Spelling Help for Teen

I don't believe you can make a good speller out of a bad one. I have one kid for both and we all play words with friends and scrabble and have read extensively.
Sorry.

He sounds a lot like me. I am a terrible speller, always have been. I am also an English teacher, so get that, funny huh? I had some friends in college who made fun of me because I didn't spell well, but then I learned something in grad school that made me feel so much better! Spelling is done in a part of the brain that is right in the middle, I can't remember which side, or if it crosses both, but it is far away and entirely separate from language and reading/writing. It is a special part of the brain that only does spelling. So, just because a person doesn't spell well doesn't mean they are not intelligent. I SO wanted to rub that in those guys' faces! anyway, I have gotten so much better since writing college papers with spell check on. That and reading challenging books are the best way to spell better. But, remember, spelling is just a skill like any other, and sometimes we have tools to use for a reason.

I am not saying this to brag, but to give you perspective.

Our daughter is a National Merit Scholar. In second grade we meet with her teacher and she gave this glowing report on our child. I asked her, "But what about spelling tests?". Our daughter got terrible test scores. I told the teacher it seemed like no matter how much we practiced and studied, it was just terrible.

This teacher hemmed and hawed and finally said. "I think, I feel, like, She is just not, not a natural speller." we burst out laughing.

I told the teacher, "it makes sense. I am a horrible speller always have been!"

Our daughter has always been an advanced reader, her comprehension and vocabulary was always astounding. But spelling, was just not easy for her.

Even in High school with advanced and AP classes, the teachers said that spell check was a great tool. That they did not take off for spelling, instead they gave points for proper grammar and writing.

We did and still do have a day on a page Calendar for Vocabulary..

Maybe make it into a game. You all call out words to him and let him call out wards to you..

Also remember the roots to words. Maybe that will also help.

FYI, Our daughter graduated from college last year, with 2 degrees and on the Deans list each semester. Her poor spelling, it did not seem to be a problem, since all of her papers are prepared on the computer.

Relax. My sister is a genius and she can't spell.

I am a poor speller. I am also an English professor. My son is very bright....received a merit-based scholarship to a private high school and placed 3rd at the state science fair. Like me, he is a horrible speller....I am sure it is genetic. Still, I will be reading these posts to see if there is a magic cure....Based on what I have read so far, we bad spellers seems to survive just fine!

Check out Spelling City.com

Any and all vocabulary games. The more he reads, the more he has to spell to earn points, the more practice he will get. I'm a good speller but I've always done crossword puzzles and Scrabble. I play Words With Friends and Scramble on my phone. It really helps.

With computers and spell-check, people rely on technology and don't build the skills necessary. Just look at Mamapedia and Facebook posts - huge errors all the time, using the wrong word (advice vs. advise, making plurals with apostrophes, and so on). The problem is, spell-check doesn't catch errors when the wrong word is also an English word -- so "advise" and "advice" don't get flagged. Auto-correct is another problem - people just expect the computer to do the work automatically. If they saw the underlined word and then looked it up, it would help. But even if they do, they don't retain the correction.

A lot of spelling is about learning words in patterns - learning -ent and -ant endings, or the -ly vs. -ally ones. It might help if you could categorize his problems and see if there is a pattern to his errors, or if he's just paying the price for not enough emphasis on spelling when he was younger. I find a lot of teachers aren't that great at it, and there has been a movement to get kids to express their creativity without worrying that "spelling counts". The problem is, we get adults and even teens who need to use good grammar and spelling in advanced school work and in employment, and they are really handicapped. You don't say how old your son is, but the younger, the better. Also talk to the teacher about recommended FUN work for the summer.

Me, personally, am a good speller because I try to be. I use a Mac and in Safari, Mail and some other programs (as well as my iPad), I have spell check on. On my computer, when I spell a word wrong, it under lines it in red so I can see where my mistake is and correct it. I know it has helped me a lot with words that I frequently misspell when I am not writing on the computer. If you use a Windows computer, I'm sure there are preferences where you can turn on spell check and just ask him to pay special attention to the words that he misspells a lot. Some people don't like it on, but I have found it helpful! I also just have this weird pet peeve about people who spell words wrong.... not to say that as a mean thing (and there are a few words that no matter how hard I try, I just can't spell correctly, drives me nuts). Just a suggestion for you.

My daughter had difficulty with spelling. When she was a student 20 or so years ago, I bought her a Franklin Speller to use. She could type in words and it would give the correct spelling. It also had games to teach spelling. Now, with computers, there are programs that he can add to his cell phone or other electronic device that do the same thing.

I substitute teach and have over 10 yrs for elementary school. One of the mainstay computer programs we use for computer time during Language arts is www.spellingcity.com

Good luck