Succeeding in School

My son is also in forth grade. When he has problems with his spelling I break the word up into something that he might remember or visualize. An example would be attitude at-tit-ude and for a forth grader this seams to work will for my son.

~G.

If he has an IEP, the teacher MUST use it, it's the law. (I am a 4th grade teacher.) Don't worry too much about his spelling, if that is the only issue. Most teachers don't weight spelling very high on their list of priorities. Parents feel that is the one area that they can help with, but really, spelling isn't as important as writing GREAT ideas in a story. There are computers for spelling! Not that your son shouldn't try to be a good speller, but there are other things more important. If his teacher does count spelling as a big part of the writing grade, try to focus on the SKILL of spelling, not just memorizing the words. The kids forget the memorized words in a week, but remember the SKILL much more. Most spelling lists have a skill - like LONG and SHORT e sounds, or /er/ endings, etc... so, help your son see the patterns in the spelling lists. Have him sort the words into the different spelling patterns. You can also purchase great study books from stores like Learning is Fun or Lakeshore. They are educational stores. Good luck.

If he has an IEP you should have ALREADY had a meeting with his teacher/resource teacher and an aide if he has one. If you have not had a meeting yet, you need to call the school and schedule one. It will be easier if everyone is on the same plan. As far as spelling helps here is mine: Since he has ADHD "traditional" spelling cues might not help. Get a box of sand and have him trace the words in it. Use playdough and have him make the words out of playdough. Stand behind him and trace the words on his back and have him guess what word it is and then switch and have him to it to you. Make everything a game. I know it is a little more time consuming than the "traditional" way, but it should help. He needs more tactile way of learning. I hope this helps!!!

:)

Hi S.,
My son has ADHD and an IEP in place, he is in 6th grade, He is only required to learn and test on 5 out of 20 spelling words, One thing I've learned about my son is if he gets overwhelmed, life is to big and he cant even do the things he normally does, When I make his learning simple and small, he takes off like fire, (Its taken a while to learn that, I didn�t understand his AHAD) I do make fun stories, rhyming, etc. for spelling. Just this last year, however, I've quit making "Spelling Correctly" a priority, I relaxed and accepted my sons limitations, I follow my intuition more and worry about his grade less, he has a disability, I need to respect that, so I decided if I can just teach him how to learn to spell, look words up in the Dictionary, spell check on computers, grammar, A before E except after C, etc. Then just study his spelling words the best we can, (he prefers at bed time and once more the morning of the test just a quick review) we are both much happier and he feels good about him self, he doesn�t feel frustrated or stupid.
Good luck to you, I know it's so hard and heart breaking when they struggle in school.
I love all the advice I read on your topic. Thanks Everyone.

Hi S., since your son is on an IEP, have you had a meeting with the school and all the parties that are involved with him yet? ie: counselor, teachers, special education department etc? I have 4 children on and IEP right now and I have had several meetings already this year. I do email the teachers often, but I do see better results when we all get together. Make the teachers show you how they are following the plan and get as much feedback as possible. I know schools are crowded these days and there are a lot of special needs kids out there, but as long as you stay on top of it, it's not to much to ask. Also there is testing that the school can do to see where his strength and weaknesses are and devise a plan to help him. It very well may be that he does have a learning disability and it would be nice to know now to help lessen the frustration for him. Best of luck you both!

my suggestion would be making puzzle game out of his spelling words putting a letter or 2 per piece and have him put them together , when you are out and running arrand talk to him about how to spell the words have him look for the word while out and see where and how many times he sees it , in the store stoped in the car things like that and go and help in the class , the teachers can almost always use voluenteers and your kids feel specail that mom comes in and helps

I dont know how many words he has to learn but for me, I have Dyslexia, I had to spell each word 10 times before it would stick in my head. Plus I would write them out on a daily basis. I know its a lot of writing but it really helped me remember how to spell. I hope this helps your son, I know how frustrating it is to be in school and cant learn like the rest of them.

