Year 7 dd top set but dire at spellings. How can I help?

[benfoldsfive]

DD 11 (12 in may) is in top sets for everything but her spelling is awful. I had similar problems and was thankful my degree was all computer spell checked.

She reads everynight, varied material and has a good understanding of language so how can I help her.

Spelling tests like at primary school? Using her marked books for Guidance?

A book she might find useful is Joy Pollock's Signposts to Spelling. It was first published in 1978 but doesn't look too old-fashioned. Copies are available quite cheaply from Amazon.

Are you sure she's not dyslexic not that I know anything about it?

But I remember being told in a workshop that some people are only diagnosed at degree level when they have to write their thesis. It may not be too obvious.

Sounds familiar, I've got a yr7 DD like that. She's very good at maths and science, but really struggling with spelling. She does read (currently really enjoying the Divergent series). I'm not sure how to help her, as spelling came naturally to me, so I don't know how to work at it.
If she is in a hurry, she spells some really basic words wrong. This gets better if she slows down and really thinks about spelling, but she still struggles with guessing how to spell longer words.

My daughter's friend got all As at GCSE and AAAA at A level. She's an appalling speller but it hasn't held her back. Sorry, no advise (though others thankfully have!) but just a reassuring story!

DS1 is like that too - IQ tested at 140, around the top in his year for almost everything, but atrocious speller, lucky if he gets 5/10 unless he crams! DS2 gets 10/10 for spelling every time without trying, but I have to say pretty average at everything else (is that allowed on MN?).

Thanks guys. It worries me because as previous poster said, I was diagnosed as dyslexic at degree level. But I thought invertions, tests and markets had been improved since my day! I raised it at primary school as she had some markers I.e reads better on blue paper

Speed does seem to effect how she spells but often in tests she says she wants to use a certain word but has no idea how to spell it so had to use something else (big instead of gigantic - not as basic as that but it's the only example I can think of right now )

* goes to check out 1970s literature on Amazon*

quiet there is a list of spellings that she did in her first week , in the back of her English book. Disappoint was on it (she got 3 out of 16), spelt very badly like. I will have a look at the whole list and see what was on it. Thanks

My sympathies.

Same here with DS, 98 percentile for IQ, awesome at maths and wonderfully dyslexic but... we had 20 minutes writing tutorials 4 times a week for a year when he was younger, and he reads a lot, so his spelling is very good, having said that....he can't remember to use capitals, not at all, even when he perfectly remembers the rules.

I know he will struggle with this, I know that with time he will be spell checking everything with the help of a computer but I insist on him learning the rules. I second the idea about learning about prefixes and suffixes will help, but try to make a game of the practice so he doesn't get bored of it.

dd2 uses the squeebles spelling app, it's a spelling test where you set up customised spelling tests and your child earns rewards to play a mini-game.

If you're dyslexic using spelling apps or a dictionary isn't really going to work - it's a conceptual issue due to interesting wiring in the brain which results in a prson resisting the concept that these letter symbols join together to represent sounds for words in our language. Partly made all the more difficult because as you learn to read you will often be reading words you do not yet know. It is much more than just letters dancing or reversing on the page.

Thus DH (severely dyslexic with a reading age of 7) was not able to accept that C-A-T made cat. It doesn't look like a cat. He doesn't get binary oppposites either. However he has a photographic memory and can tell me precisely what page a diagram or discussion I vaguely remember is in what book. (I'm beyond green with envy at that recall ability).

Dyslexia is complex and there are many shades of grey in the disorder - however individuals are unique and devise their own individual solutions to coping with the 'symptoms'.

So benfold - if you are dyslexic and have not yet explained it to the school and your dyslexia was well hidden (so there was a natural ability to memorize things swiftly, to be verbally acute to cover for reading deficits, etc....) there is every likelihood your child has inherited these characteristics.

It is in your interests to speak to the schools SENCo about this possiblity - make it clear you aren't demanding anything - but if your child is mildly dyslexic (i.e. functioning at a high level for school right now, but there are some issues which could become more extreme as courses become more complex) then it may be worthwhile getting the diagnosis.

It will result in more time to read texts in exams and possibly more time to write or the ability to use a computer and run a spell check over the work after the exam time limit is complete. These aren't unfair advantages, but they do level the playing field for your DC allowing them to present their work to a good standard, as far too often in FE we mark pupils down for systematic grammatical/ spelling/ stylistic errors which are 'classic dyslexic mistakes' but can be interpreted by non-dyslexics as sloppy work if we aren't aware of the issue.

Past put it really well, IMO.
I'd get it checked out, so that she might get extra help and recognition of a disability in effect.

Hi DH just asked me to correct the fact it's a 7 year old spelling age not reading age.

Interestingly he says that one of the things neurologists are realising is that during puberty the brain totally re-wires and for many years anecdotally people working with dyslexia have noticed huge improvements during or just after reaching puberty.

HTH

Thank you Past, I dips raise our at primary school, due to her working better on blue and cream paper and her use of capital letters mid word. They said she wasn't after following her word and a specialist TA worked with her. I am doping through her books this element and have an appointment at school next week so will flag it then. Thank you all for you suggestions

Try spelling tutor for her spelling problems and engaging eyes for needing blue paper

Sadly schools do still have a variable level of understanding of Dyslexia, especially the different ways it manifests itself and especially in clever pupils who develop coping strategies and achieve in spite of it. It's a little harder to spot that a clever child may still be missing their potential / be under more stress as a result of the extra effort they have to put in. If you can get a proper Ed Psych assessment, even if you have to pay for it privately, it is really worth it so that then you can make sure they get the right support. My daughter is Dyslexic and Dyspraxic with Working Memory and Processing at the level of the lowest 9% of the population. We were lucky that her first primary school had an on the ball SEN teacher who at 6 intervened to teach her literacy skills with teaching styles that suit Dyslexics which in the case of Spelling was using phonics. That brought her up to average level in Spelling but meant her next Primary would not acknowledge there was a problem, in spite of her very slow handwriting, or need for support even with an Ed Psych report! Secondary School was better and she just achieved A*AA in her A levels and is studying English at university where she is getting brilliant support.