Help with Spelling!!

My dd(10) is in the 4th grade. Each week, she is given 10 spelling words that are unrelated and offer no pattern what so ever for her to latch on to in order to have any hope of passing a spelling test. She is assigned to write the words 5 times each, write a sentence for each word and to make flash cards for each word. Needless to say, all this writing does nothing to get the spelling to stick in her brain. What alternatives can we do that might get her to the point where she can pass these tests. Or, what do I say to the IEP team that gets them to work around spelling and not count those grades? Her other subject grades are very good while spelling is just abysmal.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions.

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Permalink Reply by Yvonne Smith on September 29, 2011 at 1:08pm

We have similar problems here in the UK. The only thing that works for us is to pick out a few words from the list and make up a mnemonic (silly sentence) to remember it by.

Big Elephants And Ugly Tigers Imagine Frogs Under Logs = beautiful

My son and I try to see who can dream up the silliest sentence and so try to make it fun (whoever tells you to make things fun doesn't have to do homework with a stressed child!). We never get 10, but we do manage a few and he remembers them weeks later. Struggling this week though as the list contains words like claustrophobia - he's only 10!

Try to remember that given time she'll be able to use voice recognition software & eventually have a secretary to do her writing. Feels like a long way off though...

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Permalink Reply by JayneC on September 29, 2011 at 2:04pm

She does have a voice recorder and access to a computer but there is reluctance on her part to learn to use it and reluctance on the school's part to gently push the issue.

Today, we decided to try some multisensory attempts at learning the words, like writing is shaving cream, writing in sand, finger paints and using pipe cleaners to form the letters and make words. I think I will try mnemonic..... next week...

Thank you so much for your reply.

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Permalink Reply by Yvonne Smith on September 30, 2011 at 10:08am

Voice recorders are embarrassing and voice recognition doesn't get children's voices too well so can be frustrating. Typing isn't a favourite thing for us but we have started a fabulous typing programme called Nessy Fingers (look up www.nessy.com) which both my children love. It's for the English market so the accents may be wrong but I'm sure there's something fun out there for her to use. My son is much happier now I'm doing the programme too - we sometimes do it together. (Although I obviously can't be better than him!)

Doesn't help with spelling, but it we like to leap on words that have different spellings but the same sounds. (To and two and too, mane and main bow and bough etc) and make up sentences using the variations as many times as possible. I just do it and make it as silly as possible and hope he'll pick up and add to it. At least we're talking about spelling if not actually doing it!

Life is full of emotional highs and lows so just keep wading through the treacle.

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Permalink Reply by Rose on September 30, 2011 at 11:35am

My son is 17. We found nothing to help his spelling. He's dysgraphic so we used to work for hours to get spelling done. He typed up a paper the other day. The spelling, capitalization was GREAT!

" He's getting better." I told my husband.

"No, its spellcheck." he said realistically.

Your daughter has other gifts, I'm sure. Don't worry about it. I've known brilliant people who flunked a grade or two because of spelling or math. There's always homeschool--you'd be AMAZED how many would have labels in school, but parents choose to work on their children's gifts, instead. Let her know you love the she spells, it is a part of her.

Nobody is perfect.

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Permalink Reply by JayneC on October 1, 2011 at 5:40am

Thank you to everyone who responded. We met with the school yesterday and they are willing to make some changes to spelling with DD. She will be doing a systematic spelling list that will loosely follow an O-G model. So I think that this will be an acceptable alternative. As she practices phonemes, they will be incorporated into the words that she will be spelling each week. We are cautiously optimistic about the changes.

