Challenges
“Perhaps I can be of some assistance — a-s-s-i-s-t-a-n-c-e,” buzzed an unfamiliar voice, and when Milo looked up he saw an enormous bee, at least twice his size, sitting on top of the wagon.
“I am the Spelling Bee,” announced the Spelling Bee. “Don’t be alarmed — a-l-a-r-m-e-d.”
Tock ducked under the wagon, and Milo, who was not overly fond of normal-sized bees, began to back away slowly.
“I can spell anything — a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g,” he boasted, testing his wings. “Try me, try me!
The other morning, I came out to the kitchen and saw that someone had added an item to my whiteboard grocery list:
bagelse
The telltale “e” on the end alerted me to the identity of the culprit. That “e” is a flail, an insurance policy tacked on “just in case.” If she wrote the word again, she might spell it differently. It’s occurred to me that this child would have thrived in the Renaissance, when non-standard spelling was the only rule to remember. Unfortunately, we live in the 21st century.
Everyone says that one of the great advantages of home education is that you can tailor your instruction to the learning style of each child individually. Lately it’s really registering with me that I have to do something different in spelling with Child #2. Child #1 has used Spelling Workout with good results. But Child #2 has been using it for 3 years (this is the fourth), and she has learned nothing. And it’s largely my fault, with my desire to stick with the known. Where’s the Spelling Bee, from Norton Juster’s Phantom Tollbooth, when I need him?
Child #2 is very smart, but very different than her sister in a number of ways. In math she’s sailing along, and in her conversation she often startles me with sophisticated vocabulary and deep insight. But with the written word — handwriting and spelling — it’s a very different story. Coming to terms with this — and also with the discomfort of having only the most intuitive understanding of how she might learn more effectively — I’ve spent a fair amount of time over the last few days researching different spelling curricula online. I wanted to use SRA Spelling Through Morphographs, but the cheapest used version I could find was $189 on ebay. Finally I decided on Apples and Pears, a program originating in the UK but available here in the states. Like the SRA program, it breaks words down into their smallest units and focuses more on word construction than memorizing lists and rules. It uses short lessons and LOTS of repetition, spiral fashion.
Last night, having made my decision and printed out the placement tests, I went to bed. But not before passing the whiteboard once again, and seeing yet another item added to the grocery list:
ice creame
I’ve put off a change for a long time. Now it can’t happen soon enough.
6 Comments
Lisa the Correspondent
First of all, we. LOVE. Phantom. Tollbooth! :-)
Second, I feel your pain. I, too, have a spelling-challenged child I’m attempting to educate. This smart kid of mine can do mental math that makes my grammar- geeky head spin, but his additions (no pun intended) to our white board grocery list reduce me to muffled sobs. Maybe we should start a support group: Writers with Spelling-Challenged Children (or WSCC). We could call ourselves WiSC, and we could meet in bookstores or libraries, drowning our sorrows in Pumpkin Spice Lattes in front of large-hearthed fires. That sounds comforting.
Or maybe we should just pray for strength and set our faces like flint to teach our kids how to spell. :-)
Janet
That does sound comforting!! But you made me laugh, and that’s comforting too. :-)
Alice@Supratentorial
Personally, I’ve always felt that spelling is just a waste of brain space on unimportant minor details. :)
I finally gave up on spelling for my oldest. My goal with him is just to get him to the same point I am: to be able to look at a word and tell it looks “wrong” and that he needs to look it up or check it. I admire those that have loftier goals but spelling was the only subject that drove him to tears every time we did it.
Hopefully you know the “waste of brain space” comment is kind of tongue in cheek. In all seriousness I find spelling kind of interesting. People often assume that being a good reader means being a good speller. But I learned to read at a very early age and was a voracious reader as a child and as an adult. I’ve always enjoyed writing also. But I’ve always been a terrible speller. I’ve met others like me (maybe we could have our own group…SPEL…Spellling Perplexed but Excelling at Literature) and am convinced that reading and spelling use different parts of the brain.
Janet
You must love this quote from The Phantom Tollbooth: “A slavish concern for the composition of words is the sign of a bankrupt intellect.” :-) Being a good speller is definitely not a requirement for intelligence! I am not ready to give up yet in this case because I haven’t made enough of an effort, but we’ll see where this goes. Still waiting for my new curriculum…
Amy @ Hope Is the Word
If it’s any comfort to you, I’ve yet to find a spelling program I love that works for us. My favorite is All About Spelling, but we haven’t enough time in our day to spend on it.
Janet
The Apples and bears books came yesterday, and I feel cautiously optimistic. It’s very different from what we’ve been doing, the lessons are short, and though I’ll be working with her it’s very open-and-go. So… we shall see! I’ll post on it again if it’s a success.
I saw good things about All About Spelling over at the WTM forums. Hope it will work out!