It is a good idea to have him write them down. However, with ADHD you can only do a little at a time because his attention will wander. How about starting with just three words at a time. You can also make it a game by making up funny sentences or songs. For example, if the word is vacuum, you could get out the vacuum and have him push it around as you spell the word, making it a song. Try to connect homework with having fun. And then you can also make a deal with him. Say, if he gets 8 out of 10 words correctly, you can play a special game together or he can pick out a dessert for you to make him.

Hi S. - I have a background with teaching K-6 kids with learning delays especially with reading so hopefully some of my suggestions will work for you and your son. One of the ways that I have found that is most successful is using phonics when spelling, when working on a particular spelling word sound it out slowly and have him recognize how the sounds correlate with the letters - for example if the word is cat you would say cat and if he was struggling you would lead him by making the sound for C and then for A and then for T - I know this may be an oversimplification as far as the word Cat, but you can get the picture. If you begin by leading (modeling) spelling in this fashion he should start to continue the words on his own.
Another suggestion that I can make is to try to make a spelling list of your own with smaller words or words that he is more familiar with and if he is able to learn those words you may need to talk to the teacher about either shortening his list of words or modifying his list of words. I dont know how large his class is, but the idea of different lists if used very often in larger and integrated classrooms.
I hope some of this helps!

Hi there S.. I just happen to be a third grade teacher (who's home today b/c of sick 10 month old). I have to work with students like your son all the time. Just a suggestion maybe, have you asked your son's teacher to cut the spelling list in half? I know with some of my students 15 is way too much, so I would start with them at 7 words. If this works, great! This way, they get a taste of success and confidence and feel a tad bit more motivated to keep trying. As for your study tips, they sound good and of course probably the ones we grew up with. But maybe you could also give him a pretest at home? Give him a spelling test on the first day he gets his new words. After you grade it, go over it with him and really emphasize how he came close to spelling a word correctly or talk about why he chose that way of spelling. I have to admit, it is easier for students these days to get away from being perfect spellers due to our technology, so I wouldn't feel too too bad about it. But it does help with reading fluency. I would also practice the grade level high frequency words, fry phrases...if he can get these words and phrases with automaticity, that could help allieviate a lot of struggle as well. It's the reading aspect that makes spelling important. Also make sure the teacher is following the IEP. It's his educational plan. USE IT! It's a disservice to the students if the teachers do not follow it. If you have time, try and go to school and ask the teacher if you could volunteer during language arts and see how the teacher is teaching. Just to keep the consistency. I hope this helps. Good luck. Baby steps always helps. Don't overwhelm your son. Also find out what his learning disability is. A.

Hi, I too am a mother of two boys, now 13 and 15, both with ADHD and one with Asperger Syndrome, as well. My youngest only has ADHD, but has been on an IEP since early grade school. Unfortunately, with the public school system the way it is now, I have had to be a constant advocate for both boys and learned early on that if I did not stay on top of their school work everyday, they would "fall through the cracks" of a system that just wants to push the kids on through, regardless of whether they might be failing in their classes or not. My child has always had extreme difficulties with reading and spelling and though I worked with him almost every night, as well as having him in a developmental reading class at school, he was failing his classes by the end of his sixth grade year. Finally, in desperation, I enrolled him in the Huntington Learning Center in Beaverton and it made a miraculous difference in his performance. He is now getting straight A's or at least close and has completely turned his attitude around about school and learning. No longer is he hiding his homework and not turning in assignments.

I wish I could tell you that our school system is a good one and will follow through with the "No child left behind" scenario, but I've found this only means that he'll graduate with his class, illiterate and academically lost, if you just let the school system handle it alone. I've had to fight with some of his teachers to inform me what his assignments were and what he turned in on a daily basis. Not all of them were uncaring, but others have the attitude that "we have 30+ kids in a classroom - "I only want to work with the kids who care about their education". Well I'm sorry, but there are plenty of children who fall behind early on in the process, end up hating school because they're frustrated and embarrassed and don't really care anymore about education - they're kids. It's up to the educators that we pay to teach our students and not all of them feel that way. I would highly recommend looking into some of these independent learning centers. They are definitely expensive, but I found it to be worth it for my son's future. Good luck and stay diligent.
D.