My 4th grader can't spell! Please help. (long)

[CatholicMom]

My son is 9 and here is our spelling history:

 

Explode the Code -has some spelling, but I know it's not an emphasis, per se)

Spelling Power -total bomb

Sequential Spelling - Did this for about a week before I knew this was not our thing.

All About Spelling - I have considered that he might have some degree of dyslexia (haven't tested), so I thought this would be The Ticket. Approach is great for dyslexics, canned lessons so I don't have to worry about the teaching end, etc.

 

He did make some progress, so I was thrilled at first, but now we are just starting Level 2 and he is still misspelling words like "hand." Today he wrote "had" instead like 4 times.:bored: When I ask him to read it, he knows it says "had" and not "hand." But when he spells, he is constantly leaving out major consonants and sometimes he won't even have a vowel in the word. Now, he knows the "rule" that every word has a vowel, but when he's actually spelling on paper, yikes.

 

I think part of the problem is he doesn't care much about spelling properly, which really frustrates the heck out of me. His younger brother frequently asks me how to spell words so he can spell them correctly, and he is a MUCH better speller. He might not get the spelling exactly right, but it's close and totally age appropriate I think. But my 9 yr old's writing is barely readable, the spelling is so poor. Yet I have taught them both with the same material. So in that sense, I don't think it's that I'm a terrible spelling teacher, but that my 9yo just isn't 1) caring, and 2) able to transfer the rules to his actual writing.

 

I am at a loss as to what to do. Should I just keep going with AAS and hope for the best?

 

 

In his Mespotamian history pocket he wrote this:

 

Flax - the nomaz usb flax sebs for fub.

 

City-state - War pepol livb tha bilt walls (I helped with the next part) protect them and cep anomols in.

 

Grains - The nomabns storted going grains for fob.

 

Ziggurat - Is war the nomands pab to fols gobs.

 

 

:closedeyes:

 

He's a smart kid, but (correct me if I'm wrong) he's old enough and his spelling is atrocious enough that I would be embarrassed in a group situation, like a co-op or something, where the kids had to write something down!!

 

Please advise.

 

ETA: I'm quite sure he did mean to write "d" all those times he wrote a "b" instead because he also has a major problem writing letters backwards. Especially b's and d's. And not uncommonly g, N, and others, too.

Edited September 15, 2012 by TaraJo29

[CatholicMom]

As you can see, he doesn't even throw in an "oo" for "food." And he doesn't even use "ee" for "keep." Stuff like this is what seems bizarre to me. :confused:

[Ellie]

Explode the Code is phonics, not spelling. :-)

 

Y'all haven't stayed with any one spelling product/method for very long, so it isn't surprising that he doesn't know oo as in food, or ee as in keep. :-)

 

You could do a traditional spelling, such as R&S's Spelling by Sound and Structure. Or you could do Spalding/Spalding-spin-off, but you need to stick with it consistently to see real improvement.

 

And once you find something and stick with it, you need to correct his spelling in other subjects, as well.

[MerryAtHope]

All About Spelling - I have considered that he might have some degree of dyslexia (haven't tested), so I thought this would be The Ticket. Approach is great for dyslexics, canned lessons so I don't have to worry about the teaching end, etc.

 

AAS will make a difference over time. My son started at a very similar place--left out letters all the time, left out vowels or decorated with vowels (he spelled ask "aic" once--thought the C could be both /s/ and /k/ in the same word, and threw in the I just because words do that sometimes. It's made a huge difference but it does take time and lots of review.

 

He did make some progress, so I was thrilled at first, but now we are just starting Level 2 and he is still misspelling words like "hand." Today he wrote "had" instead like 4 times.:bored: When I ask him to read it, he knows it says "had" and not "hand."

 

Great job on your part, this is exactly the type of thing you want to do--use the skills that AAS teaches (such as reading exactly what he wrote, or thinking about whether he knows a rule that applies, and so on), and then gently lead your son in using those skills in his writing.

