Confidence and Spelling

I never realized how important spelling is or how it can affect one's self-esteem.

13yo learned to read at home. Using phonics based readers was tongue twister torture. She couldn't get past the 5th BOB Book, but she could read Frog and Toad are Friends. She was closer to the sight word end of the spectrum than the phonics end. I decided to work with her strength and we ditched all phonics study. She learned to read by reading books from the library.

I thought that someone who enjoyed reading would automatically be a good speller. Nope. DD would read all day but would panic if anyone asked her to write. Why? Because she knew she could barely spell.

What was I doing about it? We used words from her writing and then very briefly tried Sequential Spelling. She used Rod & Staff spelling workbooks for awhile but my lack of follow through meant that we didn't keep up with that either.

Last year she started writing a book. Even the spell checker couldn't help her. I would go through her work and change words for her. Eventually she saw the words modeled correctly and learned that way. Plus she began using Level A of Phonetic Zoo.

Her spelling has improved, but she still lacks confidence. I believe she is haunted by the fact that someone might ask her to spell something in public. It is only recently that I've realized what a handicap this has become.

Thankfully, I think I've found a program that will give her the background knowledge that she needs to become a more confident speller - All About Spelling. The step-by-step lessons are scripted, so I'll know what I'm doing and what I need to do in the near future. No more guessing and wondering.

The biggest drawback? It will take time. I won't be able to hand over a workbook or CD for independent spelling work. I'm going to be teaching a lesson or reviewing with her every day.

Once we learn the sounds for the phonograms a-z, we'll be able to dive into the program. I'll update once we are farther along in Level 1.

BTW, don't be shocked that we don't know all of the sounds of the alphabet. The five vowels plus "y" have 19 sounds total. Even Mom is finding it challenging memorizing the vowel sounds in their correct order.