How can i support my 10 yo with spelling?

[HeyMacWey]

DD has never been a natural with spelling - school say she has a solid understanding of her phonics and she can learn her weekly spellings easily, but as soon as she's onto her next lot she forgets how to spell the previous ones.

She also struggles to 'have a go' with new spellings and misses out chunks of the word. It's as if her brain can't make the connection between the sound of the word and how to logically spell it.

What can I do to support her with spellings? She recently did some spelling assessments at school and didn't do that well which she was really upset about - she said that she panics and her brain goes to mush.

Any ideas?

I suggest that you read the advice I have given in this thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/primary/2466730-Yr-3-high-frequency-words

The principles of the method remain the same whatever the age or stage of the child so you can modify according to what you think your DD is capable of.

Spelling is not as easy as reading because the child has no 'prompt' to remind them of how to do it; in reading they have the words on the page. Spelling difficulties affect far more children than do reading difficulties.

Teachers are slowly beginning to realise (with honourable exceptions) that phonics for reading is a Good Thing, but phonics for spelling is taking longer for them to cotton on to...

Thank you - I'll take a look - much appreciated!

This was the flag to my DD's dyslexia and it came to a head in year 5. She was bright and had had coping methods that worked till that point.
She specifically has a visual processing disorder in her case her phonics knowledge is excellent and can read really well, however, there seems to be no connection between phonics and Phonemes for spelling.
As it is a visual processing disorder no matter how many times she writes it down it does not aid learning.
However, assessment found that her auditory processing is very advanced so we now learn with Flash cards and her saying the word and then spelling it with phonics out loud. It is helping, but we have a long way to go as she can't spell all the words on the new lists for years 1 and 2 - notably squirrel and hospital are big stumbling blocks.
I would ask if any kind of assessment has been made of her processing ability?

Thank you - I'll ask the school.
DD is the same - bright and model pupil, just struggles with the spelling.
Interestingly, when she used to read out loud, if she came to a word she didn't recognise she'd struggle to read it and say a random sound rather than be able to break it down. She does seem to have overcome this, but planning on doing more reading together to see if she's really got it cracked.

Forgot to add she currently using a chunking method to spell out her weekly spellings. This works well for her but doesn't transpose when having a go at new ones.
Will try the steps outlined in the other thread.

lonecatwithktten

Spelling is not a visual skill so why should a visual processing disorder affect it?

Or is this what a senco has told you?

Maizie no not SENCO, but dyslexia research trust, where she us part of a long term research program. Schools make spelling visual by getting children to write them out again and again in silence. This will never ever work for DD. The technique I have described is helpful, but slow.??It is much, much more complex than I have briefly described. The crux of her problem is her brain does not connect phonics and phonemes. Problem complicated by having excellent auditory processing, but having a long term hearing loss.??My point is initially the only sign was poor spelling.

Maizie no not SENCO, but dyslexia research trust, where she us part of a long term research program. Schools make spelling visual by getting children to write them out again and again in silence. This will never ever work for DD. The technique I have described is helpful, but slow.??It is much, much more complex than I have briefly described. The crux of her problem is her brain does not connect phonics and phonemes. Problem complicated by having excellent auditory processing, but having a long term hearing loss.??My point is initially the only sign was poor spelling.

Apologies for double posting trialling the new app and it had a glitch.

I always think it helps to really UNDERSTAND what is going on in words and spellings, and suggest this as being very helpful:

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.

Schools make spelling visual by getting children to write them out again and again in silence.

Really? Which schools do that?

Spelling is a product of breaking words into their component sounds and writing a grapheme (sound spelling) for each sound. Writing the graphemes, and saying the sound each represents as it is written, helps to develop motor memory. There is no visual element involved unless someone is trying to push the completely useless idea that one should visualise the word before attempting to spell it.

What is the dyslexia research project that your DD is involved in?

It is the Dyslexic Research Trust based at the University of Oxford. ??Prior to their intervention my DD was made to write out multiples of the word she could spell - totally useless waste of her time.

Unfortunately good readers aren't guaranteed to become good spellers but paying close attention to the sounds in the word does help. We say the sounds as we write them, then read the word.