momto2Cs Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 My dyslexic dd has only really made huge progress in reading this year, going from about a 2nd grade reading level to just about on grade level (6th). Since we were so focused on reading, we did not focus a lot on spelling, and it turns out she has terrible spelling... very phonetic approach that is not working well. I am looking for something simple and straightforward, and like the looks of Spelling Workout, but I have no idea where to place her! Any advice? I don't mind starting her fairly low in the sequence and working though it more quickly if that works for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 How fantastic that she has made such amazing progress in her reading! Kudos to both of you :) Dyslexics usually have as much (if not more) difficulty with spelling as with reading, so that's perfectly normal. It sounds like a good time to start doing some work in that area. I wouldn't necessarily recommend Spelling Workout, however. For a dyslexic, you really need an explicit, step-by-step approach designed for struggling readers/spellers. I would look into All About Spelling, Apples and Pears and Sequential Spelling. I believe AAS has placement tests, I'm not sure about the others. Be prepared that her spelling level may still be several grade levels below her current reading level. If she is at a point to work with multi-syllable words (grade 4 and up), you could try Megawords. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shay Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 I would also advise you to go a different route than Spelling Workout. Apples &Pears (I know, weird name, but excellent program) has a great track record with dyslexics. It will require one-on-one for each lesson, but it is open and go with no prep time required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 As someone whose kid went all the way through Spelling Workout at grade level, I would find a spelling program that is geared towards dyslexic kids. Spelling Workout was fine for my intuitive speller, but my worried, insecure speller is doing much better with Rod and Staff. SW just provides so little instruction. It is a lot of rote copying. I just feel like a dyslexic kid has fairly specific needs with a spelling program. If you really think SW is the best program to meet your kids specific needs, I am taking a blind guess, but maybe 3rd or fourth grade and then work forward. You absolutely do not need the teacher's book because it is just a filled in workbook. Oh..and look at samples of SW, maybe at Rainbow? Because it might switch to cursive in the spelling book, but I can't remember. I know R&S does in 4th grade because my 4th grader has a difficult time with it and he grumbled quite a lot at the beginning of the year. And a big congratulations to both of you on the big strides! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 I'll fourth the suggestion that you look at something besides Spelling Workout. It doesn't explicitly teach spelling, and you could complete the lesson without even reading the rule box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 I will continue searching then, and will check out the recommendations you all made. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted April 30, 2015 Author Share Posted April 30, 2015 How fantastic that she has made such amazing progress in her reading! Kudos to both of you :) Dyslexics usually have as much (if not more) difficulty with spelling as with reading, so that's perfectly normal. It sounds like a good time to start doing some work in that area. I wouldn't necessarily recommend Spelling Workout, however. For a dyslexic, you really need an explicit, step-by-step approach designed for struggling readers/spellers. I would look into All About Spelling, Apples and Pears and Sequential Spelling. I believe AAS has placement tests, I'm not sure about the others. Be prepared that her spelling level may still be several grade levels below her current reading level. If she is at a point to work with multi-syllable words (grade 4 and up), you could try Megawords. HTH! Yes, her spelling is definitely a few grade levels below her reading at this point, so I am prepared to "backtrack". I would also advise you to go a different route than Spelling Workout. Apples &Pears (I know, weird name, but excellent program) has a great track record with dyslexics. It will require one-on-one for each lesson, but it is open and go with no prep time required. Since you both recommended it, I will definitely check out Apples & Pears. As someone whose kid went all the way through Spelling Workout at grade level, I would find a spelling program that is geared towards dyslexic kids. Spelling Workout was fine for my intuitive speller, but my worried, insecure speller is doing much better with Rod and Staff. SW just provides so little instruction. It is a lot of rote copying. I just feel like a dyslexic kid has fairly specific needs with a spelling program. If you really think SW is the best program to meet your kids specific needs, I am taking a blind guess, but maybe 3rd or fourth grade and then work forward. You absolutely do not need the teacher's book because it is just a filled in workbook. Oh..and look at samples of SW, maybe at Rainbow? Because it might switch to cursive in the spelling book, but I can't remember. I know R&S does in 4th grade because my 4th grader has a difficult time with it and he grumbled quite a lot at the beginning of the year. And a big congratulations to both of you on the big strides! I think level C is where it switches, but has both print and cursive side-by-side. Question for you, is the spelling from Rod & Staff explicitly religious? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 I think level C is where it switches, but has both print and cursive side-by-side. Question for you, is the spelling from Rod & Staff explicitly religious? It is explicitly religious. Very. At least once a book we get to skip an entire chapter because all the spelling words are titles of books in the Bible (at least I think they are, lol). And this year, in 4th grade every chapter ends with a bible activity. But we have learned to just skip bits or ignore parts. There is so, so much in every week's lesson that it is super easy to skip specific questions and occasionally whole exercises. I use R&S grammar starting in 5th grade so its all a bit 'down the hatch' at this point. I know I mentioned R&S spelling as one that was a good fit for my nervous speller but I am not so sure how it would work for a dyslexic kiddo. I was just thinking that maybe other spelling books also switch from print to cursive. I've only used SW and R&S, so I don't know if they all do. It made my ds2 VERY unhappy, so I can imagine a kid who struggles with reading wouldn't be thrilled, kwim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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