DD just cannot pass her spelling test

[Pantone363]

She's had the same 6 spellings for 4 weeks. She came out of school yedterday so disheartened that again she hadn't passed and has to do them again for another week.

We've tried everything, flash cards, her repeatedly writing them out, chalking them on the board, cutting out the letters and getting her to put the words together. Personally I am sick of reading the same bloody words over and over

Any hints or tips?! I'm tempted to just tell her it doesn't bloody matter or sharpie the words on her hand!

I should say I don't think they are traditional spelling tests! They get taken in groups with the TA to do their words (not out loud they have to write them down). If they get them write they get new words, if not then they try again for another week.

I'd have to check but I think they are from the list that children are now supposed to know by the end of year one.

I have a year one child and although she's quite quick at learning the spellings she forgets them very quickly and doesn't remember most of them when writing.
As government targets go it doesn't seem to have much basis in what 5/6 year olds are actually capable of.

Seriously! Those spelling are very difficult for a 5 year old. What is the point if she will learn them easily when a bit older. The danger is she will get nervous around spelling tests experiencing such failure at an early age. I'm a teacher in lreland and that age is too young for spelling tests and they begin with cat fat.

Really thesesoles? I'd be surprised if they were Year 1 spellings, DD is v middle of the road.

We will leave them for this week and do her reading words. Any ideas how to teach a kid to read 'thought' and 'through'?

June, yes I really don't want her to start dreading spellings, tbh its been me dreading getting them out each night!

I was a primary TA for twenty years, and words you listed are TOTALLY UNREALISTIC for average Reception children to learn to spell accurately. Plenty of Year 2 children I worked with couldn't even read them with certainty.

I would feel tempted to ask the literacy coordinator to explain the school's philosophy behind it. I can't even FIND a list of definitive spellings for Reception; I'll come back if I do.

Meanwhile, here is an EXCELLENT site for on-line activities, including Literacy, and spelling, but possibly not for Reception:

resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/interactive/literacy.html#3

Also useful, is a book I often recommend:

An inexpensive and easy to use book, that can encourage children with reading, spelling and writing, and really help them to understand Phonics, is reviewed in the MN Book Reviews section. Just search ‘Phonics’ and my name.

Cheat. Is there anything like a ruler she normally has on her to table during spelling test? Tell her to copy the words in pencil onto the table/ ruler/rubber whatever earlier on the day. And cheat.

Admittedly I was more like 9 when I was doing this, do it was my idea not mum. But it worked and got me through a tough set of words that my dyslexic brain was not retaining.

Actually, as your dd is younger... Get her to check for any of those words being on the classroom wall in posters etc.... " our birthdays" ," our class room rules" etc

Found the list!

From the expected at end of year one list: looked, called, asked, when, what (approx 100 words)

From the exceeding expectations at end of year one list: our, thought, through (approx 120 words)

This is the new curriculum unfortunately. It's very tough. I imagine the school is trying to get ahead, but it's not going to work for the children that aren't able to remember spellings yet.

Learn:
Look
Call
Ask?
Remember add ed

My DD is finishing reception. Never had spelling hw. Seems daft.
You shouldn't be getting the same spellings every week. Totally chuffing demoralising.

Thesesoles, wow thanks for finding that. Right not going to stress or expect her to do them now then! I thought they seemed quite tricky for her.

Wolf, love that trick, i'll tell her to look around the class lol

Glad your less worried now! I had a similar moment about maths about a month ago

We will leave them for this week and do her reading words. Any ideas how to teach a kid to read 'thought' and 'through'?

Are the school doing any phonics at all or are they just abusing the children with lists of high frequency words to 'learn' to read and spell?

Oh yes we had two whole terms of phonics/phonic combos to learn before the sight words turned up, then spelling the words, now reading them

I just hope that with this renewed emphasis on 'correct' spelling more people will come to appreciate how insane English spelling is and call for modernisation. It's cruel to force generation after generation of children to learn it. - Learning to read and write should not be so hard.

Just think about these:
called - crawled, mauled; looked - pulled, woman, would;
asked - ah, art, arse; what - want; when - went; our - hour.

There is no easy way of teaching or learning such utterly pointless different spellings for identical sounds. Before long there may be no need for it anyway, because many smart phones can already convert speech to text pretty well.

So relax, pantone 363. Help your dd with learning to read, because that's much easier than learning to spell. Don't worry about the spelling. Leave that to school for now. She is very young yet. Most people need at least 10 -15 years to become reasonably accurate spellers.

God, Masha, you are such a drama queen!

asked - ah, art, arse

And your spelling list has rude words in again!

I think you should gently complain about this. My DD had spellings only in year 1, and they are now very phonics based (weren't so much for first couple of months). It is pretty dreadful that they are essentially teaching your daughter that she can't do something. I'm not a teacher but any homework (in my view) should be about achievable challenge, not upsetting demotivation, which is what giving her something which has become stressful week after week. It is appaling. For whatever reason they are trying this (to get them ahead or whatever), in my view they should stop. Instead they should give her lists she can manage well and build her confidence back up.

Where has marsha got this 10 - 15 years, to learn to spell, obsession from? It's about as ridculous as most of her other claims...

we had two whole terms of phonics/phonic combos to learn before the sight words turned up

And how did she get on with the phonics in that time? Can she sound out and blend words that contain only the correspondences she has learned? Can she spell spoken words which contain only the correspondences she has learned? It would also be interesting to know what spelling strategy is taught at her school.

I'm asking because I think that if she has struggled with reading and spelling with the simple letter/sound correspondences there is no way she'll be able to cope with this idiotic insistence on learning to read and spell more complex HFWs.

This is a useful resource too

www.3plearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Spellodrome-and-the-UK-Curriculum.pdf

It is true that the government have produced a list of spellings each child 'should' know by the end of each year. It is utterly and completely unrealistic at every stage of the way, even my ace speller dd1 cannot do all 100 words for end Y6 and she's a level 5/6 reader and doing level 6 SPAG (Spelling and Grammar)!

In my opinion, you just have to let it go. You can't get stressed your child isn't a robot. My dd2 sounds like perhaps yours proudmama, I have not pursued a dyslexia diagnosis, but she definitely can't spell. I am working with her to be able to do all the Y1 words and be a great speller at easy words and she is in Y4/5! You are where you are. Don't let them get upset though, if they lose confidence in spelling and writing and start to believe they are no good, it's a killer. That's why I took my dd out of spelling tests/refused to do them at home- they were demotivating and didn't help her learn to spell! Now we do spellings at home, in our own time and at the appropriate level so she feels a sense of achievement.

Government policy on this is soooo stupid, it's untrue.

Where has marsha got this 10 - 15 years, to learn to spell, obsession from?

From my experience as a secondary English teacher, followed by 20 years of research.

At GCSE, by age 16, after 11 years at school, most pupils still make lots of mistakes. Those who do A levels and degrees continue to improve, but nearly half of adults remain weak spellers, because the amount of requisite rote learning is beyond them. They avoid writing like the plague.

Reception is a bit early to be worrying about spelling too much but you could try an online spelling website. These 'can' take the a lot of the pain out of learning. Our 10yo dyslexic DD uses www.primaryspellingonline.co.uk

My son struggled with spelling lists in Yr1 (lae July birthday) so I told the teacher we would try again in another terms time, by the last term of the year he was able to give them a fair effort. Teacher was fine with that. Yr2 he's great with the spelling tests. Its obscene to demoralise a five year over spelling lists / tests.

I don't think the new NC list is that bad is it?

Are schools teaching children how to learn spellings or are they just sending home lists of words to learn by rote or look, copy, cover, write, check?