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How can I improve my 6 yr old's spelling?

2 replies

rushrushrush · 08/10/2010 16:29

Without sounding like a pushy parent, dd is in Year 2 and will be doing entrance tests in January to two very academic schools where there are over a 100 children going for 20 spaces. The school feel that she is a very strong candidate - especially in Maths, Science, reading and written comprehension. However, the one area that "lets her down" is spelling where her spelling age is assessed as being "only" 7 yrs 11 months.. the school would like her to be more consistent in spelling...I agree. However, I just don't know how to support her in this. She hates rote learning and so I bought a spelling package on the computer which is OK but she gets bored with it. She writes lovely stories with descriptions and great story lines but sometimes I think she gets carried away and doesn't seem to think about her spelling. Any ideas welcome.

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halfapoundoftreacle · 08/10/2010 18:47

What a shame. Her reading age seems brilliant for her actual age.

FWIW, I really believe that (especially at this age) the fact that they want to write descriptive stories and use exciting words is something to be encouraged. If a kid gets pulled up for mis-spelling an interesting word it may be that they'll start using more basic vocabulary in the future.

I don't have a suggestion, I'm sorry to say, but I really feel for you. Let's hope they consider her as whole package rather than focus on her "apparant weakness".

mrz · 08/10/2010 19:21

I'm assuming the reading age is roughly a year above your child's real age?
In Y2 "phonetically plausible" spellings for more difficult words is perfectly acceptable but I would expect a child to spell "common" words correctly.
Is she taught phonics at school beyond the basic sounds?
knowing the alternative ways of representing sounds combined with knowing what looks right - l-igh- t rather than l-ie-t or l-i-te

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