8yo can't remember spellings

[alisha]

My 8 year old can't seem to remember how to spell many words. Recently, I discovered it for the word "what". One day, he spelled it incorrectly in spelling dictation, so, he wrote it 5 times. We talked about it, then I asked him to spell it again and he spelled it "wht" then erased that and spelled it "whet" and decided that was it. I was done for the day (too frustrated and confused to do anything else about it). The next day, I asked him to spell it again, and he spelled it incorrectly, so I had him write it correctly a few more times, along with other words, like who, where, etc. The next day, he still couldn't remember how to spell it. I first noticed this when he continually was asking me to spell him "lego" to type into the library card catalog. I think I've spelled it for him 1000 times over the past year.

He shows no other noticeable memory issues, and it doesn't seem to be any learning disabilities. I would say his memory is average for other things like people, math, etc.

So, my question is, apparently, writing words over and over is not helping him remember. What are other ways I could try? Maybe for the other ways of learning-like audio, kinesthetic? Other suggestions? Thanks!

[HomeAgain]

I always say if it's the same issue in 6 months, then it might be time to worry.  That's because kids grow so unevenly that it's hard to gauge if it's a brain lapse due to growing or something that's a real struggle.

I'll piggy-back off of OKBud - we do a lot of our spelling in dictation and copywork.  And right now I've had him switch to cursive because the memory in a full, connected word is stronger than in a set of disconnected letters.  My ds8 is having trouble with the word 'which' this week.  At the beginning, I remind him it is a question word, which jogs him to remember it is going to start 'wh'.  I'd like him to quit putting a t in there, ? but I'll take what I can get.  I watch his hand carefully as he writes.  As soon as that t starts to pop in, I have him stop, look at the word, tell me the problem and then erase the WHOLE word and start it from the beginning.  I don't want him to keep up the bad habit of starting the t, so the memory/habit has to start from the beginning again to change the course.

[ElizabethB]

Here is a free spelling test to see if he's actually behind or not:

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Spelling/spellingtests.html

And, some tests to check on his phonics and reading ability, do the nonsense words check and the reading grade level test at the end of my syllables page, you need to make sure phonics is solid or spelling is harder, links #2 and #6 at the end of the page in the testing files section:

http://www.thephonicspage.org/On Reading/syllablesspellsu.html

If he's not at least a grade level above his actual grade or he's below norms on the nonsense word check, I'd work through my syllables program before changing anything with spelling.  It teaches some spelling rules, too!

The word "what" is difficult to remember because of the schwa.  The letters a and o are most likely to schwa, knowing and thinking about that can help.  

 

Edited September 20, 2018 by ElizabethB

[SilverMoon]

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Edited September 6, 2023 by SilverMoon

[Earthmerlin]

Just as an aside, I have a auditory-visual learner and when she asks how to spell a word, I tell her to close her eyes and visualize/see it in her head. That oftentimes helps. 

I also get her to occassionally ask Alexa or Siri to spell to her.

I feel your pain though b/c my kid needs support at times with simple words too.