Strawberry Queen Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Well, my 6yo is just not retaining words in spelling. She is a terrific reader and is reading chapter books. She has finished unit 27 in Spelling Workout A. I then switched her to Spelling Power and she is really struggling to get through lists. She's just getting into long vowel words (after about 8 weeks) and she's really discouraged. She can't seem to remember from one lesson to another and we're doing spelling daily. For SP I have her copy 5 words, we work at analyzing them-initial, middle, end sound, recite them while moving, draw them in moon sand, etc. and then I have her do them without looking after a few days. Then we work on the ones she missed. My question is should I be concerned? Is this something that just needs more exposure? Does she need to do more writing in her day to help? She does one or two sentences for copywork. I'm thinking that maybe I should persevere with SP and add in more copywork than we do. Is it possible that this is a stage like reading, you know when they're stuck reading short-vowel words and can't seems to progress and then suddenly it all just clicks? Does this happen in spelling? FYI she doesn't do any independent writing like writing in a journal etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Pip Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Yes, this is something that can suddenly click!!! (Disclaimer: Not every kid will have a "click"; some might be lifelong terrible spellers). You are describing what my 8yo did at the age of 6, and what my current 6yo does. I dropped spelling for my 8yo when she was 7, and noticed a huge difference when we picked it back up around age 8 (suddenly, she could spell!) My 6yo has terrible spelling retention, sometimes getting 6 out of 10 words wrong on a test. I stopped worrying about it and just talk her through it on the test, LOL. It's a very informal test:) We also do www.spellingcity.com with our own word lists, and the games seem to help a bit with retention. I've also seen her score 100% on the practice test and then get most of them wrong the very next day on the final test. I think it's all NORMAL. At this stage, our goal is just to introduce them to the concept of spelling patterns. It sounds like you've done a lot of practice with your words - if she still isn't retaining, then I think it's probably a maturity issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenmomof3 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 This sounds like my dd. She has definitely improved as she has begun to write a little more now, but still has trouble retaining words on spelling tests. We too use Spelling Power which works wonderfully for my natural spelling ds, but I haven't seen the results in dd. I've heard great things about AAS which really drives home the rules of spelling. I'm planning to switch her to that this next year. You might want to check it out too. HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Sounds familiar. My 7yo is a strong reader with trouble spelling. We've tried Spelling Power, Natural Speller, and Sequential Spelling. None of them were a good fit. Even if she would learn the words, she had trouble with retention. She's finally making great progress using All About Spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerryAtHope Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Did you realize that Spelling Power is recommended for grades 3 and up? She may just not be ready for it yet. We like All About Spelling here too, that might be one to look at. Merry :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberry Queen Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Thanks for the replies so far. I think it might be a memory/retention issue related to age. She also has a hard time differentiating between 6 and 9, as well as the teen numbers. I think theses things may be related. Yes, I'm aware that SP is officially used in gr.3 and up. I just don't want to let bad habits develop. I don't test her at the beginning of her list, just after a weeks worth of work. I think that doing 5 words is reasonable, but maybe I'm out to lunch.;) I'm not sure I want a new spelling program although my cursory glance at AAS was interesting. I have 2 already. I would like to modify or add to what I already have if possible. If it's a maturity/experience issue then I don't want to shill out more $$ in that direction. What do you think about increasing the amount of copywork over the summer and reassessing in the fall? I just don't want to ignore a problem and have her struggle when I could have done something to help. Any other ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen in NS Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 My dd has been the same. I started doing spelling with her around age 5 or 6. She's 8.5 now, and has gradually gotten more confident with spelling - meaning, she will patiently listen while I tell her how to spell something when she asks (in her writing for fun that she likes to do) - I tell her the sounds instead of letter names and she doesn't contort on the floor anymore.:lol: For her, I think it has just been an exposure/age/maturity thing. She has also spent the last three years getting comfortable with reading - so I think the more years she reads, the more her spelling will improve, as I keep her going with our spelling program. Also, I have kept her on 5 words a day, instead of the recommended 10 or 15 or whatever in WRTR - she just couldn't handle more than 5. It was pointless to stuff words into her brain. Just last week, I tried out 10 words per day, and it is working now. There isn't so much stopping and starting. The tears are disappearing, now, too.:D hth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaof2andtwins Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Try using copywork and especially dictation to improve her spelling. Jennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 is what I just started with my 7 yo. He has read 83 chapter books and has a solid foundation in phonics, but the spelling lists were killing him. Not only was there little retention (okay zero) but he really dreaded the whole process of copying, memorizing, rules, etc. etc. He is a hard working diligent little boy and NOT given to complaint, so I really felt for him when I saw how he struggled with this subject. Then, a friend recommended Sequential Spelling. I can't speak to its long term benefits yet but after a week I can tell you that first of all the entire tenor of this program is one of success and encouragement. The TM is so simple, after the first four lessons you don't need anything but the lists, and you can teach it happily and effectively. It takes about ten minutes per day, no memorizing, no lists, nothing but the student writing down words you say, then you write hte word on the white board, trying to write the pattern part in green and the rest in black and working from the pattern out. I think your dd is probably just young for spelling anyway and I would also say the same for my 7 year old. Many times spelling doesn't really click even with good spellers until they've had a few years of good reading under their belts. BUT since this program is so easy to use, and so POSITIVE, I think it's worth a try now. http://www.avko.org/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4him Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 I was doing spelling with my dd at the age of 7 and she was major struggling. I simply quit. We did a little as we were going with what was built into her LA but it was very little and I didn't focus on it. We have just picked it up again(she is now 9) and she is flying with it. One of the things that I often do is have her do her spelling test with magnetic letters. Although she can do it on paper without a problem, she really enjoys 'testing' with the letters. It becomes more like a game. I don't do this every week for the test but she does get to spell her words with them almost every week. My 8 yr old ds goes blank when I dictate a spelling list to him. He looks at me as though I were a man from outer space.:confused: Maybe it is my hair that day but I really think he just isn't ready. I am taking the same route with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strawberry Queen Posted April 9, 2009 Author Share Posted April 9, 2009 Thanks so much for your input. I think I just needed some people to interact with over this issue. Things seem so much clearer when you're able to discuss it.:001_smile: I think I will keep going with the copywork and not worry about retention right now. I will also have her do the work of spelling-putting words together, looking at their parts etc. I'm guessing that things will work themselves out soon enough and she is young enough that waiting won't be detrimental. sigh. Now I can go into my long weekend and not have this niggling at the back of my mind. Thankyou :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rmcx5 Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 My DD9 is using All About Spelling. Spelling is her weakest area. Traditional spelling curricula just didn't stick. She could spell them on a "test" but not later in writing (even 5-10 mins later). We tried Spelling Power (which is a great fit for my DD10) with her and for over a year, she still misspelled the same words or would get them right on a test and then miss them again when it came up as a review word. AAS has been a wonderful blessing to her! She's completed level 1 and is part-way through level 2 and loves spelling time! It has also helped her phonetic skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motherdear Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 I would check out Sequential Spelling. You'd be amazed how much it helps the child you described. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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