Anonymous wrote:At open house we were told that the kids will get a spelling test every Friday. I was surprised it starts in 1st grade but I guess it’s a good thing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I really don't think it's too much to ask, OP. Missing TWENTY 1st grade-level words is significant. My kids never missed more than one per test, and usually got them all correct.

In the future, once you've moved on from those 20 words, ignore all the boring busywork they're asking and focus every week on teaching your child the definition of each word, how it's spelled, and how to use it in a sentence. No drawing pics, writing the word out in rainbow colors, or other inane activities. Just straight up work. It goes faster and it's WAY MORE EFFECTIVE. I would go down the list of words in the kitchen while cooking, and my daughter would shout out the spelling, and either she or I would make up a sentence with the word. Easy-peasy.

These inane activities are really helpful to some kids in learning to remember the spellings. Rainbow letters were a fun way to get my kid to keep writing out a word which was really beneficial for her. How do you suggest teaching a kid how a word it spelled? Just stare at it?

You look at it, you look up and spell it out loud. Rinse and repeat. For most young children who write laboriously and don't like sitting still, it's the fastest and least painful way: they can learn their words while bouncing around fiddling with stuff. Parent help goes a long way here. Older children and adults can benefit from rote-writing, as opposed to speaking. But I've found that in the younger elementary years, moving around and spelling out loud is the best way. There is also research out there that shows a link between better memorization and movement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In K-2, my son was a horrible speller but a solid reader. He mastered recognizing a word once he saw it. He could not spell a word from memory. I started doing research and eventually got him tested for dyslexia in 2nd grade. Turned out, yes, he had dyslexia. I was shocked, but finally all his spelling quirks made sense.

Spelling in MCPS using "Words Their Way" was a disaster for him. His private tutoring saved him.

Here are a couple of lists of common signs:
http://dyslexia.yale.edu/dyslexia/signs-of-dyslexia/
http://www.dys-add.com/resources/RecentResearch/DysWarningSigns.pdf

Good luck.

Our ALTA certified reading tutor had not a thing nice to say about how schools teach (or, more accurately, don't teach) spelling. I sat in the next room for most of DS's lessons and was blown away at learning that there are actual rules and origin stories behind all of the words that I just memorized how to spell. I'm not dyslexic and was a "natural" speller & reader so no one ever taught me rules and I still have problems with certain spelling patterns.

Meanwhile DH has mild dyslexia, is utterly reliant on spellcheck, and still limits his written vocabulary. DS has severe dyslexia and, so long as we can prompt him about the rule, is frequently a better speller than his dad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I really don't think it's too much to ask, OP. Missing TWENTY 1st grade-level words is significant. My kids never missed more than one per test, and usually got them all correct.

In the future, once you've moved on from those 20 words, ignore all the boring busywork they're asking and focus every week on teaching your child the definition of each word, how it's spelled, and how to use it in a sentence. No drawing pics, writing the word out in rainbow colors, or other inane activities. Just straight up work. It goes faster and it's WAY MORE EFFECTIVE. I would go down the list of words in the kitchen while cooking, and my daughter would shout out the spelling, and either she or I would make up a sentence with the word. Easy-peasy.

These inane activities are really helpful to some kids in learning to remember the spellings. Rainbow letters were a fun way to get my kid to keep writing out a word which was really beneficial for her. How do you suggest teaching a kid how a word it spelled? Just stare at it?

Anonymous wrote:In K-2, my son was a horrible speller but a solid reader. He mastered recognizing a word once he saw it. He could not spell a word from memory. I started doing research and eventually got him tested for dyslexia in 2nd grade. Turned out, yes, he had dyslexia. I was shocked, but finally all his spelling quirks made sense.

Spelling in MCPS using "Words Their Way" was a disaster for him. His private tutoring saved him.

Here are a couple of lists of common signs:
http://dyslexia.yale.edu/dyslexia/signs-of-dyslexia/
http://www.dys-add.com/resources/RecentResearch/DysWarningSigns.pdf

Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What made you think of dyslexia?

I'm 17:41.

It was DCUM who suggested to me that I consider testing for dyslexia. I thought, "No way. He's a great reader. It can't be." However, I did a little research, googling terms like "terrible speller but good reader" and still got a lot of pages suggesting dyslexia. Any time I hear someone say now that their child struggles with spelling, I think of my son's struggles and what his eventual diagnosis was (which I'm thankful for finally getting, even if the process was a nightmare.)

Anonymous wrote:
I really don't think it's too much to ask, OP. Missing TWENTY 1st grade-level words is significant. My kids never missed more than one per test, and usually got them all correct.

In the future, once you've moved on from those 20 words, ignore all the boring busywork they're asking and focus every week on teaching your child the definition of each word, how it's spelled, and how to use it in a sentence. No drawing pics, writing the word out in rainbow colors, or other inane activities. Just straight up work. It goes faster and it's WAY MORE EFFECTIVE. I would go down the list of words in the kitchen while cooking, and my daughter would shout out the spelling, and either she or I would make up a sentence with the word. Easy-peasy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a PP who has bern corrected. DD is 1st grader in a focus moco school. Spelling words came home yesterday and the test is on Friday. The words are: a is of the to you. ( 6 words) not particularly hard but in addition to 20 mins of reading, the resding log, plus 2 math pages i think its a lot for this age.

Anonymous wrote:In K-2, my son was a horrible speller but a solid reader. He mastered recognizing a word once he saw it. He could not spell a word from memory. I started doing research and eventually got him tested for dyslexia in 2nd grade. Turned out, yes, he had dyslexia. I was shocked, but finally all his spelling quirks made sense.

Spelling in MCPS using "Words Their Way" was a disaster for him. His private tutoring saved him.

Here are a couple of lists of common signs:
http://dyslexia.yale.edu/dyslexia/signs-of-dyslexia/
http://www.dys-add.com/resources/RecentResearch/DysWarningSigns.pdf

Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:What made you think of dyslexia?

Anonymous wrote:I am a PP who has bern corrected. DD is 1st grader in a focus moco school. Spelling words came home yesterday and the test is on Friday. The words are: a is of the to you. ( 6 words) not particularly hard but in addition to 20 mins of reading, the resding log, plus 2 math pages i think its a lot for this age.