Advice about All About Spelling/Spelling in General

I have All About Spelling and used it with my son years ago, but he was a very natural speller and we put the program aside.

I have 2 girls, 6 and 7(almost8). The youngest is still working on beginning reading and seems like she is picking up on spelling like her brother.

My middle girl reads very well, has amazing vocab, but doesn’t spell well.  She spells words exactly like they sound and she picks up accents and the way words are commonly spoken here in TX and she will argue about how it sounds when I tell her the letters..haha…She is a prolific writer and uses pages and pages every day in her amazing little books. They can be read (understood) but the spelling is off even on “easy” words. I am afraid she has practiced spelling incorrectly so much that she will really struggle.  

I brought out AAS again and she can do the lessons, and seems a bit bored (I hate using that word lol). I am also really struggling to fit it in. I know it is just 15-20 mins but it is not getting done consistently.  

My question is should I just continue with copywork with her and ease into dictation and not worry about her spelling? I admit I haven’t researched enough about spelling to be comfortable making a decision.

Here are some examples: Dyr Pop, I am glad you r in hevin i bet you r tocen to God. I Love You.

Wuns A Pon a Tym

Poem: “God is Bigr thin all” The river the oshen and the se ar all bigr thin me. The bar(bear) the lien the clif and the maonton(mountain) ar bigr thin me. But dont you agri that God is bigr thin all of thim?

Maybe since my other two are so great at spelling hers seems to need a lot of work? Or does she need some extra help in this area? 

I also wanted to share a story she dictated to my husband the other night. He wrote her words verbatim, but the punctuation is his 🙂

There once was a family who each had favorite things: music, books, shows, lots of things. Their favorite thing of all was the Bible, because it is all true. There was always something new every time they read it. It was God’s word, and he is the real God. Everyday, before and after every meal, during every meal, and before bedtime, they would pray.

Their family was a family of four: Julie, Dave, and of course their parents Marian and Mr. Wallace. Mrs. Marian Wallace was about to have another baby. Dave wanted the baby to be a boy. Julie wanted the new baby to be a girl. The new baby was a boy. They named him Jacob because it was a good Bible character name. Julie was happy, even though the baby was a boy. They bought the baby a cradle. When they put the baby in- the baby started crying. Dave put his ear by the baby though the cradle. They all heard a faint noise besides the crying. Dave said, “There is a monster in the baby’s belly!” Mrs. Marian said, “No, the baby is hungry.”

Chapter 2

The Wallace family looked in their cabinets for food the baby could eat. There were only the foods the baby could not chew. They went to the market to get  food for the baby. They looked in the vegetable aisle. There were no potatoes, peas, or carrots, and those were the vegetables they wanted to make the baby food out of. Julie said, “Let’s look at the fruit aisle” so  they looked for bananas but there were apples. Julie said, “Let’s make apple sauce for the baby!” They got some apples, nice red ones. Then they took them home and made applesauce for the baby. Mrs. Marian scooped some applesauce into the spoon and put it in the baby’s mouth. He spit it out. Dave said, “Ewww. Yucky!”  The End

I really want to put away the All about spelling, what do you wise ladies think?

Her spelling doesn’t seem to effect her reading ability at all. She can read fluently the words she mispells.  Sometimes she reads to me in a British accent..she is a fun girl to be around and I don’t want to squash her creativity.

Thank you!