Run out of spellings

[quietplease]

DD1 is 5 years 4 months (July birthday) and in Y1. She loves reading, writing and spelling and she's done really well with this, recently progressing to free readers.

She's finished all of the spellings for Y3/Y4 (medium frequency they call them...) and now I'm not sure what to do. I asked the teacher for the next lot of spellings (as she loves doing them) but she just said to pick some words from her reading book and teach her those.

Seems a difficult task to know which ones to choose. Is she saying this because the Y3/Y4 list is the last list they have? Any other ideas how we can help? She really enjoys having a little "test" at the weekend and amazes us how quickly she learns.

I'm a bit worried that I'm going to annoy mrz, not quite sure why.
If your DD is having fun, where's the harm?
I know a 6 year old who loves the Periodic table; names, atomic numbers, the lot.

AreYouAFreudOfTheDark that's your choice personally I have a problem with the idea of sending home lists per se

Goblinchild I really don't have a problem with children learning the whole Oxford English Dictionary if that makes them happy (my son learnt the NATO strategic defence doc for fun at 6) it's the whole school getting involved I find unnecessary.

Brigit - yes, she does. I thought about that when she was in reception and they sent her home with all this "advanced" stuff - what's the point spelling it if you don't generalise it?

She writes stories when she gets up every morning (half five...at least writing stories keeps her from waking us up). I'm more impressed with the developments in her imagination really because this time last year, she didn't have much, which is wny we pushed the playing side of things.

The teacher says she's "one of the kids we will be pushing" but they don't actually tell you what you're dealing with - is she moderately bright, very bright? I don't know.

What if you have a really bright kid and you're just trying to work out what you're dealing with and find a way to help them with their interests but people think it's a bit .

SkeletonFlowers neither

quietplease as I have stated twice the was for the school not you

Thanks for your advice.

One of the difficulties I find with books is that the content isn't always suitable for her age.

She brought three home last week. Two were okay but, though she could read the third book, she didn't understand what she was reading. Thankfully, the school did that book with her before we did and fair play to them - they spotted it and ditched the book.

The school seems unimaginative in its response. They might as well have photocopied a page from a dictionary for her to use. Not meaningful, amusing or investigative at all.
If she loves aspects of language, a series of lists may knock it out of her fairly quickly.

I'll see MRZ's and raise you a .

How utterly boasty clever of you.

this thread's gone weird W-E-I-R-D weird.

FWIW though I do agree that sending out list after list can be bad (and ruin the love of language in some cases) - in this particular case it presumably is good as OP's DD wants to do it. as I did when I was her age.

Get a grip - is this not a place to give and receive advice?

Am I not getting advice? Is this not useful for me? I have no desire to be "boasty".

What's your problem?

SkeletonFlowers Some children are capable, the school should be providing for children at the level of their capability.
So why are they sending home discontinued lists instead of something suitable to her ability?

I really like that idea about linking spellings to a topic - like Halloween. That's really creative and presumably kids lay down information when it's provided in context.

Hence lists being unimaginative. I get it.

It's like kids acquiring language - they aren't going to learn a new word unless it's provided in context.

That's why I pointed out that I was talking about 15 years in the past. Lest people believe that hubris filled me.

(I guarantee anybody starting a topic asking for advice about a bright kid is going to attract some weird flame-thrower!!)

Spellings linked to a topic may be a novel idea to you, but think about it - they are still a random list of words, with no common spelling pattern to help spell them. The worst way to learn spellings, really.

Ooh Goblin, I once wrote a report about a child to a paediatrician using the word "lest". My colleague fell about laughing and said the word was no longer in common parlance.

You just proved that wrong!!

quietplease I would suggest if you decide to go down topic words route, asking her to use them in a sentence That way she acquires understanding of meaning/use perhaps extending vocabulary in the process.

Feenie

There seem to be two ways of approaching spelling.

My DD's school seem to have lists that they attribute to a year group (or groups). They call them high frequency and then medium frequency.

My godson is also in Y1. His spelling list is more linked to patterns, like light, might, night.

Sometimes when DD has been learning a new word ("light" being a good example), I have automatically taught her the other "ight" words. She's always remembered them because of the pattern.

I wonder how each school decides which approach to use? Surely there's research to say which is most effective??

Good point, Mrz. The school did suggest that - "get her to spell something form her reading book and put it into a sentence".

I was just hoping they'd be more specific - hence wanting a list.

There is. All research points to random lists of spellings with no context whatsoever as being useless.

if a child is really talented and enthusiastic about spelling (as opposed to a dyslexic/reluctant/struggling child) does it really matter how the spelling words are chosen?