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1)
Is "normal" for my 2nd grade daughter to spell words
with many missing letters?
Hello,
It depends on what type of letters is missing. By second
grade, children should have good control of the sounds they
hear in words and how they are represented by a letter or
letter patterns. If your daughter's spelling attempts of words
are "phonetically" correctly (i.e., all the letters
appropriately match a specific sound) your daughter is still
learn may still be learning the conventions of irregular words
or words that she doesn't encounter often. These conventions
are still working its way to her long-term memory. It's
natural for second graders to still be learning these
conventions. However, if your daughter is missing letters to
many sounds that are in words, she may need intervention in
accelerating her attention to the discrete sounds in words (or
phonemes).
2)
My son is in 2nd grade and can read OK but can't spell very
well. Should I have him assessed?
Hello,
Yes. The processing abilities that are required to make a good
speller are the some of the same processing abilities that
make a good reader. Beginning readers who have trouble
spelling often have trouble becoming efficient readers as
well. In my experience, adults who consider themselves poor
spellers are often phonetic spellers. Take a look at the
spelling mistakes that your son is making. Do his mistakes
seem to spell out the sounds of the word? (kuk for cook, hoo
for who, nite for nigh, joos for juice etc) This would
indicate that he is trying to spell phonetically. If your son
is making this kind of mistake, he is on the right track. He
is putting the sounds of the words in order, a task some
readers find very difficult. This kind of child may need a bit
of support to learn the actual spelling of the words. Or does
it seem that his spelling mistakes don't follow the sounds of
the word at all? (sgt for sight, chrp for truck, ement for
equipment, cshus for curious etc) Your son may be making one
or both of these types of mistakes.
3)
My daughter is in seventh grade and reading and spelling have
always been hard for her. Reading and spelling were always
hard for me too and I still don't like reading very much.
Should she be assessed or can we both be assessed?
Hello,
Yes, she or both of you can be assessed. However, reading and
spelling are not going to get easier for a seventh grader with
out some intervention. (Instruction in reading is part of a
school's curriculum through the fourth grade in most states)
The first step to intervention is assessment. It will be
important to know what her reading strengths and weaknesses
are. If she has coped thus far, she is probably strong in some
areas and weak in others. As high school and then college
approach, she will be expected to complete larger and larger
quantities of reading and writing. She may be able to get by
but she may feel like there is not enough time in the day to
do all the work required. Getting help now will be more
effective than later. As for you, adults from every walk of
life have difficulty with reading. Studies show that 20-30% of
the world's population has weakness in the processing
abilities necessary for reading. You may want to think about
taking an online assessment; this can give you or anyone the
dignity and privacy they may desire. Or you can go a different
route and have your daughter and or yourself assessed by a
local professional who can explain everything to you if you
are not comfortable reading a report that would be generated
by an online assessment. If you are interested in improving
your own reading level, go for it by all means. I personally
have worked with business men, construction workers, moms,
grad students and even a few people in their seventies. It is
never too late.
4)
My son is in 3rd grade and does not like reading. He never
wants to read and is not interested in books. Does that mean
he is not a very good reader?
Hello,
Not necessarily. If he is doing fine with reading and spelling
in school, he may be fine. However, he may not like reading
because it is hard for him. Most anyone likes doing things
that come easily. Third grade is a particularly critical time
where reading is concerned. Third grade is the first time a
student is required to read independently. A lot of readers
realize reading problems for the very first time in midyear of
third grade. Monitor his progress closely to make sure that he
continues to make appropriate progress. Identifying a reading
issue early is one of the most important things your can do
for your child's reading abilities. A child who is one year
behind this year will likely by two years behind next year and
so on.
5)
My daughter is in fourth grade. She is not a very good
speller. The weird thing is, she seems to spell the words
wrong differently every time. She spelled "straight"
several different ways in the same paragraph. Why does she do
that?
Hello,
Sometimes these kinds of spelling mistakes are made because
the speller has a hard time making a mental image of letters.
This difficulty will make spelling very hard. Good spellers
have the ability to picture a word in the mind's eye. After
the speller is exposed to the word a few times, the speller
can hold onto the image. However, this task is very difficult
for some people. It is some times called "symbol imagery
weakness." This same weakness may make memorizing words
for reading difficult too. But aside from all that, knowing
your daughter's specific strengths and weaknesses in this area
will be important. The first step to any problem like this is
assessment. Having your daughter assessed by a reading
professional will be very helpful for you. Several of the same
learning processes involved with spelling, are essential to
reading. It sounds as if she has some strengths with spelling
if she is able to think of several ways to spell words.
Determining the gap between her strengths and weaknesses will
help you to make the most informed decisions about
instruction.
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