Poor spelling in yr2 - should I be concerned?

[Poppyella]

My dd1 was 7 in February and is currently in year 2. This year she has been in a class of only 15 in a 'good' state primary with a really keen and dedicated teacher.

She loves learning, is always sitting at her desk, playing teachers and writing/drawing.

I would just like to share a couple of sentences from a story she recently wrote (she'll spend hours writing stories for enjoyment).

'Wons a pon a time ther livd some crumbs. they wor etaldol. but evreone thot they wor posoonos. ther wor 2 crumbs.

I cood not find the crumbs ene wer. I chetcd evre house in the wold.

There wor tow gols. But I bib not know what they wor bowing. I folod them. they said go a wey.'

Translated:

'Once upon a time there lived some crumbs. They were edible. But everyone thought they were poisonous. There were two crumbs.

I could not find the crumbs anywhere. I checked every house in the world.

There were two girls. But I did not know what they were doing. I followed them, they said go away.'

I love the fact that she writes for hours (ds never did!) and loves doing it but I am concerned about her spelling. I recently had a parents evening with the head, because her class teacher was sick, who said she is a poor speller but doesn't think she is dyslexic. She was going to suggest some games for dd to bring home to help (this hasn't happened).

Then the next week her class teacher said if I wanted the school to, they would get her assessed for dyslexia. This was tagged onto the end of an 'open class' session and only after I questioned her teacher about her spelling. Surely if she felt this might be a possibility she should have approached me sooner?

Also, she is currently stage 7 (turquoise band) ORT level. Last week she was in floods of tears, desperate to be able to read 'books' - she has year one children coming into her class who are above her in reading levels. She so wants to read for enjoyment (again, I'm not used to this, ds never did!). I feel so sorry for her because I am sure if she could she would sit and read for hours.

It's like it doesn't click for her and until now I just thought it would come naturally in time (we read together at home but I am not really that 'pushy' - maybe I should have been).

I guess what I am trying to say/ask is what do you think of the above spelling for a Y2 child and is Level 7 OK at this stage? Her teacher says she is above average and coming on really well but I'm really not so sure.

Any comments/advice would be really gratefully received.

[mrz]

I teach Y2 and I would correct some and leave some alone.
To be honest from what you have written I wouldn't be thinking dyslexia (but obviously you and the teacher know her). It seems to me she is writing as she talks rather than spelling words correctly.
The "wons a pon" rather than "upon" so I would be saying it clearly so she can hear up -on the same with "wor" instead of were "thot" rather than thought (if she had written thort it would have been acceptable as plausible) the same with "wold" instead of world (werld/wirld/wurld would be plausible attempts).
She is reversing b/d but that is quite common even in Y2 but worth keeping an eye on.

[amazonianwoman]

Not a teacher, but my DD is in year 2 and is 7 in June.

I raised the same concerns re spelling at the parents' evening before Easter but was told that phonetic spelling is still acceptable at this stage. The teacher reckons about 80% of them are still writing phonetically (class of 33 in an "outstanding" primary)

If I ask her to spell words she does really well, it just doesn't always translate to the written word. She too loves writing and playing teachers, so I just keep encouraging and focus on the key words (esp ones she's had in spelling tests)

From reading stuff on the classroom walls at parents' evening I'd say your daughter is ok.

Reading - DD is on level 9 ORT, should be on the next level in the next couple of weeks, but plenty of children are on level 5/6 in her class. None are above level 10 AFAIK. They do tend to trawl through every book in each level, I try to push (yes, bad pushy parent) if I think she's finding a level easy and her comprehension is great.

Maybe try giving her some nice books to read herself at home. DD loves this, makes her feel so grown up! The Rainbow Fairies books are good, also Poppy & Max series, Delphie ballet series, shorter Roald Dahl like The Twits. We're reading Enid Blyton at the moment - the Naughtiest Girl series - she reads some then I read some. Also the early reader ones from M&S eg Sleeping Beauty, the Shoemaker and the Elves.

Hope this helps!

[Mashabell]

Phonically, she is spelling pretty well. The only words I could not read immediately were ?etaldol? and ?chetcd?.

She is already spelling many of the tricky words correctly: some, crumbs, one, they, find, know, what, said. And as Mrz, says, d and b reversals are common.

I would be very reluctant to make too much of her phonic spellings, in case that kills off her creativity. She is probably getting plenty of structured writing practice at school. If at home she is writing for pleasure, I would not want to interfere.

In the early school years it?s very hard for children to concentrate on what they want to say and the correctness of their spelling. It takes many years to train children out of phonic spelling into ?correct? English spelling, because there is so much to learn ? //www.englishspellingproblems.co.uk

[Oblomov]

Ds1(7)'s school send home the list of 50 frequent words, for easter.
They will have a spelling test first week back.

again
because
should
would
could
can't
don't
laugh
many
people
school
want
when
your

ds, has spelling test every week. a list of 10 words comes home on a friday night. do you ? how is she actually learning these words ?