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Permalink Reply by Noelle Gibson on October 22, 2011 at 4:48am

My daughter - now a junior in HS - was resistant to all spelling approaches as well. They tried everything - even a sand table to improve tactile sensation (I thought it was a novel approach). When she hit Middle School they said "spell check will be her friend". From then on we focused on recognizing the word she means when it catches she's spelled something wrong; this she does well. She also realizes that she needs an independent editor to catch words like "there/their/they're" to make sure she used the correct version (spell check doesn't do this). Her IEP indicates spelling rules waived and use of a word bank. We are still practicing spelling though because she can't type the SAT's or ACT's (unless someone is aware of an additional testing accomodation that I'm not).

As her parent, I'm happy that her spelling skills don't matter to HER at all. She loves to write for herself and texts/tweets/posts/blogs constantly. I'm constantly amazed that her disability has not interfered with her love for the written word.

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Permalink Reply by CelticMom on October 23, 2011 at 3:40pm

Jane, if your daughter is able to type, you can consider using Wizardsspell as a practice tool. It is a subscription web-based software drill program for spelling practice. The software has many word lists in its list library, but you can also input whatever list the student is using at school. It sounds like the school has made a good move to base your daughter's spelling lists on an O-G system. Hopefully, they are also considering her current proficiency level and assigning words at her learning level, not her assigned grade level.

My son was just starting 9th grade homeschool when we began to use Wizardsspell. I had nearly torn my hair out trying to teach him spelling. His auditory sequential memory issues prevented him from reciting back spellings I gave him orally. His handwriting issues prevented us from using a traditional "write the word 5 times" approach- so no matter whether the words were at his level, used an O-G approach or no system at all, it didn't matter because I had trouble with both oral & written practice methods. By 9th grade, my son was proficient enough on the keyboard that I decided to give Wizardsspell a chance. At that point, his spelling was completely non-functional (beginning 2nd grade). By the end of the year, he had made a full year's growth in spelling, more than he had made in the previous 9 years of schooling. At that point, we started working with an O-G tutor and over the next year, with tutoring & using Wizardsspell for drill, he made closer to 2 years of growth in one year. We are continuing to work on his spelling with the software (takes about 10 minutes per day), but at this point, his spelling has become functional enough that spell check can actually be useful.

Wizardsspell is a good tool that got us over a major hump, so I mention it for anyone who may want to try it.

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Permalink Reply by JayneC on October 24, 2011 at 3:31am

Well, the school's interpretation of "O-G" spelling is nothing like anything I have ever researched about OG...what they have done, is made the list insultingly simple.

I will look into wizardspell. DD is not keyboard efficient and I am having lots of resistance from her at home to work on it...but after 6 hours at school using all of her energy and coping skills, she has nothing left to tackle the keyboard!

I cannot afford an OG tutor unfortunately.

Thanks again for the information! I appreciate it.

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Permalink Reply by Liane on October 24, 2011 at 1:13pm

My son had the same problem at his last school and would get maybe 25% of the words correct. His current school is much more technology focused and they have replaced their "spelling" test with a vocabulary test. Still a paper and pencil test, but the school realizes that kids today will have access to spell check so want the kids to focus on knowing what words mean instead of how it is spelled. That alone has pushed his grade on English up from last year!

Common sense goes a long way. Perhaps DS's school is the start of a new trend. Let's hope reason prevails!

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Permalink Reply by JayneC on October 24, 2011 at 2:45pm

Common Sense as well as follow through on practices is not happening where we are....glad for your son though!

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Permalink Reply by John Nizio on November 10, 2011 at 5:44pm

My son is 10, and has similar weekly tests. We noticed last year that if (before he looked at the words) we verbally called them out to him as practice and helped spell if needed, it would stick in long term memory much better than if he on his own, wrote the words out several times.

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Permalink Reply by JayneC on November 11, 2011 at 3:36am

We have tried calling them out verbally, singing them, clapping them, etc. Writing them several times is ineffective due to her dysgraphia. Writing is painstaking for her. She is able to do the new words they offer her. I'm thinking spelling will always be a weakness for her and that as soon as she decides that she wants to learn keyboarding....spell check will be her best friend. Until then, we are just trying to make sure that she can get through spelling.