Spelling curriculum for 9 yr old w/ ADHD

[scbusf]

DD is 9 and she really wants to improve her spelling. She just learned to read within the past 6 months. She does have pretty severe ADHD and meds don't work for her, so we are muddling through. We haven't done a spelling curriculum before, mostly because we have been focusing on getting her to read.

We have AAS, but is there something else out there that might work for her? If we use AAS, I'm assuming we should pretty much start at the beginning.

[Susan in TX]

We like Soaring with Spelling. It is easy to use. There is a lesson a week. The first day is a pre-test and if the student gets all the words correct they can go on to the next lesson. Days 2, 3, and 4 have various exercises such as word search, fill in the missing letters, scrambled words. These exercises are short and they really help the student to learn how to spell the words. The last lesson is the test. The words that are missed on the final test are added to the next weeks word list. It takes about 15 minutes a day.

Susan in TX

[Zoo Keeper]

My late to read child did well with Spelling Plus (when we finally got around to spelling...)  The handout on the website has a nice overview. It took him 2 or so years to work through the lists. We started at the beginning, and went faster through the lists he knew easily.  For this kid, focusing on rules and "tricks" of spelling caused him to shut down (he has working memory issues).  Short lists of words that he saw over and over and over again, in different ways (writing, saying, dictation) helped more than anything.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Zoo Keeper

[MerryAtHope]

I started my kids on AAS at ages 9 and 11. You do start at level 1, but the first few levels go quickly--my oldest almost finished level 3 that first year. It lays an important foundation for them though. Here's a review I did back when I started them. I hope you find something that's a good fit for you and your kids! 

[sarahrb]

I personally didn't have trouble learning to spell ... but my son is also 9, has ADHD and does struggle with spelling, so I will be watching this post with interest.

We did a little bit of spelling with a OG phonograms program in 1st grade, did a little bit of inconsistent spelling lists taken from literature last year (3rd grade), but this year are working through McGuffey's Eclectic Spelling book a week or two at a time.  My son has great vocabulary and is finally getting a little more confident in spelling, but it is still a learning process for both of us.

[ktgrok]

On 10/23/2019 at 9:04 AM, scbusf said:

DD is 9 and she really wants to improve her spelling. She just learned to read within the past 6 months. She does have pretty severe ADHD and meds don't work for her, so we are muddling through. We haven't done a spelling curriculum before, mostly because we have been focusing on getting her to read.

We have AAS, but is there something else out there that might work for her? If we use AAS, I'm assuming we should pretty much start at the beginning.

Yes start with level one, but you can shorten lessons. Get the letter tile app - I felt dumb paying $20 for it but it makes lesson so much faster and easier it is worth it. For lessons my DD is getting easily we don't spell on tiles AND write on paper - just one or the other. Usually on paper. And we just do a few of the sentences for those lessons, and none of the phrases. And we don't do the extra words. Lessons that she is struggling with we will do with tiles one day. then on paper the next day, then extra words plus  phrases another day, then more extra words plus sentences a third day. So very flexible as to how much time you spend on the lessons. 

[coastalfam]

You might try a program we recently found (8yo son has a writing disability as well as ADHD) called Touch Type Read Spell. It teaches spelling through an Orton-Gellignham method, at the same time teaching typing at the same time, and reinforcing reading. We initially tried it because we felt my son needed spelling practice separate from writing practice, and this was recommended for dysgraphia, however, as I observe the program, I can see the "over learning" aspect of it to be very helpful for ADHD (which I also have, so when I look at things like this, it is from both the parent perspective, and personal experience). Anyway, it's worth checking out. It starts at a very base level, but that is appropriate. My kids learned to read using AAR as well as Reading Lessons Through Literature, and even though both of those programs are so explicit in their teaching of how language works, it still seemed necessary to start at the beginning when it came to spelling.