August 30, 2023 – Will My Child Always Struggle With Spelling?

Heather Vogler

Can’t My Kids Just Use Spellcheck?

Does spelling have to be a separate subject when homeschooling? Why can’t my kids just use spellcheck? With technology advancing, and autocorrect moving at full speed, how important is spelling? Even though the tools are there, we must remember that they are simply tools. Just because someone picks up a piece of clay and sits down at a potter’s wheel, it does not mean they know how to use the tools. I am speaking from experience. I have clay, glazes, wheel, and kiln, but I do not yet have the skill to create beautiful masterpieces. Once my kids are older, I hope to perfect the art, but just because I have the tools in my basement, does not mean I am a ceramic artist. It is the same with spelling.

If you place a proficient speller next to a struggling one and ask them to write a three-paragraph email, the struggling one will often take a significantly longer time doing so. Maybe you see this in your own family. Two children have the same assignment. One breezes through it while the other one is stuck at the kitchen table for hours. The assignment gets completed in both cases, but so much time is lost for the struggling speller. Efficiency is key and your struggling speller will begin to thrive when he is able to learn tips and tricks that will help him grasp the basics.

We use Spelling Power in our homeschool. It has been a lifesaver. Using phonics, mastery, hands-on activities, and more, children can learn concepts in a way that builds confidence. I only spend ten to fifteen minutes a day per child with this program. To be honest, sometimes when I am busy with the littles, the older two will work together, getting their spelling completed for the day without my intervention. It is wonderful. Building blocks are key when it comes to spelling skills, and I am thankful for the resources available to create the foundation my children need to become proficient spellers.

About the author

Heather, her husband, and five kids homeschool and homestead in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. In addition to writing on her blog, Thrift Schooling (ThriftSchooling.com), Heather has been published in several publications including Focus on the Family Magazine, War Cry Magazine, and Brio Magazine. Heather holds a BA in Christian ministries and currently works in the marketing department of The Old Schoolhouse®.

Does your child struggle with reading and spelling? It may be dyslexia. Dyslexia is a language processing issue that affects accurate and fluent reading and spelling. You may notice that your child has difficulty with phonological awareness, verbal memory, and procedural memory. It is estimated that nearly 20% of people have dyslexia. Studies show that it is genetic, and children have a 50% chance of having dyslexia if one parent is dyslexic and a 100% chance if both parents are.  

Orton-Gillingham is the only evidence-based method proven to help dyslexic readers improve cognitive function. One of the components of the Orton-Gillingham method is the use of multi-sensory instruction. With the use of online applications that allow for such instruction, as well as having access to the most qualified tutors around the country that adhere to very strict standards, your child will receive explicit, systematic instruction that teaches them the science of reading. 

Growth Reading Center is one of the largest online tutoring companies for children with dyslexia and is a dyslexia-specific tutoring center that specializes in the Orton-Gillingham approach. All our tutoring lessons are one-on-one and are online through Zoom. We use an interactive approach with a shared web application rather than a lecture style with our students.  

Help your reader unlock their full potential and start their journey toward success today! Contact us to schedule your free consultation.

Dr. Joseph and Dana Huss are the founders of Growth Reading Center, affectionately known as “The Christian Tutoring Company.” They are also the proud homeschool parents of two boys that have dyslexia. The learning center started in 2015 and has helped hundreds of students become better readers. In 2020, Growth Reading Center expanded to online, virtual tutoring which allows us to reach more struggling students from the comfort of their homes regardless of geographical location. For more information visit www.GrowthReadingCenter.com, email info@GrowthReadingCenter.com, or call 563-549-3150.

Try Learning Language Arts Through Literature for an integrated, literature-based approach to learning. Use code TOS15 for 15% off your order at commonsensepress.com until 9/30/23.

Raising Real Men

Hal & Melanie Young, RaisingRealMen.com

Will My Child Always Struggle with Spelling?

In our decades of homeschooling, we’ve heard so many different things about spelling: “Just teach them phonics and they’ll be fine.” “A good reader makes a good speller.” “What you need is a good spelling curriculum.” “This is the only curriculum that works.” “No, this one is.”

What’s the truth?

