It seems that my children have inherited a very specific disability in spelling and reading. My husbands family all have it and only he has graduated high school. The private school my kids attend seem to think more of the same will help them learn to spell. Looking up words in the dictionary and sounding out. My daughter is in 4th grade and just spelled trees….teers, she found nothing wrong and could not correct it. The teacher has decided that she needs to perform at the fourth grade level and if she fails, which is what is happening, too bad. Does anyone have any suggestions for help. PLEASE.
Re: spelling
Susan, I would think that if the private school does not offer remediation for reading and spelling disabilities, then you would need to consider private tutoring in one of the effective methods for your children. I would not just consider that they have a disability and nothing can be done about it. They CAN make progress but they will need specialized instruction if they truly have learning disabilities in reading and spelling. Private schools are under no obligation to offer these services.
Janis
Re: spelling
It’s not clear to me if your daughter also has problems with reading. It looks as if she might. If reading is a problem, I would recommend getting the book “Reading Reflex” by McGuiness and using that to tutor her at home. This approach usually remediates very quickly, and it’s easy for a parent to do (in fact, the book is written specifically for parents).
A very helpful follow-up to Reading Reflex is Sequential Spelling (http://www.avko.org). My daughter’s spelling is about 4 grade levels below her reading, and SS is the *only* spelling program we have tried that has helped her. It’s very easy to do, and the website has a sample week’s worth of lessons you can try. Prior to SS, my daughter could not memorize any of the 4th grade word lists given to her class last year. Halfway through Book 1 of the series, she has been able to regularly get almost all of her 5th grade words right this year. She still spells way below her reading level, but at least she can now learn to spell new words (and her retention is good).
Mary
Has your daughter been tested? Would it help the teacher to see the results of educational testing that ‘prove’ to her your daughter has inherited your husband’s issues with spelling?
In the meantime, is your daughter allowed to type her homework? If she is, have her type or help her type and use the Spellcheck. That strategy got my own son with spelling issues through school successfully.
Good luck.