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3rd Grade…Spelling help!
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My daughter is in 3rd Grade, turning 9 in a few months. We are doing Spelling Wisdom/Using Language Well. We are on lesson 21 and she is still really struggling with spelling. This is our first year with SCM, so I wasn’t sure if there was something else that we should try before continuing with this? Even if we take a step back and do something suggested for a 1st or 2nd grade level. I am really thinking of putting Spelling Wisdom on hold but not sure what to do. She struggles even with simple words. She can overall read very well (but doesn’t enjoy reading) however I do notice her reading fast and skipping words when reading aloud. Whenever she wants to spell something on her own for fun she will also ask me how to spell everything and will hardly attempt spelling something herself. Would love some suggestions! It is frustrating for both of us!
Thanks!
This sounds much like my 3rd grader, and how my 5th grader was at the same age. If you want to wait, I’d just work on phonics/reading aloud and copywork (both of which will help with spelling). I don’t start Spelling Wisdom until 4th grade, and then I start with transcription, so I definitely don’t see anything wrong with setting it aside for now.
So far I have 2 D C using Spelling Wisdom. One is a natural speller, and this has been a very easy, non-time-consuming program for her to use. My 2nd DC was not a natural speller, so I was a bit skeptical of SW working for him. However, I’ve been amazed at how much his spelling has improved with CM methods and just reading good books. I’m pretty sure my 3rd grader won’t be a natural speller either, but I have much more confidence in CM methods this time around!
When using SW and ULW is she still using as copy work or are you trying it as dictation? Is she struggling in free writing with spelling or in copy work or both?
I tried dictation with my DD in 3rd with out success, kept with copy work. This year dictation in 4th grade is going much smoother! I am pairing it with ULW as well.
I was never a strong speller growing up but was a very good reader. Looking back though, I skimed reading. Since reading aloud more and more with my kids my spelling has improved a lot. I see in my DD that as her books have gotten a bit tougher and she has to slow down to read aloud, her spelling is improving. I do not have early, fluent readers but I am starting to see the connection of reading and spelling with maturity in age and practice.
For me personally I think reading out loud, is a big part because it forces slowing down to read.
I do think some are natural spellers and for the rest of us, it takes time and patience but I am seeing maturing this year, so I think she just needed a bit more time.
Oh and I do not spell check my DD’s writing yet. Her goals are some mechanics, like punctuation and capitol letters when needed, but I don’t want to “squash” her joy in writing 🙂 I ask her to check her work for wirds she kniws but wrote too fast, but I do not stress about spelling in writing yet. I am seeing natural improvements, but taking the time to slow down is hard even for me sonetimes 🙂
Oh and for reading aloud, maybe try a step down for reading ability to build her confidence. Some books are tougher for reading aloud I think, especially if not as strong of a reader quite yet. I feel like that stage of reading, but not quite as strong, can be the toughest to find just the right type/ability.
You can check on Sequential Spelling. It helped my dd at age 8. She would read over words and this helped her to slow down and pay better attention to the letters in the words. Their website has a free trial week pdf.
https://wherelearningabounds.wordpress.com/2014/09/07/new-for-us-this-year-sequential-spelling/
Sarah2106 – I will be honest and say that I didn’t realize until half way through (what we have done) in Spelling Wisdom that I was doing it incorrectly. I was reading it to her, then having her study and read the sentence and write it. Instead of me dictating it to her. But then I tried dictation and it still has not helped.
She does copy work in her Print to Cursive Proverbs and also in Apologia Science. She is only struggling with spelling in her free writing/dictation. Again, she reads really well but doesn’t enjoy reading that much. But I think this is what we may need to focus on more since we have slacked in this area.
I have a friend who I think doesn’t like the Charlotte Mason method and told me she didn’t believe that reading helps with spelling. She tried it and didn’t work for her. But she may have not had her read aloud as much. I am skeptical of this only because I am new to the Charlotte Mason methods!
HollyS – so do you think her copy work, reading aloud (she mainly reads from the New Friends book) and phonics is enough on its own until 4th grade? Do you suggest something to help me teach her phonics? I might even consider getting some of the earlier Pathway Readers. I just want to make sure I am doing enough for her. I really want to stop Spelling Wisdom until next year, think I have decided that for sure.
And thanks Wings2fly! I will look more into Sequential Spelling. I tried to get the free trial but it wouldn’t let me. I also have Spelling Power that I have never opened but am a little unsure about it and was going to sell it. Wasn’t sure if it falls in line with Charlotte Mason’s method?
Thanks!
What about stopping the dictation? When using ULW and SW together it does not move into dictation until the second half of ULW and SW which would be the 4th grade year. I saw big improvements between 3rd and 4th grade. Dictation in 3rd did not go very smoothly, so we stopped, but dictation in 4th grade is going much better. With my next kids I will not start dictation until 4th grade.
Spelling and reading are linked but I do think extra practice does help, which is where SW comes in. Having 3 or 4 words that are new to the student and studying those words thoughtfully, while continuing the practice common words through copy work (or dictation) work together to build spelling skills. That said, some do better with other methods.
Growing up traditional spelling was a disaster for me, spelling lists and such. I would try to memorize them enough to pass and then forget. My mom (I was HS’ed) started to use different methods and dropped traditional and though I was never a strong speller I improved. I continue to improve as I am learning and practicing with the kids now too 🙂
So maybe I was doing SW the correct way to start! Oh my I am so confused. I was not doing dictation from the beginning. I really feel like I need to work on phonics and go back to the basics. Has anyone done Delightful Reading? And would this be to basic for a 3rd grader who can read? Wondering if it would help her spelling though. I am tempted to buy it anyway for my 1st grader next year and try it with my 3rd for the rest of this year.
For 3rd grade your child should be doing transcription with the first half of Spelling Wisdom Book 1. You can find a description of transcription on page 62 in the Teacher Book for Using Language Well Book 1. Basically, your child copies the Spelling Wisdom lesson phrase by phrase, rather than letter by letter or word by word. This helps the student to transition to dictation in 4th grade.
This blog post also gives an overview of the natural progression from copywork to dictation.
Delightful Reading would be too basic for a child who can already read. I recommend having her practice reading aloud to you on a regular basis. That gives you a chance to evaluate her reading skills, to help her slow down and notice the words she is reading, and to help her with any words she might have trouble pronouncing correctly.
Thanks Karen! I actually realize now I was doing it correctly the first time, and transcribing phrase by phrase. I didn’t do many lessons by dictation and still think I need to put it on hold for 4th and just start reading. I may order some of the early Pathway Readers or find something else in addition to New Friends. She dreads reading out loud. 🙁
It may help her to not dread reading aloud so much if you let her choose the book to read to you. Are there some books she has read to herself that she might enjoy sharing with you? Maybe there are some books she hasn’t read yet that you think she might really enjoy. You could have her choose from a couple of those. And don’t overlook picture books! Well-written picture books appeal to all ages, and can be used to help her gain confidence in her reading skills and in reading aloud.
Amy, my 3rd grader does much like Karen suggested…having them read aloud is an essential language arts skill. DD reads quite a variety of books aloud. Sometimes she reads from her independent history books (we often alternate reading aloud paragraphs for a page or two). Other times we pull out picture books or early readers. The Arnold Lobel books are great (she’s currently reading The Book of Pigericks which is pretty fun).
For phonics instruction, I prefer McGuffey’s readers with beginning readers, because I think they do a great job of getting them started reading. However, your DD is past this stage, so you could use just about anything, including the Pathway readers. We usually alternate the reader with picture books or books like Frog & Toad for some variety.
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