We had one child that has never misspelled anything in his life. And another who struggled to spell one-syllable words in middle school. Same parents. Same education. Same spelling programs.

Here’s what we decided: Some kids just don’t need to be taught to spell. Any spelling curriculum will work for them, or even no program at all.

Other kids can’t learn to spell the way it’s usually taught. They need more whole-word, right-brain methods. They need color, graphics, story, and emotion for words to really sink in and stay.

At least that’s what finally worked for our son! We taught him the most common words in the English language. I’m an awful artist, but we turned those words into pictures and color and we made up silly stories—and he started learning!

He learned to spell more words in an app that he used for Bible memory. Somehow, typing sank in where handwriting never did.

When he went to college, his papers would have five or ten misspelled words on every page—and that was a huge improvement!  But by the time he graduated, he only had about five misspelled words in a twenty-page paper full of technical jargon and complex words!

So, even a child who misspells so badly even spellcheck can’t figure out what word he meant can learn to write successfully—it’s going to be okay, Mama!

Here’s some help—get our short course, Bright Kids Who Struggle, worth $19.77, for free, our gift! Just click here.

Your friends, Hal & Melanie   

About the author

Hal & Melanie Young are the award-winning, best-selling authors of Raising Real Men, No Longer Little, and Love, Honor, and Virtue. They are publishers, writers, bloggers, and popular conference speakers internationally, known for their Christ-centered focus and practical, real-life stories. They are the parents of six real boys (five grown!) and two real girls and live in noisy, messy happiness in North Carolina.

Designed with a unique multisensory approach, SnapWords engage auditory, visual, and kinesthetic pathways, ensuring success for every learning style

Beth Mora

Inability to Spell? What’s a Mama to Do?

Every child has strengths and every child has weaknesses. We are quick to point out the places where our child excels and cower in the corner when faced with the moment our child uses “are” for the word “our” or when they misspell the word squirrel five different ways in the same writing assignment. <deep breath> When a child struggles, our Mama heart pines for the trial to cease.

After thirty years of homeschooling, I have discovered a secret. There’s strength in the struggle.

What we often miss as we search for the perfect curriculum that will make the heartache disappear, is that the struggle forges character—the kind of character we long to see in our child, like perseverance and humility. If we can sit beside our child and assist them with encouragement and opportunities, we will see strength emerge, not only in the skill of spelling, but in their ability to overcome an obstacle.

Dear Mama, please stay away from despair. Don’t personalize your child’s struggle with spelling as a failure on your part. We homeschool moms are good at this self-defeating talk. Unfortunately, your despair leaks easily into your child’s well-being.

What’s my superpower? I build neuro-pathways, one neuron connection at a time, however long it takes. And that’s your superpower too! “I’m glad God never told me where the finish line is,” one mama told me when she shared her dyslexic daughter’s journey. Short daily lessons using all five senses to transmit information into our students’ brains will build strong neuro-pathways that will serve them well in any career God has created for them.

Struggling spellers are often brimming with creativity, the kind of creativity that makes them excellent authors. This is one of their strengths that hides behind all those misspelled words. Our job is to remove the barriers, tap into their creativity, and let them write stories! Some of my best young authors are those who struggle to spell well. I don’t miss an opportunity to tell them, “Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t be a writer because you struggle with spelling.”

Your child’s character defines him, not his inability to spell. <repeat this phrase as often as needed>

About the author

Beth Mora is creator/teacher-on-camera for Here to Help Learning’s Homeschool Writing Program (grades 1–6) and homeschool conference and women’s events speaker. She loves to blog at Home to Home. She serves up HTHL’s Writing Tip of the Week for those teaching their kiddos to write. Everything she does, whether laughable or heart-gripping, is done to honor One. God’s grace is the salve that has healed her own life and is what she offers liberally to others.

Easy to use and affordable, Structure and Style® for Students with Andrew Pudewa brings a successful solution to your writing lessons—guaranteed! IEW.com/free-lessons

Spelling is not just for elementary school kids. It’s a lifelong skill. With Schoolhouse Spelling, your student can enjoy a variety of activities ranging from spelling word videos to fun spelling lists and worksheets to puzzles that enable each student to work with words while learning how to spell them. Keep those spelling skills sharp with help from SchoolhouseTeachers.com.