, along with The Writing Road to Reading. The McAlister book is just a nuts and bolts guide to the latter text, with a separate set of lesson plans for older, remedial spelling students. After that year, dd's spelling, while not perfect by any means, was finally not awful! She further improved during middle school when she started blogging and emailing cousins and summer camp friends. Actually having others read her writing gave her the motivation to improve to a very acceptable level. (but thank goodness for spellcheck!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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