How do you know if you have a natural speller?

[Elfknitter.#]

I see the terms natural and non-natural speller used in reference to different spelling curricula. How do you know which one your child is? :confused:

[SebastianCat]

Well, I know that one of my children is NOT a natural speller because he misspells words all the time. He does well on spelling tests, and about 75% of the time when an old spelling word pops up in his writing, he'll spell it correctly. But he's a very strongly auditory learner, not visual at all, and I know his brain is moving faster than his hand can write (....and oftentimes, his mouth too as he "narrates" what's in his head, in a very auditory-learner kind of way). If I tell him, "Slow down. Picture the word in your head - you are reading it in a book like this...." and use the word in a sentence, he'll spell it correctly. But most of the time he just doesn't THINK about how to spell properly.

 

My other child is not what I would call a "natural" speller but she's a stronger speller than her brother.

[Jpoy85]

Well, I know that one of my children is NOT a natural speller because he misspells words all the time. He does well on spelling tests, and about 75% of the time when an old spelling word pops up in his writing, he'll spell it correctly. But he's a very strongly auditory learner, not visual at all, and I know his brain is moving faster than his hand can write (....and oftentimes, his mouth too as he "narrates" what's in his head, in a very auditory-learner kind of way). If I tell him, "Slow down. Picture the word in your head - you are reading it in a book like this...." and use the word in a sentence, he'll spell it correctly. But most of the time he just doesn't THINK about how to spell properly.

 

My other child is not what I would call a "natural" speller but she's a stronger speller than her brother.

 

C is the same way.

[RootAnn]

As someone who was NOT a natural speller, but whose mother & sister WERE, I can tell you that it is sometimes glaringly obvious.

 

My older two have very poor visual memories. They can be taught how to spell something over & over & over again in various ways (auditory, visual, memory tricks, etc.) and still spell it wrong most of the time.

 

However, I have one that has a good visual memory, so she usually spells things correctly after she's been taught. She gets 85-90% on spelling tests after she's studied the words & continues to spell 60-75% of those words correctly in her daily work. She's about as close as I'll get to a good speller, but she's not a natural.

[Momling]

My older daughter is a "natural speller". I've tried to show her cool spelling rules and she just looks at me blankly and says she doesn't need those, she just imagines the word in her head. She knows how to spell because she reads a lot, not because she's ever been taught about English orthography.

[kaymom]

My oldest son rarely needs more than a single introduction to a word and will spell it correctly 99% of the time. He also has spelling skills beyond his level --meaning you can just throw out a word from a 6 grade list (he's in 3rd) that we've never worked on and he'll get it right most of the time or with minimal correction. My husband is the same way. Me on the other hand, I stink at spelling and will misspell the same words all of the time! Thank you my dearest spell check for coming into my life. :lol:

[lillybell]

I think if you have a natural speller, you will know. I have one daughter who is a natural speller. I started her on spelling power when she was 12 and when I did the placement test she tested at 10 1/2 grade level. She is almost done with spelling power and she very rarely gets any words wrong. My younger daughter struggles some with spelling but she is right at grade level in her placement test. So she is not a natural speller, however, she is progressing well. I think my natural speller is actually a better speller than I am. Guess that is how I know she is a natural.

[SebastianCat]

My older daughter is a "natural speller". I've tried to show her cool spelling rules and she just looks at me blankly and says she doesn't need those, she just imagines the word in her head. She knows how to spell because she reads a lot, not because she's ever been taught about English orthography.

 

My non-natural speller is a voracious reader, but he reads VERY fast. Fast enough that I often question him on comprehension, which tends to be excellent. He'll read a 200+ page book in one sitting, be able to narrate back the story and answer questions about the plot, but if I pulled out some random words and asked him to spell them, he'd spell them wrong.

 

Spell check will be a good friend to him. :001_smile:

[mamaeast]

I agree that if your child is a natural speller, you will know. My oldest can spell pretty much anything you put in front of him. Words he misspells once, he doesn't misspell again. He doesn't need any instruction; it just comes as easily as talking (which he does too much!)

 

However, I don't necessarily think if you are not a natural speller, then you are automatically not a good speller. My five year old is a good speller and spells above grade level but not six grades ahead like his brother. He generally retains words we've worked on. He can see it in his head and knows what it looks like, but he doesn't fly through and get every single word right on a pretest.

 

Hope this helps!

[sagira]

Well, I've always been a natural speller and how did my mom tell? I would see a word once and spell it correctly from the get-go. In fact, it was ridiculously easy to get spelling tests right - in Dutch, Spanish, English, and to a certain extent, French.

 

However, I'm beginning to accept that ds8 may not be a natural speller. He will misspell words very often (to my chagrin lol), and even though we reads well and daily, he doesn't seem to remember how to spell words. Hence, I find it difficult to teach him spelling as it comes so naturally to me. I realize now I have to apply a variety of methods - where the visual component is only one of the tools I have. I'm going to use a combination of CM methods (studied dictation through our current literature) and Natural Speller, and after looking at all the other spelling programs, I'm committed to applying these two faithfully now.

[Spock]

My older two boys are natural spellers. I never taught them spelling at all, except using dictation from K-4th grade or so, yet they never misspell words. I was like this, as well.

 

My younger two are not natural spellers. My youngest son spells well, and doesn't need a lot of teaching, but he does need some. My daughter has needed a fair bit of teaching and practice with spelling--but she has gone from misspelling a word 3 different ways in a 3 sentence sample (plus other misspelled words in the same sentences) to only 2-3 wrong words in a full page story.