My daughter is 10 years old and is struggling in spelling, reading and math. She attended a private school for grades 1-3 and did good until the 3rd grade.
This year she is attending public school for the 4th grade and she is becoming very frustrated with her spelling and her reading is suffering because she is not confident in her ability to sound out words.
I don't know how to approach this and help her so that she is making better grades and raising her reading level to what it should be for her age and grade.
I get upset when she cries and tells me that she is not smart and is not good in school because that is far from the truth. She is very smart and just needs a little help to get her going in the right direction.
I would love to know if you think you could help us?
Thanks a Million
Kristi Heath
My Reply:
Hello, Kristi,
Did the private school use phonics or sight-words? Does your daughter know the letter sounds? The letter blends?
My suggestion would be to get "A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette"* from amazon.com first, to make the basics firm in her mind. Just search on amazon for books by Shannah B Godfrey. Do NOT get the Kindle version (no color), just the paperback one.
The next step would be to go over the phonics spelling rules with your daughter one at a time, which I could send you later after you tell me how well she does with the basics.
Once she knows the spelling rules by sounds, she will be an excellent speller. I also find that having children read aloud to you really helps them improve faster. Absolutely no "guessing by context", though.
Unfortunately, some public schools teach a lot of harder sight words without ever teaching the children how to decode the sounds.
Sight words can cause dyslexia in many children. The phonics rules must be learned first for efficient, excellent reading and spelling.
In fact, phonics can cure dyslexia. All kids read faster and easier with proper phonics.
Please start with the primer* mentioned above, then let me know if you'd like my spelling rules and words.
Regards,
Shannah B Godfrey
Author, Scientist, Project Manager, Mom of 14
Did the private school use phonics or sight-words? Does your daughter know the letter sounds? The letter blends?
My suggestion would be to get "A Pretty Girl Was Alpha Bette"* from amazon.com first, to make the basics firm in her mind. Just search on amazon for books by Shannah B Godfrey. Do NOT get the Kindle version (no color), just the paperback one.
The next step would be to go over the phonics spelling rules with your daughter one at a time, which I could send you later after you tell me how well she does with the basics.
Once she knows the spelling rules by sounds, she will be an excellent speller. I also find that having children read aloud to you really helps them improve faster. Absolutely no "guessing by context", though.
Unfortunately, some public schools teach a lot of harder sight words without ever teaching the children how to decode the sounds.
Sight words can cause dyslexia in many children. The phonics rules must be learned first for efficient, excellent reading and spelling.
In fact, phonics can cure dyslexia. All kids read faster and easier with proper phonics.
Please start with the primer* mentioned above, then let me know if you'd like my spelling rules and words.
Regards,
Shannah B Godfrey
Author, Scientist, Project Manager, Mom of 14
http://thegodfreymethod.com
No comments:
Post a Comment