Is this something to worry about/work on? (spelling related)

[forty-two]

I do Spelling Through Morphographs with my dd11.  She does well with everything but the part where I orally spell a word (like w-r-i-t-i-n-g) and she's supposed to identify the word. 

 

She's truly abysmal at it, and nothing I've done to try to break it down into more manageable parts seems to help much.  She seems unable to remember the letters in order, and she also finds it very difficult to put the letters together into a recognizable word (once we can get them in her head in the first place).  Either something about the pattern of letters instantly sparks recognition in her brain, or she's stuck.  I've modified the activity by spelling the word in chunks - just the first morphograph, and after she gets that, adding on the next morphograph and so on.  And while the activity has the class first identify the words spelled by the teacher and then has the students spell the same words, I've started doing it backwards - having her spell the words first and only then try to identify them from me spelling them (so she has an idea of what she's listening for).  But none of that has really made it doable - she *hates* the activity and I don't feel like she's improving at it - I'm just repeatedly dragging her through it.

 

I'm tempted to just skip it (it's not a major part of the program), but I'm hesitant to do so when I don't understand the point of the activity within the program, and, more importantly, because I don't understand what about it is so hard for dd11.  Maybe this is evidence of an underlying problem that we really need to work on?  Thoughts?

 

(Honestly, I'm not sure I'd do all that much better myself - if someone orally spells a word without giving any visual input, it's all just gibberish for me, too.  I need to write down each letter as it comes in order to make any sense of it.)

[HomeAgain]

I'm miserable at it.

 

The first time I learned ASL, I learned to do it the way people teach children how to read: give them the letter names and expect them to translate names to sounds to words, all in a split second.  It was abysmal.  The second pass through, I was taught to see finger spelling as phonics.  I had to work hard to reteach my brain, and still have to slowly go through the word, but my comprehension is much better. 

 

What is the purpose of the exercise you are doing with her?  Is there a purpose?  How does it translate to real life or practical skills?  If you can't identify that, then I don't think it's a useful skill.  It might be marginally useful if you could identify it and then prove its worth, but right now?  Meh.  I'd say drop it.

[EKS]

(Honestly, I'm not sure I'd do all that much better myself - if someone orally spells a word without giving any visual input, it's all just gibberish for me, too.  I need to write down each letter as it comes in order to make any sense of it.)

 

Here is your answer.  The purpose of doing a spelling program with a child is presumably to help them learn to spell (and write).  Do you feel you are able to spell well enough to make your way in the world?  If so, then that particular skill isn't important.  I'd let it go.

Edited February 13, 2018 by EKS

[Rachel]

I’d skip it. In real life if someone were spelling something out so you could write it, you would likely only give a few letters at a time or give the letters slowly. You would probably tell them the word first too. Like if I was ordering something and they needed my name I’d say Rachel, R-a-c...

[Arctic Bunny]

Agreed. Why would anyone spell a word you weren’t writing/typing, and then without saying the word first? It seems a very inefficient use of brain power, really.