How can an outstanding reader/writer be such an atrocious speller? And how to help?
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Anonymous
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DD, 9 YO, is an advanced reader--reading several grades ahead, off the charts Map-R scores, etc. She is also an excellent writer--content-wise, that is. But her spelling is atrocious! I don't mean she can't spell harder words. I mean it is truly horrible: she still spells everything the way it sounds, and can't spell even simple words with any degree of accuracy. This is baffling to me, because I always thought that spelling comes with reading--but clearly it doesn't! It doesn't help that we're in MCPS where they have done away with spelling tests and with teaching spelling. I've talked to the teacher but she always just says not to worry, that it will come with time, and that there's no issue since her reading and writing are so good. It doesn't really seem to be improving with time, though.
Yes, I know that with spell-check, this problem won't be a major impediment in life for her,and I'm glad of that, but the discrepancy is so extreme between the content of her reading/writing and her ability to spell, that I almost wonder if this is some kind of disorder. Has anyone else dealt with this? Any advice welcome. TIA. |
Anonymous
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No specific advice, but one of the smartest guys I know was/is a HORRIBLE speller. He's still a double Ivy grad, clerked for a big name judge, all around intelligent person. Another bad speller I know is a chemistry PhD and amazing writer.
I don't know what causes bad spelling but in my anecdotal experience spelling isn't an indicator of smarts or predictor of life success or anything. |
Anonymous
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I have been dealing with this recently with my 9 year old son. The breakthrough for us was when he changed schools in January.
He was at a school which gave 20 spelling words a week, words which were very similar so their there they're hospital hospitable etc It caused a lot of confusion because getting them spelled correctly was almost entirely about context. He is now at a school where the spelling words are mixed and he has 2 weeks to learn them Thermos yearbook thirsty etc - no confusion in terms of similarities between the words. And we work on them EVERY day. He writes them out each morning. By the end of the 2nd week he knows them enough to breeze stress free through the quiz. And during those two weeks these words appear in his work, spelled correctly. |
Anonymous
| My 14 y.o. son is like that but he is really smart. My niece who was valedictorian of her H.S. and national merit scholar is the same way as is her dad, who was a ER doc. So I think some people just can't spell and it is not an indicator of intelligence. It can be embarrassing but I try not to worry about it. |
Anonymous
| I am like your DD. Voracious reader and can't spell. My dad used to wonder the same thing about me. It has something to do with seeing the whole word when reading and not the individual letters. I have no advice really except don't make it a battle. |
Anonymous
I know anemone very similar! Highly intelligent, amazing vocabulary, practically aced the LSAT but a truly terrible speller. |
Anonymous
| spelling is a learned skill - learned through practice. some people find it easier than others, but as its been said, its definitely not a measure of intelligence. |
Anonymous
| Yes. DS comprehends very well, several grades above level, and also writes for content very well. He cannot spell. He spells the way he thinks it sounds, and for reading will guess along with other words for comprehension. I would suggest an evaluation for orthographic dyslexia if you want to see if it's something that has a label for her. Otherwise, yes, spellcheck will be fine and it will not be an issue. |
Anonymous
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OP here--this is all very reassuring, thank you all! Much appreciated. I won't worry now.
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Anonymous
| English teacher here with graduate degrees and writing credits. I'm a terrible speller. There's hope! |
Anonymous
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My almost 8 year old is like this. 98th percentile on MAP but atrocious speller. I had the kid do a speech language evaluation though DC has huge vocab and great speech. Turns out DC has low phonemic awareness, bad at segmenting, blending.
Have recently started an Orton Gillingham program w DC, who is also now getting 30 min a week of SLP therapy at school. |
Anonymous
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In what context does your child spell words wrong? This could make a difference to the type of intervention, if any, you chose to implement. My 10 year old spelled terribly while writing, but perfectly during spelling tests. He is also an advanced reader, etc. Due to concerns with inattention, lack of organization and extremely slow processing speed, he underwent a full neuropsychological evaluation, and was diagnosed with severe ADHD (combined type, but mostly inattentive and fidgety, not hyperactive). The psychologist told us that writing is an immense multitasking effort for children with ADHD: they struggle to do all these things at once - put thoughts on paper in a logical way, follow spelling, punctuation and grammatical rules, insert examples and cite sources, etc. So one thing that often gets lost in the shuffle is spelling! |
Anonymous
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It's difficult to pinpoint the source of your child's spelling challenges without seeing work samples, but this much is clear: if reading is advanced, then the child knows the phonemic sounds.
The question is, when encoding (spelling), why does she consistently choose the wrong representation of the sound? Logic dictates that a strong reader is familiar with words and their appropriate spelling (including homophones) because the reader is able to consistently connect context with visual cues to correctly decode (read) and comprehend the word(s) in question. So...why does your child fail to consistently apply contextual and visual cues when attempting to write the same words she reads? Again, this is an educated guess (not having observed writing behaviors and work samples), but I would suggest the following: --There are 44 phonemes in the english language. Google it, and make sure your child knows ALL of them. --Each developing speller needs a strategy to use when she comes across a word she does not know how to spell. Teach the 6 syllable types (open, closed, r-controlled, vowel team, consonant-'le', silent 'e') and stress syllibication (an extension of "chunking"). --Stress accountability. At a certain point, it is no longer acceptable to guess. The child must recall all that she has learned and all she knows from visually recognizing words (i.e. reading) in order to take their best shot at the correct spelling. |
Anonymous
| My husband can't spell at all, and neither can anyone in his family. It drives me crazy, but in his case, I know it is due to untreated dyslexia, so I try to chill out about it and just make sure I'm the one checking the kids' composition and grammar homework. |
Anonymous
| In English, spelling is largely a matter of memorization. Memorization and intelligence are not the same thing. |