 

His response is a very positive sign actually. He knows a sound is missing, which means he can segment words into sounds, knows there are 4 sounds etc... You are partway there. Continue working on segmenting skills with him. I'd praise him when he correctly reads a misspelled word, and also praise if he knows how to fix it. The segmenting activities from level 1 (using the tokens) are a good activity to continue. Another thing that would be good would be to work on both beginning and ending blends with the tiles. Do things like make the word had, ask him how to make it hand etc... You can change out one letter/sound at a time and have him read the new word--pat, past, pest, pet, peck, speck, sped, spend, etc... to work on this skill.

 

But when he spells, he is constantly leaving out major consonants and sometimes he won't even have a vowel in the word. Now, he knows the "rule" that every word has a vowel, but when he's actually spelling on paper, yikes.

 

This is an issue of automaticity. He knows the skills individually, but struggles with putting them all together. You might find this blog entry helpful on understanding the struggles and for tips on how to help him.

 

I think part of the problem is he doesn't care much about spelling properly, which really frustrates the heck out of me. His younger brother frequently asks me how to spell words so he can spell them correctly, and he is a MUCH better speller. He might not get the spelling exactly right, but it's close and totally age appropriate I think. But my 9 yr old's writing is barely readable, the spelling is so poor. Yet I have taught them both with the same material. So in that sense, I don't think it's that I'm a terrible spelling teacher, but that my 9yo just isn't 1) caring, and 2) able to transfer the rules to his actual writing.

 

I'd encourage you to reframe your thoughts here--no, he may not know the importance of spelling, but think of this more in terms of him not noticing because he is concentrating so hard on what to write. It's one thing for him to know the patterns and rules in the lessons, and it's another thing to be able to think about creativity, correct answers, forming thoughts into words and ideas, capitalization, punctuation, handwriting, syntax, usage and grammar rules, and spelling etc... all at the same time.

 

No one is at fault here--you're not a bad teacher, he's not a bad student--he just has a struggle in this area and is going to need more help here.

 

I am at a loss as to what to do. Should I just keep going with AAS and hope for the best?

 

In his Mespotamian history pocket he wrote this:

 

Flax - the nomaz usb flax sebs for fub.

 

City-state - War pepol livb tha bilt walls (I helped with the next part) protect them and cep anomols in.

 

Grains - The nomabns storted going grains for fob.

 

Ziggurat - Is war the nomands pab to fols gobs.

 

Many of these words are harder than what he is studying up to this point in AAS. I would focus on content and not worry about spelling in outside writing as much as possible. Focus on editing in dictation for now. Level 3 of AAS introduces another activity called the Writing Station, that will add another level of difficulty. He'll be using spelling words that he knows but also making up his own sentences, and this is a great time to work more on editing skills. I've found it's easier to start working on writing more in depth after Level 3.

 

However, if you do need to have a piece or two polished up each year, give him a separate editing time. Encourage him to read through his sentences exactly as he wrote them, and to try to find any errors that he can (he can underline anything he thinks is misspelled). Praise him for any he finds, and also any he can fix. Then give him the spellings of the ones he doesn't know how to fix to help with the process. I wouldn't do a lot of this quite yet, as it's frustrating to kids who really struggle with spelling. After Level 3 he'll have mastered about 1000 common words, and it's a bit easier. It will still be work but he'll have more skills to apply then.

 

He's a smart kid, but (correct me if I'm wrong) he's old enough and his spelling is atrocious enough that I would be embarrassed in a group situation, like a co-op or something, where the kids had to write something down!!

 

Please advise.

 

ETA: I'm quite sure he did mean to write "d" all those times he wrote a "b" instead because he also has a major problem writing letters backwards. Especially b's and d's. And not uncommonly g, N, and others, too.

 

Reversals, spelling struggles, leaving out sounds are all common symptoms of dyslexia, so your inclination there may be correct. I don't know what steps you have taken to help him with motor memory to help correct reversals, but there are some good tips in this article.

