Remedial Lang. Arts for 7th grader?

[King's Kid]

My 7th grade dd, though bright, still doesn't use proper punctuation, capitalization, etc. and continues to be an atrocious speller. Can someone out there recommend a program which could help her with these skills? She is not very studious because she'd much rather play than "do school." And she's as strong-willed as they come.

 

In the past we've used Spelling Power, Sequential Spelling and Calvert on cd. Her biggest problem is that she just doesn't care about the quality of her work. "Get it done quick" is her motto.

 

Any advice or curriculum suggestions? TIA! :)

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Copywork, dictation. This is what I would do. I would maybe pick up LLATL the Tan book (geared toward a 6th grader) and have her work through it. It's great for working on just the things you said she struggles with.

[King's Kid]

Thank you for the input, Dayle. :) I was thinking about copywork/dictation as a solution.

 

Will look into the tan LLATL book.

[King's Kid]

One more question: Is the teacher's manual necessary for the LLATL tan book?

[Dayle in Guatemala]

One more question: Is the teacher's manual necessary for the LLATL tan book?

 

Well, I didn't use it, but, there were times I felt like it would be nice. But, I wouldn't call it necessary by any means.

[Kim in SouthGa]

 

Language Mechanic by Critical Thinking Press. We use Anayltical Grammar for our core grammar program, but it covers strictly parts of speech and diagramming for grades 6-7 (JAG, AG seasons 1-2). They cover mechanics extensively in 8th grade (season 3), but I am having a hard time accepting the errors my ds is making. So we will be adding Language Mechanic this year, and I think it will be exactly what we need. I second dictation and copywork for spelling. We have yet to find a "perfect" spelling program, I think some kids are just naturals and some definitely are not. We will be using Apples Daily Spelling Drills 1 this year for 7th...I have given up on the traditional workbooks with weekly tests for my ds.

[Obi-Mom Kenobi]

Unfortunately, until she cares about the quality of her work, very little you do is likely to produce good results. Don't bother looking for a magical curriculum solution to cure her disinterest. As I see it, if she really and honestly does not care, you have only two options: demand excellence in all her work with papers returned for editing, correction and legibility OR ignore it and wait for her to care about the image she projects through her written communication (which might be never).

 

But first you should determine if there is some actual interest. If she's even a little bit interested, start looking for curriculum. (I recommend the Editor-in-Chief series of workbooks for a starter). If she truly doesn't care, pick your poison: meanest-mom-ever or maybe-we'll-pass-on-the-SAT. :001_smile:

[Julie in MN]

I think some of it is a matter of habit. Even if she doesn't care, if you can get a habit into her, she may punctuate & capitalize automatically. The copy-and-correct method may work -- even on 2-word sentences.