Spellings

[Mummyneedsginnow]

Hi, I'm not sure it's AIBU however I felt I may get some more responses, my daughter is year 4, originally diagnosed with Global Development Delay however now specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia.
Each week for last 4 weeks she has bought home her spellings, 10 words, since beginning of term she has got 3 weeks of zero out of ten, one week she got one correct, she finds this upsetting although I reassure her and encourage, we practice daily.
She is currently unable to confidently recognise the 100 high frequency words/spell them fluently, words such as - called, about etc, her spellings set by school this week were words such as venomous, generous, dangerous etc, she cannot read them, spell them, or in some cases understand their meaning, I feel it would be more beneficial for her to confidently spell, recognise and read the common words before moving on to the more complicated ones.
I work in education however am an autism/Sen TA so not overly familiar with common practice, she does not receive one to one support and I understand teachers and assistants are hugely under pressure however I hate to see her so disheartened when yet again she gets a zero score, and myself knowing she has far more useful words to learn (I don't know if that sounds how I mean it too)
Sorry it's so long, just didn't want to drip drip

I'm not sure what I'm asking btw, just feeling a bit lost, I'm not going to go ranting to school, complaining etc, just not sure how best to approach the situation

I'd contact the teacher explaining that although you are putting in effort daily they are just too advanced for her. Suggest she is permitted to work on the 100HFW instead.

Your daughter’s treatment is outrageous by the school. They absolutely should be setting different spellings/offering support.

People do famously well who have dyslexia but they take a different method to get to the same outcome. Trying to teach a dyslexic individual and an individual without dyslexia in the same manner is just wrong.

I would head straight into school and ask for further support/be clear your daughter is not doing the spellings. Reach out to dyslexia Charity they will be able to give you great coaching and support.

(If school is not forthcoming, I'd still just switch to the 100hfw.)

I think you need to speak to the school and find out how then can help your DD, this run of zeros will destroy her confidence.
If they don't offer any solutions can you do your own weekly spelling test? With useful words and words that you think she'll be able to manage, maybe one or two thrown in that you know she can do to build her back up a little 🌻

To make it clear, I mean as a fun extra with no issues of she hasn't time or inclination

@Duckduckduck123@Bringonspring@TeenPlusTwenties

Thankyou for your responses, I am encouraging learning the high frequency words at home, lots of fun practice, but yes it's getting to her that she's not getting things right at school, I will approach the teacher and the SENCO, politely and offering all the support I can.
Im just not sure I see the point of her learning words she's no where near ready to use in context, let alone fact she can't read them, when everyday words are in some cases still a mystery.
Her class TA is unfortunately not very pleasant and both her and my son have had very harsh words from her and daughter just wants to please her.

Thankyou all for your advice and support

Not acceptable from school. The spellings are obviously too tricky. The words given should be differentiated to meet her needs, extend her knowledge from where she is. She should be practising daily and, if so, getting the majority correct.

I would be asking her teacher if everyone gets the same words and how they have assessed her so far, have they recently assessed her spelling age to decide what is appropriate?

@Allgirlskidsanddogs she's regularly assessed and I would hope the zero scores would be noted, there are as far as I know 3 spelling lists each week, hers being the easiest of the 3.

Her paediatrician has said she will reach her potential with a differentiated curriculum, however I appreciate it's hard to meet all needs of all abilities in a class, just hate to see her down and dejected

Thankyou I will question this politely

I spent years banging my head against a brick wall for my two eldest saying their reading books were too hard, their spellings were too challenging. I really felt that what they needed was repetition and reinforcement of skills, rather than pushing them on before they were ready. Now they’re in Years 7 and 8 and still not properly fluent readers and with atrocious spelling. I’m going to Home Ed my youngest as I don’t like the way schools have to teach what’s on a year group’s curriculum whether or not the children are ready for it.

