8 yr old daughter hard time with spelling

amother

Maroon

Sun, Mar 31 2019, 5:37 pm

amother wrote:

See what I mentioned above: a smart child may have deficits in phonemic awareness which can affect spelling and reading unfamiliar words, but he may be able to read fairly proficiently due to memorizing words or using context/comprehension.

Around 3rd grade this stops being the case. There are too many new words and too few context clues available for the child to be able to give the appearance of reading, based on context and memorizing alone.

But around age 4-5 is when you should be able to tell if the child understands that letters are represented by sounds, which is the first step in phonemic awareness.

amother

Slateblue

Sun, Mar 31 2019, 5:47 pm

There is a little more to it, most brains are wired to pick up and memorize patterns (I.e. the different vowel combinations to spell the long /a/ sound) and automatically apply that knowledge when it comes across that same pattern in future. Some people may simply process things differently or have something wired in their brain that causes them not to pick it up without explicit teaching and practice.
I'm not saying that there can't be excellent readers who are also poor spellers, but that usually isn't the case. There were definitely children of the 1980s who learned to read just fine using the whole language method (I'm one of them), but depending on how your brain processes things you may or may not have learned the actual phonics patterns. I happen to have always been an excellent speller even though I never knew the difference between short and long vowels, what the "magic e" does at the end of the word etc (at least, not until I took teaching reading classes in college), but there are probably plenty of people who fell between the cracks (that's why phonics instruction made a big comeback in the late 90s) who are good readers but who would probably have better spelling skills if they had only been taught them!

octopus

Sun, Mar 31 2019, 9:06 pm

amother wrote:

Again, the Wilson program looks like it's 300 dollars. That doesn't seem like so much. What am I missing?

Please tell me now because I would really buy it....

$300 is a lot of money to just throw out if you don't end up using it. It's a commitment of 3x a week.

amother

Slategray

Sun, Mar 31 2019, 9:57 pm

I did not read everyone's comments- but as an educator (not in NY) please get your child tested. Your local public school system should do this. Talk with your school an tell them you want you child tested and have them complete the paper work. Make sure what ever they write up it is the worst possible case, yes it hurts to see it, but it is a battle to get the testing done. Be vigilant. Do not listen to anyone that tells you your child is late bloomer. From your short description it sounds like a language processing disorder or a form of dyslexia(not always letter reversal as people commonly imagine). Do not take no for an answer, be vigilant until you have real information. Remember you are your child's best and only advocate. 3rd grade is the perfect time to catch this.