What can a 2nd grader spell? How. to teach spelling at home?
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Anonymous
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My 2nd grader can read just fine but has no idea how to spell. What's happening in school (Words Their Way and Lexia) does not translate to being able to spell, I am sorry to say, "Food." But I looked at a workbook for 2nd grade and it seemed very basic (vowel blends, consonant blends, obviously some sight words.)
What should a 2nd grader be able to spell? Do you have any workbooks or approaches to recommend? I got All About Spelling, but it seems kind of byzantine. I get that it's trying to be multi-sensory, but I found it a bit much and not that helpful. Have you worked with any teachers/tutors in NW DC who can catch a kid up? Thank you! |
Anonymous
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If he can read just fine, why does this matter?
Reading is the best way to learn how to spell. Other than that, just have him practice. Make a list of words you know he can read. Have him practice writing them out. Do this every week or so. Personally, I'd spend the time having him read though. |
Anonymous
| Had a spelling tutor who said leave it alone. It’ll come. |
Anonymous
| Are you in VA? Does your school do PALs. If they got PALs IDed for Spelling then I would worry about it - other wise no. Lexia should helping with spelling though, as well as reading a lot. |
Anonymous
| This is what happens when schools don’t have weekly spelling lists. |
Anonymous
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How often do they read on their own?
For what it’s worth, one of my kids just isn’t a great speller and it’s not the end of the world. They are in seventh grade and it just hasn’t been a problem. But it’s not like you can’t read what they write, it’s just misspelling worlds like “receipt” and stuff. My other child, in fourth, is an excellent speller just from reading a lot. Also you’re sure there is no reading disability or something? I have a cousin who can’t spell for the life of him because of severe ADHD (and he is a fully functional adult). |
Anonymous
Meh, I grew up in the era of weekly spelling tests and I still can't spell especially despite being a voracious reader. Thank goodness for google and spellcheck; I would not have survived an office job back in the old days. Might be undiagnosed dyslexia in my case but might not. Certainly you can work with it, OP, but mostly I would get him used to knowing how to look up the spelling of words he's not confident of (which would be everything in 2nd grade). |
Anonymous
| I just would google things like 2nd grade spelling lists and teach letter groupings, like s+h=shhhhh, and p+h=fffffff. Then I taught spelling that way plus by skipping and sing-songing the letters. Jumping rope also works. |
Anonymous
Yeah, I personally think that kids don’t learn enough in elementary school these days, and I’d love to see a return to math drills, but spelling? I dunno. I don’t know that that should be the priority. |
Anonymous
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OP: I get what you're saying that spellcheck takes care of a lot of it, but to not be able to spell "food" is a bridge too far for me.
Then again, he literally just came in here and, on command, typed the first word--and then voluntarily typed the second word: food poop Still, though, would love for someone who knows to say, "This is what they're supposed to be able to do in 2nd grade," because there are good workbooks in this world and there are less good ones, but it's hard for my untrained eye to tell the difference. |
Anonymous
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Search “Second Grade Sight Words”.
https://www.sightwordsgame.com/2nd-grade-sight-words/ https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/second-grade-dolch-sight-words/ |
Anonymous
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OP some dyslexia tutors are trained to teach spelling. Try reading these articles to help you with what to look for in a tutor, workbook or program.
How Spelling Supports Reading: And Why It Is More Regular and Predictable Than You May Think (Louisa Moats) https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Moats.pdf How Words Cast Their Spell: Spelling Is an Integral Part of Learning the Language, Not a Matter of Memorization (R. Malatesha Joshi, Rebecca Treiman, Suzanne Carreker, and Louisa Moats) https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/joshi.pdf A New Model for Teaching High-Frequency Words (Linda Farrell, Michael Hunter, Tina Osenga) https://www.readingrockets.org/article/new-model-teaching-high-frequency-words List of Spelling Rules (Suzanne Career): https://www.pattan.net/getmedia/43bd2c5f-3155-4ead-8774-20c78aeca474/05.Reliable_Spelling_Patterns |
Anonymous
Just curious if you started with Level 1 of All About Spelling and how far along you made it? I’ve been using it with my daughter since homeschooling her for K last year. I like that it’s a step by step approach even though it can be tedious. I appreciate that it teaches the reasoning behind spelling. We’ve moved onto Level 3. |
Anonymous
We also use All About Spelling. We are finishing level 2 and it has been so helpful. My daughter was very self conscious about her poor spelling. So while many may think it’s not a big deal it does matter to some kids - it was impacting her confidence. Spelling is not intuitive for her and she was not picking it up from reading. While All About Spelling is not fun, it teaches spelling rules in a very straight forward way and has been very helpful. We only do 15 min a day 3-4 times a week. |
Anonymous
| Schools stopped teaching spelling. Get some fun apps and books/workbooks and work on it at home. |