Do the 2 go together?

amother

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:19 am

I was always naturally good at spelling BH and I was a huge reader. I noticed dd 8 having a hard time with spelling and she barely reads.
Do the 2 necessarily go together?
Anyone a big reader and still struggle with spelling?
Or vice versa?

amother

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:22 am

amother Oleander wrote:

It can go together, doesn't have to though. I'm a huge reader with a very fancy vocabulary can't spell for the life of me.

Interesting. Because I have a great vocabulary too.

amother

Snowflake

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:24 am

Spelling is a knack. Reading a lot usually helps, but someone who has a real blockage when it comes to spelling, reading won't necessarily help. My son swallows up books but his spelling is still poor.
I think it's the more you write the better your spelling skills are. So I'd assume most writers spell well.

amother

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:24 am

amother Bottlebrush wrote:

Don’t think it always goes together.
I spelled very well but didn’t like reading (adhd)

I have ADHD but for some reason I love reading. I swallowed books as a kid.
I blame my daughters lack of reading on ADHD. But I read a ton.

amother

Iris

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:25 am

Not necessarily. I'm a major bookworm, I'm terrible at spelling. It's more likely there's something else going on that's making reading hard and therefore not enjoyable.

amother

Snow

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:26 am

I was a huge reader as a kid. I still love to read but don’t read as much as I used to. I am really good at spelling and will pick up small mistakes all the time, or I’ll write something and misspell it and it just won’t look right to me.
I feel like they probably do go together

Rachel Shira

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:32 am

I’m a big reader and an excellent speller. I don’t know if I fully attribute one to the other though. I can spell almost anything even if I’ve never seen it written before. It’s just a knack.

amother

Banana

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:36 am

Spelling is a knack. Not everyone gets it. 2 of my girls are big readers, they read tons and have a very high vocabulary. But they atrocious spellers. Seems like they inherited it from DH. I feel bad for them because they're really trying their best, but some (stupid) teachers take points off a test for miss-spelling. So my daughter can have all answers right on a history test, but gets marked in the 80's because of spelling. That's so not right. I don't understand it. It's not her fault.

amother

Begonia

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:36 am

amother OP wrote:

As a long time English teacher I can tell you that many times they do. That being said, there are students who just have a difficult time with spelling and yet may be avid readers. They read words quickly as a full unit and struggle with spelling. For the most part though my students that struggle with spelling are also students that don’t read a lot. The more one is exposed to reading hopefully the better ones spelling will be , but it’s not a given. I have one of my own children who struggles with spelling and barely reads. I encourage her to keep reading things to me ( books are too much but instructions for recipes or smaller jobs like that) and hope that that will help strengthen her spelling.

amother

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:39 am

amother Snow wrote:

Are you me? I feel like with spelling it just has to look right.

amother

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:39 am

amother Obsidian wrote:

They are 2 different skills: encoding and decoding.

How old is your daughter? Is reading in fact hard for her? Or just spelling?

She's a good reader. Just has no interest in it.
I would blame it on the AdHD but I do read, so dunno.
Any insight?

amother

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:41 am

amother Banana wrote:

That's not fair!
The only time spelling should be accounted for is on a spelling test.

amother

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:42 am

Rachel Shira wrote:

I’m a big reader and an excellent speller. I don’t know if I fully attribute one to the other though. I can spell almost anything even if I’ve never seen it written before. It’s just a knack.

I agree.

amother

Bluebell

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:42 am

amother Oleander wrote:

It can go together, doesn't have to though. I'm a huge reader with a very fancy vocabulary can't spell for the life of me.

Same same

amother

Almond

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:45 am

amother OP wrote:

I used to think it does, because, like you, I’m a huge reader and naturally great speller
Then I taught high school English and I saw that there is no correlation
Spelling (in English) is a talent, like singing or drawing
Someone who has that natural ability will do much better when they read a lot because they’ll see the words often and recognize them, but really it’s not necessarily related

amother

Currant

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:47 am

As a child (and an adult) I struggle with spelling.
I was an excellent student in every other subject aside for English.
I would study for hours and fail all my spelling tests. I got A+ in all other subjects with little effort.
I happen to have read a lot as well.

I don’t think the 2 are connected.

amother

Thu, Oct 26 2023, 10:49 am

amother Currant wrote:

You did a good job spelling here! Or is that just spell check Wink