I would definitely be following this up. There is no excuse for continuing to give these spellings when it's clear this isn't appropriate. I know what you mean about workload however sourcing a set of even cvc words which would allow her to consolidate her skills and experience success isn't really a lot to ask for. You sound like such a lovely supportive parent, I hope this gets sorted.

My frustration is I have suggested an ECHP as she has various difficulties which I appreciate puts a pressure on school staff but was told she didn't have a hope of getting one

So I don't necessarily feel guilt about asking them to adapt things, just don't want to be "that parent"

I do read with her daily and practice spellings and word spotting when out and about etc

Print out the list of 100 words and use them in a program called precision teaching it’s on a website for Gwen and John

Type in 3 words she doesn’t know and 2 she does. She has one minuet to read as many words as possible - over 3 days her score should increase with fewer mistakes.

Then swap the words.

It’s quick and repetitive and they make progress.

On the teacher note there’s no harm is letting her sit out the spelling test. Maybe suggest she does a job around school while they do it.

@BluebellsGreenbells I have a laminated list that we pick random off of, look cover write check, etc

I will look that up now thankyou

Does she have SEN support in school? Can this be arranged.
Her spellings should be tailored to her level. Definitely speak to them

DS2 is y5 and struggled immensely with spellings due to chronic glue ear (he wears aids now). In y4 we discussed it with school and he was put on an IEP which meant he practised in school every morning with a small group and did his test outside the classroom. It really helped and he went from 1 or 2 out of10 to around 7. I would press school for an IEP it's about small adjustments and dosent always require monet. Ds2 will never find spelling easy but he gets less disheartened.

@Veterinari she gets a very small amount of small group work with approx 4 to 5 others of varying needs, she finds this difficult as they generally don't get much done due to disruptive behaviour etc

Unfortunately due to her poor self esteem and issues she's very quiet, doesn't speak up or make a fuss which means she's often left to get on with things.

@Makinglists I've been told her potential is limited however my main focus is that she achieves what she's capable of, whilst most important that she's happy and feels proud of herself, regardless of her limits

Yeah I'd say talk to her teachers about focusing her spellings on high frequency words and maybe using precision teaching to support this. Say she had 6 spellings and got 2 wrong, those 2 roll over to the following week along with 4 new words

I too agree that she should focus on her HFW. However if she has not got a 1:1 and there are already 3 sets of spellings finding another time for the teacher to test her on her special spellings might be a challenge for staff. Not an excuse but just a thought.

I appreciate you want to be polite and supportive of the school, but maybe it’s time to get a bit ranty? The school clearly have no idea of her needs and are not supporting her or differentiating appropriately. There are many, many things that can be done to help her with her literacy.
You don’t need the school to apply for an EHCP, you can apply yourself if you think it would help.

@Yellowcar2 definitely that's why I'm willing to do all the work on the HFW and practice/test, just breaks my heart to see her come out of school with the zero in her book again

@ZZGirl definitely agree

I'm inclined to agree with Elisheva
As a rule, I too would start with working along with the teachers and trying to be supportive, but if she has got to Yr4 and they are just ignoring her needs, then it is time to be firmer, and challenge them as to why they aren't differentiating the work to meet her needs.

OP have they not contacted you/written a letter about zeros or are they corrected by her and the teacher doesn't see? I think everything you're doing sounds right and itsup to the school to start figuring out how to help and take a step back to the last spellings she could manage and see how to move on. And OP well done, your little girl is lucky to have you

@Elisheva sorry I missed your post, they've told me she definitely wouldn't get an ECHP as the budget of £6k it whatever it is covers what she needs.
I appreciate I need to be firmer, I think I'm just trying so hard not to ruffle feathers and coming from an education environment I know majority of school staff are trying their best, but no your right the times come to be firmer.

@BackforGood thankyou yes I agree

@stayathomer they are corrected by a member of staff, I'm not sure who, thankyou, both mine are SEN although completely different, like 99.9% of parents I'm just trying my best