DD 10yo still has very poor spelling. Would going over basic phonics again be feasible and worthwhile?

[bryte]

I just wrote a post and lost it so I will write this in summary format rather than repeat the 3 paragraphs I wrote!

• DD is in Y5. Teacher says she's 8 months behind average for spelling

• Teacher says good spelling will eventually come through reading; I'm not convinced. DD already reads well, has an above average reading age and reads ALL the time

• DD writes fast and writes a lot. Content and expression is good. presentation, compared to peers, is very poor.

• DD muddles up basic words, like the. She'll write teh. She copies words incorrectly. Graphs became garphs. She doesn't notice her error unless I point it out.

• DD never seemed to get phonics. She sight reads. When she encounters a new word and guesses it, she'll often say a word that begins with a letter from the middle of the word

I'm fed up with doing nothing. I'm worried she will get a great shock when she gets to secondary school. What's the best thing to do at home to help her? Would going over phonics help or does she just need to commit to memory the correct spelling of every word she encountners?

encounters

I learned to read as a sight reader and spelling was a discipline in its own right. We had to spell words endlessly for years and years and learn lots of rules like i before e except after c. (Those rules may well be technically incorrect but they're better than having no clue.)

I have bought DS1 the apples and pears spelling set. His spelling was attrocious, but the school didn't seem bothered that there was a 6year gap between his reading and spelling skills. His spelling a few months on still isn't great, but is improving. It includes spelling by hearing the sounds, breaking words down into morphemes etc. and he is gradually getting there.
They have placement tests on their website so you can start the books at the right level. It does need to be done at least 3 times a week to work effectively, but only about 10mins a session.

Thanks LMG I will have a look at that.

I think I also learnt to read by sight and just learnt to spell words by memory and repetition. I remember having to copy mispelt words out 10 times in the back of my writing book.

Another vote for Apples and Pears.
Really works.

I teach phonics and love it but I don't think it works for all children. Every year there are a few children who would benefit from a different input - sight reading/spelling for example may work better.

Apples and Pears can be very effective

If children don't learn to think about the order of sounds in words they often make the type of reading and writing mistakes you mention

Watching with interest as my DD in year 4 is exactly like this. She reads well and does well in spelling tests but her spelling in written work is below where it should be.

I suggest playing minecraft and get them to signage each room they create. Obviously with you helping in the naming procedures.

My mum's short hand is beautiful, trouble was she could write quicker in long hand. She did book keeping instead.

It sounds like she could be dyslexic. Dyslexics can be bookworms!

and current research suggests that dyslexia is caused by poor phonological awareness as BessieBuss has observed.

My Ds excels at reading but is extremely poor in writing and spelling. He definitely doesn't learn spelling by reading. He can barely copy words either. He was assessed as having Specific Learning Difficulties in spelling, writing and fine motor control. We were told to do Word Wasp ( like apples and pears) and it is administered by school 1-1 by a TA for ten minutes a day.

This was my DD in year3, her teacher told me similar as regards better spelling coming with reading & they all "get it" at different rates.

She's year 5 now & has more than caught up with herself in other areas, so seems the teacher was right - though in my DDs case her poorer handwriting turned out to be down to pain in her hands, special grip pens made a huge difference - as did getting her to slow down - she thinks faster than she writes, so was often tripping over herself - IYSWIM - I do this myself, so recognised it for what it was - not poor writing skills, but fast thinking

HTH

Mrsbaffield, Specific Learning Difficulties is another term for dyslexia, isn't it? ( i remember gettng the Ed Psych report and thinking it was something different, until the SENCO cleared that up for me!).

Off to have a look at apples and pears now...

Anyone tried toe by toe?

Apples and Pears is more user friendly (and effective IMHO) than Toe by Toe.
www.soundfoundationsbooks.co.uk/

Done Toe by Toe as well as Word Wasp. Toe by Toe is for reading, not spelling. Word Wasp does both.

I have been told by 2 SENCOs that DS's SpLDs are NOT Dyslexia. But I am a bit about it. Either way thay are giving him all the support they would give a dyslexic child so it doesn't really matter. I tell people he has dyslexia as people know what that is. SpLD is not a terribly useful label IMHO.

(Actually we think he has Aspergers, and are half way through the dx process...so the SpLD are a symptom of that...)