I was about to conquer the world but then I got distracted by something shiny.
Post by charliegirl on Jan 8, 2009 19:17:21 GMT -5
I get a newsletter called An Ounce of Ketchup and the current one has this great article on spelling. I tried to find a way to link to the article but apparently you can only get it in your e-mail. I'm going to post it now and let the admin know I did. I may have to remove it later so if you see something in it that you might find helpful, make a note of it, just in case. lol
The site I get the newsletter from is at www.goaskmom.com/
An Ounce of Ketchup
January 8, 2009
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great Christmas break. We did! Our boys all were home, and I'm just telling you - one of them has turned into a bona fide adult - thoughtful, considerate, and pretty organized. I don't think he asked me to help him find anything one time! Check out this old story called "Did You Wash Jeans?" to see how far we've come with this child...I mean man. Talk about memories. I'd almost forgotten that we used to have a bird that burped.
Note that this article was written when this child thought he was too big to use the PAC-kit, our planner, agenda, and calendar that had worked so nicely. If your son is like this one was, you might want to give the PAC-kit a fresh look for 2009.
Before the break, a parent wrote in asking for suggestions on helping a child with spelling. You guys sent in some terrific responses, which make up the entire content of this week's newsletter. Read through all of them for all sorts of variations on the speller, and all sorts of ways to help with spelling...
Computer Software
"My son is also in 5th grade and has ADHD-I and is a horrible speller!!. I subscribe to an online program called Wizardsspell.com. (It's) a really nice program that helps a wide variety of learning styles-- you input your child's list each week and they can practice and actually test themselves. You can check progress via your own ID. It works like this: it shows the list word, and then the word "fades" slowly (you can even adjust how long the word 'hangs out')- it will say the word for you, fade, and then you must type the word. When you hit "enter" it will either move to the next one or say "uh oh" and show the word again.....It is a really neat/unique program and I encourage any parent with a struggling speller to try it! I searched and searched for over a year for help in this area, and this really does help him out quite a bit. A big plus is that they can do it independently and that helps us moms with time management issues, and it helps the kids with self esteem!! It's online based so they can work at any PC with internet access."
Spelling for Kids with Auditory Processing Disorders
Another mom, who has a child with Auditory Processing Disorders along with other "quirks", wrote, "Some kids have visual sequential memory problems. (They) can, on the other hand, find the correct spelling of a word in a list of incorrectly spelled words. Children can be tested for this and other spelling issues as well. And kids who have APD have the added problem of not processing information they hear correctly. The child may hear well enough, but not process the word as he hears it. (My son) still says "word" as worde - long o, for example. While this issue of his used to make my skin crawl, I had to accept this in my child and do what I could to help him.
I bought him a Franklin Speller and he was allowed to use it at school...On the other hand, I insist he use the spell check on the computer as well as the Franklin Speller before mailing in work. I will not allow the 'disability' to be used as an excuse for bad work."
NOTE: One of the most valuable helps we ever used was an electronic dictionary. Not only does it help with spelling, but it helps when your child has to look up words. The electronic dictionary has more concise definitions, so there's not so much to copy. And there's no flipping back and forth looking for words. After your child has mastered looking things up alphabetically, using an electronic dictionary is great!
Routines
"On Spelling, for my daughter, with poor speech and auditory issues, here's our method, for stress free, no tears spelling, started around first grade, now in fourth:
Monday: We look at and READ the words out loud a couple of times. If they are harder, I will read and she will repeat. No testing on this day,
Tuesday: She does some of her spelling workbook pages, and we look at and READ the words again, maybe do an oral test if she has mastered reading them.
Wednesday: Finish spelling workbook, do oral quiz, mark ones missed - have her write ONLY THOSE 3X on notebook paper.
Thursay: Oral quiz again, write words missed 3X, then review ones still unsure of until she can spell each one correctly.
She still misses some on the Friday test, but usually only one or two."
The Dyslexic Speller
"I must admit that I am often in awe of the inventive variety of ways my 9 year old inattentive dyslexic son chooses to construct the words he uses to express himself in writing. In an odd way it seems to be a bit of an art form.
