Questions about 3rd grade spelling

[Hobbes]

My almost 9yo is a truly awful speller. She is a speedy, voracious reader who makes few errors (though she does occasionally skip words), and an enthusiastic writer, often coming up with her own writing projects. She is very articulate and never seems to struggle with what to say or how to say it.

 

BUT her spelling is atrocious. Sometimes it seems like she doesn't even think of what sounds might be in a word, even when reminded. She's excellent at copywork (and dictation, if I help with spelling as she writes), which was our writing/spelling approach for the past few years. This year she began with R&S Spelling 3. We are on review lesson 12 and today she got 16 wrong out of 25. They were mostly mistakes that make some sort of phonetic sense (obay for obey, sallur for cellar, etc), but those are words she's seen for weeks now and some of them she's gotten correct in the past. She has had weeks when she's done better.

 

We work on a lesson for a week, I test her, then she writes and reviews misspelled words (spells them in the air, says the spelling, etc), and retests again the next week until they are correct. I see no improvement in her writing in general. I know that 8 is young, but her awareness of spelling seems very out of sync with the rest of her language abilities. She generally does not seem to be aware that something is wrong with the words she has written. This is a kid who likes to do things right in most areas.

 

My question is, what do I do at this point?

1. Finish the year with R&S 3, plan to continue next with R&S 4 because of the increased complexity of the exercises in Gr.4 and up.
2. Finish out this year with R&S and then switch to a different curriculum next year.
3. Switch her to something else after the Christmas holidays (or right away) - AAS? Apples & Pears? I'm not sure how to know which one would work best.
4. Something else?

I don't mind spending money and time if it would be helpful, but don't wish to do either if this is pretty normal and R&S will eventually pull her along. She doesn't mind doing it at all, aside from the frustration of missing a lot of words. 

 

If you've used R&S, have you noticed that it takes a while before it starts to sink in?

[HomeAgain]

I bought Spelling Power at a yard sale on a whim, and one of the things I took away from it is that the student must write down the rule they're working on at the top of the paper.  It's reinforcement, making them commit the rule to memory.  I think you can do this with any program.

 

We're currently using mostly dictation for spelling.  I use Dictation Day By Day, a free ebook that starts with Dolch list words and works up.  Each exercise piece (2-4 sentences) has review from the previous exercises so the spelling is rarely forgotten.  It has been working well for us.  We do it 3-4 days a week instead of 5 but I like the constant daily reminder.

 

 

[SilverMoon]

Totally normal. If you like R&S and it's otherwise working for you I'd just keep on keeping on for now. Repeat those rule boxes as often as necessary. She will start memorizing them just so she doesn't have to hear it again. lol

[Ellie]

My almost 9yo is a truly awful speller. She is a speedy, voracious reader who makes few errors (though she does occasionally skip words), and an enthusiastic writer, often coming up with her own writing projects. She is very articulate and never seems to struggle with what to say or how to say it.

 

BUT her spelling is atrocious. Sometimes it seems like she doesn't even think of what sounds might be in a word, even when reminded. She's excellent at copywork (and dictation, if I help with spelling as she writes), which was our writing/spelling approach for the past few years. This year she began with R&S Spelling 3. We are on review lesson 12 and today she got 16 wrong out of 25. They were mostly mistakes that make some sort of phonetic sense (obay for obey, sallur for cellar, etc), but those are words she's seen for weeks now and some of them she's gotten correct in the past. She has had weeks when she's done better.

 

We work on a lesson for a week, I test her, then she writes and reviews misspelled words (spells them in the air, says the spelling, etc), and retests again the next week until they are correct. I see no improvement in her writing in general. I know that 8 is young, but her awareness of spelling seems very out of sync with the rest of her language abilities. She generally does not seem to be aware that something is wrong with the words she has written. This is a kid who likes to do things right in most areas.

 

My question is, what do I do at this point?

1. Finish the year with R&S 3, plan to continue next with R&S 4 because of the increased complexity of the exercises in Gr.4 and up.
2. Finish out this year with R&S and then switch to a different curriculum next year.
3. Switch her to something else after the Christmas holidays (or right away) - AAS? Apples & Pears? I'm not sure how to know which one would work best.
4. Something else?

I don't mind spending money and time if it would be helpful, but don't wish to do either if this is pretty normal and R&S will eventually pull her along. She doesn't mind doing it at all, aside from the frustration of missing a lot of words. 

 

If you've used R&S, have you noticed that it takes a while before it starts to sink in?

 

As much as I appreciate Spelling by Sound and Structure beginning with fourth grade, I'm still a proponent of Spalding.  You could let your dd continue with SSS while you learn to teach Spalding, and start with that some time after Christmas.

 

[Hobbes]

I bought Spelling Power at a yard sale on a whim, and one of the things I took away from it is that the student must write down the rule they're working on at the top of the paper.  It's reinforcement, making them commit the rule to memory.  I think you can do this with any program.

 

We're currently using mostly dictation for spelling.  I use Dictation Day By Day, a free ebook that starts with Dolch list words and works up.  Each exercise piece (2-4 sentences) has review from the previous exercises so the spelling is rarely forgotten.  It has been working well for us.  We do it 3-4 days a week instead of 5 but I like the constant daily reminder.

 

That's a good idea, I haven't been reinforcing the rules so much. I could also get more intentional about dictation, I'll check out Dictation Day by Day.

Totally normal. If you like R&S and it's otherwise working for you I'd just keep on keeping on for now. Repeat those rule boxes as often as necessary. She will start memorizing them just so she doesn't have to hear it again. lol

 

Teaching spelling by wearing them down, lol, Sounds like a plan! Seriously, thanks. It's hard to gauge what's normal after a few months into a program.