 

I hope this helps some. Make sure you are making good use of the review box. 2-5 minutes of your spelling time each day can be spent in reviewing phonograms, sound cards, key cards, or word cards. I have found it very helpful for my children to review all of the mastered sound, phonogram, and key cards monthly (we choose one type of card each week). Make sure you don't move a card out of daily review until it's mastered--he should be able to answer with little or no hesitation and no self-correcting. I like to wait until Monday to move cards because they have to remember over the weekend, and it ensures better retention.

 

Hang in there! Merry :-)

[guateangel]

We did 2 full years of AAS and hit a wall. DD memorized rules but never applied those rules to her writing. It wasn't a good match for us (and that's ok.)

 

This year we are doing a mix of Apples and Pears (only on our 2nd week) http://www.prometheantrust.org/startspelling.htm

 

and spellcity for fun with games.

 

I understand the frustration, best of luck. :grouphug:

[Guest capecarnation09]

We are in our second year of homeschooling, so we are new at this still. But I have read that if you use a cookie sheet with a edge and sand and have your child use his finger to spell the words in the sand that added sense of touch helps with remembering.

[ondreeuh]

This is nearly exactly how my son spelled at 9. I tries many things, including AAS and Sequential Spelling -even Apples & Pears. I thought my son must be hopeless because nothing was really working (though A & P did help somewhat). From your son's writing, he needs to focus on phonemic awareness first. Phonics rules can't help if you can't break a word into sounds. This finally clicked recently for my son. Mine also has an auditory processing issue so he doesn't always hear things accurately, but being older has made it easier for him to work with that. I also started using the "over-teaching spelling" method on the SN forum here, focusing on the Spelling Plus word lists. Mastering the most frequent words has been a HUGE help and he is now guessing much more accurately on words he doesn't know. I am doing Saxon Phonics Intervention this year and it ties in spelling with the coding of words. He is finally spelling at about a first/second grade level and he is 11. for the first time I am confident that he will be able to write legibly. I predict that by June he will be up to a 4th grade level.

 

Phonics rules just weren't a good method for my son. He needed repetition and lots and lots of review of simple spelling pattns to at least give a foundation.

[msjones]

We're on Level 6 of AAS. I had hoped my son would somehow become a natural speller by now ;), but, alas, we continue with daily spelling lessons. And I'm fine with that.

 

He has had all of the struggles you describe with your son. My son now spells pretty well. It doesn't come easily, but he can manage nicely enough to write what needs to be written a a pace appropriate for 6th grade work. I'm very fine with that.

 

I'd say stick with AAS and keep at it at whatever pace he needs. He'll improve. It might take much longer than you'd like, but he'll improve if you keep at it. Just be thankful he's able to have your individualized teaching -- he'd really be struggling in a regular school classroom.

 

(Also, I purchased a little electronic dictionary for my son to keep in his backpack. That way, when he's in a group class, he has a quick and easy way to get spelling help if he needs it. He sometimes uses it at home, too.)

[PeterPan]

It's pretty hard to care about something that isn't going well. You're starting off already defeated. With the reversals you mentioned, he may have vision problems. You should get his eyes checked by a developmental optometrist. (COVD is where you find them.) More than one person thought their kid was dyslexic and realized it was largely a vision problem. Spelling requires visual memory, and it sounds like his is not kicking in.

 

Also you can read some books like "Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World" by Freed, which has techniques for visualizing spelling. People get confused and think a program ALONE will solve their kid's spelling problem. You can have a variety of problems leading into this, and it can take a variety of things working together to get him out. Understanding the parts of the words is FINE (we did SWR for years then AAS), but they also need to use the words in context. Are you doing dictation? Seriously, at that age I was doing a full page written of dictation a day with my dd. That's how much it took to take her from theoretically understanding to getting some automaticity on the words people really use frequently. We dictated SWR sentences, literature, etc. etc.