Dear Carrie,
My daughter with special needs is able to read, but spelling is a huge issue. I am wondering for a child that can’t spell if writing practice is counter productive? I’m worried having her write things out is actually reinforcing bad spelling habits. I’ve been having her do beginning dictation with Heart of Dakota. But, I wonder if written narrations, where she is creating ideas herself, is just maybe reinforcing poor spelling in her mind? I do correct it. But, she still sees it when she writes it wrong the first time, and she makes the same mistakes over and over. What should I do? I guess my question is, does having my child with special needs write create bad spelling habits? Thanks in advance!
Sincerely,
“Please Help with Special Needs Spelling in Writing”
Dear “Please Help with Special Needs and Spelling in Writing,”
Thanks for sharing about your daughter! Charlotte Mason viewed the mind to function like a camera. As we see words spelled in written form over and over, we begin to think the word ‘looks right’ even if it is spelled wrong. That is why spelling programs that include misspelled words for students to correct are detrimental to truly learning proper spelling!
You are so right that writing a word and seeing it incorrectly multiple times fixes the “wrong” spelling in your daughter’s mind, until the wrong way starts to look right! So, whenever you do something where your daughter will write, copy a portion of it on the markerboard. She can then look at it to copy it on her paper correctly. Also, never have her copy so much that it wears her out. This will cause her copying to quickly go downhill, as I’m sure you know.
Or, if it is difficult for your daughter to copy from markerboard to paper correctly, you can write on paper instead. Just leave a space below each line for her to copy directly under your text letter by letter. Hope that helps!
Blessings!
Carrie