What kind of spelling are you asking about? Most people think there is only one kind of spelling but for my dyslexic son spelling comes in three flavors. For him son spelling a word verbally, spelling a word on a test (in a list) and spelling that same word in a sentence or story are three separate events. Being able to spell correctly one way one does not guarantee success with the others. For instance if you ask him to verbally spell the word "They" he will reply T-H-E-Y. Have him write the word they on a spelling test and it's a 50/50 shot that he'll write T-H-A-Y then correct it to T-H-E-Y. In his spontaneous writing T-H-A-Y is most commonly used.
One night when I reminded him to "use the rules for spelling" when he was writing a paragraph he replied that he could forgo the rules and get his thoughts on paper accurately or he could apply the rules and immediately forget what he was going to write. That was when I introduced him to a tape recorder. First he taped his thoughts and then he replayed them as often as necessary to get them down on paper so that his teachers could make sense of it all.
He often dictates his own words into the tape recorder (often in really funny voices) and then replays them over and over.
We put the words into a talking spell checker and play hangman against the computer. Using paper and a pen works just as well.
We write out the words with the troublesome letters written in red. Then we verbally spell these words. Say the letters that you know softly and shout out the red letters (the ones that you just can't seem to remember). Go ahead and really shout. It is fun and lets off stress. Depending where you are you can get some pretty cool echoes too.
We roll out strings of playdoh and sculpt the words with the strings.
I pour a carton of salt into a baking dish and have my son write the words in the salt with a wooden skewer or chopstick. (We save a jar of salt just for this.)
Walking and chanting the words and letters sometimes works.
Throwing a ball back and forth and saying a letter each time you catch the ball is also a favorite.
Songs work great. Search the internet for CD's teaching color words and number word spellings.
Chalk on the driveway and in the street. Big Letters. How far can we make these 10 words stretch.
Tracing the letters on a piece of sand paper lightly with your finger holds my sons attention pretty well but he doesn't like to sit at the table to do it.
In the warmer months we write words on the pavement with super soakers. The letters evaporate fast when it is hot so mistakes disappear without a trace.
I have started emphasizing common prefixes and suffixes. Recognizing them and knowing their meanings allows for easier breakdown of an unknown word for both reading and writing. For instance the word preamble has "pre" in the front and "ble" at the end. If you are familiar with these then all that is left is am in the middle.
Many of my son's teachers have agreed to substituting the "traditional" spelling homework for one of these methods if he emailed them digital pictures of his creations and a short description of what he had done.
The site I get the newsletter from is at www.goaskmom.com/
An Ounce of Ketchup
January 8, 2009
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great Christmas break. We did! Our boys all were home, and I'm just telling you - one of them has turned into a bona fide adult - thoughtful, considerate, and pretty organized. I don't think he asked me to help him find anything one time! Check out this old story called "Did You Wash Jeans?" to see how far we've come with this child...I mean man. Talk about memories. I'd almost forgotten that we used to have a bird that burped.
Note that this article was written when this child thought he was too big to use the PAC-kit, our planner, agenda, and calendar that had worked so nicely. If your son is like this one was, you might want to give the PAC-kit a fresh look for 2009.
Before the break, a parent wrote in asking for suggestions on helping a child with spelling. You guys sent in some terrific responses, which make up the entire content of this week's newsletter. Read through all of them for all sorts of variations on the speller, and all sorts of ways to help with spelling...
Computer Software
"My son is also in 5th grade and has ADHD-I and is a horrible speller!!. I subscribe to an online program called Wizardsspell.com. (It's) a really nice program that helps a wide variety of learning styles-- you input your child's list each week and they can practice and actually test themselves. You can check progress via your own ID. It works like this: it shows the list word, and then the word "fades" slowly (you can even adjust how long the word 'hangs out')- it will say the word for you, fade, and then you must type the word. When you hit "enter" it will either move to the next one or say "uh oh" and show the word again.....It is a really neat/unique program and I encourage any parent with a struggling speller to try it! I searched and searched for over a year for help in this area, and this really does help him out quite a bit. A big plus is that they can do it independently and that helps us moms with time management issues, and it helps the kids with self esteem!! It's online based so they can work at any PC with internet access."