[EssexBecca]

I have no idea whether you should be concerned but can tell you about my year 2 DS and what I know of his class as it might be useful.
DS is on ORT L8 and is at least average, if not a bit above. School does not 'hurry' through the stages but ORT L7 would be average in his class and no cause for concern.
However, his spelling is if I am honest, much better, I would say 70% of DS words are normally spelt correctly, with 1 or 2 letters out in the others (say the I missing from again for e.g.). He has had weekly spelling tests since reception which has drummed in many common patterns - has your school been doing this? If they hadn't I wouldn't be surprised, if they have then, personally I would start to wonder why they are not sinking in. They also do regular dictation to help this sort of thing - does DD do that too do you know? I do know there are other children in DS class who spell (almost) perfectly and others who spell similarly to your DD so a hige range.
Finally I would add that your DD's story shows a lot of imagination which can't be a bad thing!
Hope that helps.

[pinkhebe]

The story is great! my ds spelt like that in yr 2 but no way had the imagination of your daughter

[southernbelle77]

I asked my DD, 6 and in yr2 to write me a story today as she hates writing so wanted to encourage her and check her spellings - this is what I got...

One sumers day a fox and a dog were born and they were called Willy and Popey.

I was pleased with her spelling but asked where the rest of the story was. She told me that was it!!

I would be very pleased if she wrote as much as yours and with such imagination. I would maybe be a little concerned about the spelling but as others have said, she is spelling phonetically and probably not thinking about correct spellings while her creative juices are flowing so freely. Have you seen any of her structured writing from school? The spelling might be different there.

[allchildrenreading]

Get a whiteboard and put 4 tiles or squares of paper with:

u p o n
at the top of the white board.

put four dashes on the whiteboard


'What's the first sound you hear in 'upon'?
'u'
slide the 'u' under the first dash
and so on for the four sounds
slide your finger under the sounds as she reads them

then ask her to write the word 'upon' , saying the sounds as she does so.

if she decides that the third dash is 'n' instead of 'o', then slide your finger up to the third dash, saying the sounds /u/ /p/ /o/
Then simply say the sound here is /o/ while pointing to the 3rd dash.

does this make sense? It's the best way I know of noting that there's a place for every sound and works for all words.

[Poppyella]

Thank you so much for all your responses. They have made me feel much better. I guess I don't really think she has dyslexia when I have looked at other traits/characteristics of children who have. It's just when a teacher suggests testing for it, you do begin to wonder.

She gets given spellings every week but often doesn't bring them home, I know, bad mother didn't realise this until the other week. I thought it was the school being disorganised! Now I know, I asked the teacher to make sure she puts the list in her book bag and will make sure she does them religiously!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the fact she has such a good imagination and spends ages writing (quote the other day 'I love learning, I wish there was school on Saturday!') Writing gives her so much pleasure and I would never criticise her spelling directly, I don't want her to not do it in fear of getting the spelling wrong. The above quote from her story is only a few sentences out of 6 pages of writing!!

Today we went to the library to get some books out that she fancies reading. And thank you allchildrenreading for the tips on helping.

I read a thread last night about dots and dashes under individual letters, 2 letters together and 3 letters together and how this helps children know what they say IYSWIM. This sounded so logical and simple to me that I asked her tonight if she had ever done this at school. She hadn't. Can anyone point me towards a website that teaches me this approach, or in fact what it is called!

many thanks once again.

[maverick]

'I read a thread last night about dots and dashes under individual letters, 2 letters together and 3 letters together and how this helps children know what they say IYSWIM. This sounded so logical and simple to me'

It is!

Have a look at

Superphonics Spelling. Ruth Miskin. Pub. Hodder Headline. An inexpensive, synthetic phonic spelling programme in one book, for parents to use with their children. <a class="break-all" href="//www.amazon.co.uk/Superphonics-Spelling-Ruth-Miskin/dp/0340851953/ref=sr_1_3/202-3622612-1314237?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183027729&sr=8-3&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">//www.amazon.co.uk/Superphonics-Spelling-Ruth-Miskin/dp/0340851953/ref=sr_1_3/202-3622612-1314237?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183027729&sr=8-3&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[mumof2littlegirls]

• This story could have been written by my ds Y2 age 7. She will also spell the reception words correctly if asked, but in any example of her story or diary writing, most of the words will be incorrect (but interpretable), many with the vowels missing. We do use the decoding method, sounding out the words carefully, she is then able to spell them more or less accurately, but seems to need her hand holding to do this. I am just trying to be patient, and just hope that it will 'click' soon!!

[DiveBomb]

My DS, also 7, also does well on spelling tests but then spells the same word more 'creatively' when he writes. I find it helps to say to him before he begins writing, "Have fun with the story, but remember to think about the spelling, too." The improvement on just mentioning this to him is remarkable! It's as if he is so involved in the story that his busy brain doesn't have time for spelling, too.