Spelling for Kids with Auditory Processing Disorders
Another mom, who has a child with Auditory Processing Disorders along with other "quirks", wrote, "Some kids have visual sequential memory problems. (They) can, on the other hand, find the correct spelling of a word in a list of incorrectly spelled words. Children can be tested for this and other spelling issues as well. And kids who have APD have the added problem of not processing information they hear correctly. The child may hear well enough, but not process the word as he hears it. (My son) still says "word" as worde - long o, for example. While this issue of his used to make my skin crawl, I had to accept this in my child and do what I could to help him.
I bought him a Franklin Speller and he was allowed to use it at school...On the other hand, I insist he use the spell check on the computer as well as the Franklin Speller before mailing in work. I will not allow the 'disability' to be used as an excuse for bad work."
NOTE: One of the most valuable helps we ever used was an electronic dictionary. Not only does it help with spelling, but it helps when your child has to look up words. The electronic dictionary has more concise definitions, so there's not so much to copy. And there's no flipping back and forth looking for words. After your child has mastered looking things up alphabetically, using an electronic dictionary is great!
Routines
"On Spelling, for my daughter, with poor speech and auditory issues, here's our method, for stress free, no tears spelling, started around first grade, now in fourth:
Monday: We look at and READ the words out loud a couple of times. If they are harder, I will read and she will repeat. No testing on this day,
Tuesday: She does some of her spelling workbook pages, and we look at and READ the words again, maybe do an oral test if she has mastered reading them.
Wednesday: Finish spelling workbook, do oral quiz, mark ones missed - have her write ONLY THOSE 3X on notebook paper.
Thursay: Oral quiz again, write words missed 3X, then review ones still unsure of until she can spell each one correctly.
She still misses some on the Friday test, but usually only one or two."
The Dyslexic Speller
"I must admit that I am often in awe of the inventive variety of ways my 9 year old inattentive dyslexic son chooses to construct the words he uses to express himself in writing. In an odd way it seems to be a bit of an art form.
What kind of spelling are you asking about? Most people think there is only one kind of spelling but for my dyslexic son spelling comes in three flavors. For him son spelling a word verbally, spelling a word on a test (in a list) and spelling that same word in a sentence or story are three separate events. Being able to spell correctly one way one does not guarantee success with the others. For instance if you ask him to verbally spell the word "They" he will reply T-H-E-Y. Have him write the word they on a spelling test and it's a 50/50 shot that he'll write T-H-A-Y then correct it to T-H-E-Y. In his spontaneous writing T-H-A-Y is most commonly used.
One night when I reminded him to "use the rules for spelling" when he was writing a paragraph he replied that he could forgo the rules and get his thoughts on paper accurately or he could apply the rules and immediately forget what he was going to write. That was when I introduced him to a tape recorder. First he taped his thoughts and then he replayed them as often as necessary to get them down on paper so that his teachers could make sense of it all.
He often dictates his own words into the tape recorder (often in really funny voices) and then replays them over and over.
We put the words into a talking spell checker and play hangman against the computer. Using paper and a pen works just as well.
We write out the words with the troublesome letters written in red. Then we verbally spell these words. Say the letters that you know softly and shout out the red letters (the ones that you just can't seem to remember). Go ahead and really shout. It is fun and lets off stress. Depending where you are you can get some pretty cool echoes too.
We roll out strings of playdoh and sculpt the words with the strings.
I pour a carton of salt into a baking dish and have my son write the words in the salt with a wooden skewer or chopstick. (We save a jar of salt just for this.)
Walking and chanting the words and letters sometimes works.
Throwing a ball back and forth and saying a letter each time you catch the ball is also a favorite.
Songs work great. Search the internet for CD's teaching color words and number word spellings.
Chalk on the driveway and in the street. Big Letters. How far can we make these 10 words stretch.
Tracing the letters on a piece of sand paper lightly with your finger holds my sons attention pretty well but he doesn't like to sit at the table to do it.
In the warmer months we write words on the pavement with super soakers. The letters evaporate fast when it is hot so mistakes disappear without a trace.
I have started emphasizing common prefixes and suffixes. Recognizing them and knowing their meanings allows for easier breakdown of an unknown word for both reading and writing. For instance the word preamble has "pre" in the front and "ble" at the end. If you are familiar with these then all that is left is am in the middle.
Many of my son's teachers have agreed to substituting the "traditional" spelling homework for one of these methods if he emailed them digital pictures of his creations and a short description of what he had done.
