Helping Adhd Daughter with Spelling

My child does not have adhd, however, it is hard to sit and memorize for anyone, adults included. I have always gotten index cards and I write his words 2x on them. Then we play games like go fish, match words, etc. I also let him give the words to me and I spell them. When we get or ask for a word we have to say and spell the word so they are doing repetition and that helps, but it is fun for them. After a couple days of that, I then give him the words and have him write them. His 3rd grade teacher did an awesome thing w/ spelling. She had spelling bingo and the words were in crossword or search a word puzzles, they could do sidewalk chalk and go out and write them, have her type them on computer, etc.

Good luck and hope you can find some of this useful.
A.

my dad used to have me sing the letters. i know that sounds silly, but it really helped me! you also may want to try cutting up the letters to a word and then having her arrange them. Using her hands while she tries may help, and that way she can really look at them to see if it is spelled right.

Have your daughter jump on one of those small indoor trampolines (rebounders) and spell her spelling words out loud. Multi sensory learning, she is jumping, talking and using her brain to spell all at the same time.

If your daughter continues to have difficulty with spelling and reading, I suggest that you request that the school do an educational evaluation to rule out a learning disability such as dyslexia. The earlier a disability is detected the better the outcome.

I don't have a kiddo with adhd, but had one who really had trouble focusing and also had trouble with letters (I suspect mild dyslexia but he was never diagnosed with that). I am also a substitute teacher. If you know her learning style (ask teacher about this if you don't) that may help guide you.

Does she have an IEP (individualized education plan)? Some kids with IEPs have a shorter spelling list than the regular list. Would this be a possibility? I can understand if you don't want to go there just yet, but something to think about.

Maybe she would benefit from practicing the words in different ways. Some ideas might be--

using the magnetic letters on the fridge to spell the words

writing them on a dry-erase board with a marker

write them in sand with a stick

put a rectangle of shaving cream on the table and let her write a word with her finger. Re-smooth shaving cream for next word. Bonus--you get a really clean table!

arrange buttons/coins/string/wire/twisty ties/popcorn/dry beans to form the letters

writing them with crayons or markers on a BIG sheet of paper (maybe taped to the wall? watch out that markers don't bleed through)

make cards with one letter on each card, let her arrange them to spell the word

say each letter as she hops, jumps, stamps a foot, claps a hand, goes up a step, etc (gets some of the "wiggles" out, too)

sing the letters

whisper the letters

form the letters with her body (my son LOVED this one--he is a kinesthetic learner--though it was a little hard sometimes to figure out which letter he was forming)

I applaud you for not sharing with her that you hate to read!
Hope this helps a little.

Good luck,and please let us know what happens!

BTW--my kiddo is now 15.5 and on Honor Roll. No longer needs his IEP. Spelling isn't his strong suit but he works around it.

K. Z.

Is your daughter on any ADHD medications? It may be very difficult for her to focus long enough to retain her spelling words. My son has ADHD and I would make flash cards for each week and post them around the house for him to see, then switch out the cards for the next week. Multiplication was his big hurdle and I had to do the flashcards with that as well. Then they see them at various times throughout the day and can retain the information better. I hope this idea helps you!

m

Watch Akila and the Bee. Then buy her a jumprope. Or have her write the letters with finger paints, or something hands on. My ADHD son hated spelling, didn't care and spelled when wen until he was in highschool and could use the spell check.
Or do like they did on Electric company B----all B--all Ball B A L L

Check out http://www.spellingcity.com/ This is a website that my daughter's first grade teacher gave us to help her with spelling. It has games and stuff that will keep her focused. I know your pain well! Good luck to you!

The ability to spell is to some degree hereditary. Practice does usually help, though.

It might be helpful to know what your daughter's primary learning style is so you can teach her how to focus her efforts. Here's one of many sites that can help you evaluate whether she's most strongly visual, auditory, or kinesthetic: http://people.usd.edu/~bwjames/tut/learning-style/

If she's an auditory learner, for example, then spelling the words out loud, perhaps with music playing, or to a beat, or even making up a tune for each song will help. Your daughter is more than likely kinesthetic, and there is help.

Google key words like "spelling, kinesthetic learning style" to find helpful tips. Here's one very good summary: http://homeworktips.about.com/od/homeworkhelp/a/learnings...

.

I love to read and spell but remember that my mom used to play classical music softly when I studied my spelling words. I would kind of put them to music. If she is musical, that could help, she could put it to any kind of music she likes. I swear, to this day I still think of the commercial for Oscar Mayer Bologna to spell it. :)

I had a son with ADHD - all the responses are great ideas. Some of them are things we tried and they really helped.

My son's issue was a disconnect between his head and his mouth or hand. In other words, he could spell the word correctly in his head but when it came time to write it out or spell it out loud, all the letters were jumbled (but he did not have dyslexia). We took him to Learning RX and it made a huge difference. Find out if there is a Learning RX in your area (I am in the Raleigh NC area and I believe you are as well). I am not sure how young of a child they can treat, but it would be worth a call to find out. It is expensive but we felt it was worth the long-term investment in my son's academic success. E-mail me if you want more information - ____@____.com luck!

I'm not sure if you're asking how to help her learn the words or different ways of learning so I'll share what I did with both my kids (one has ADD, the other not). They didn't like the idea of "studying" the word list so I tried different ways of making it fun. We spelled the words on the driveway in sidewalk chalk (DD had great fun making the letters "cute"). I also kept dry erase markers in the car and let them practice spelling on their window (marker just wipes off and really, who lets their kids write on the car windows?? they thought this was the greatest treat ever) while we were driving. We also had a huge sliding glass back door so they would write them on there while I cooked dinner. We would cut out letters from a paper/magazine and put them together to make words (you could also used scrabble tiles - maybe just give her the letters for a certain word and have her put them in order?). My son had the hardest time - we would also 'sing' the letters over and over at bedtime. We also had the kids words on an index card to keep in the car - each time they spelled the word correctly they got a star beside it - after 5 stars, no more practicing that one! I had them write each word on an index card and I'd tape them to the kitchen wall - each time they passed the word, they would stop and read/spell it out loud. Another way he learned to spell was the "say it - spell it - say it" method. We were taught that if you heard the word/spelling, your brain would remember this information better than just reading it silently. He's in 8th grade now and will still use this method when there is a tough word. You could also ask the teacher to give you the word list early so she can learn them over a longer period of time. Good luck!

have you tried a tutor. Maybe your anxiety is reflected upon her you just don't realize it. Parent's can try and hide their anxieties but a child will still pick up on them. It is not your fault. But, maybe if you got someone on the outside to help it would speed things along better and less stressful for the both of you.

It may not have anything to do with the ADHD except keeping her focused.

People learn in different ways.

Do you have a scrabble game.. Get the tiles and let her spell her words using the scrabble tiles.

Get a cookie sheet and pour enough rice on it for your daughter to be able to "write in the rice".

Get sidewalk chalk and let her write the words on the sidewalk. Ir get a paint brush and let her use water, to write on the sidewalk.

Also when you get the list and you go through it the first time, Have her call out the words and ask you to spell the words. Make mistakes and let her "teach you" the correct way to spell them.. Get dad to do the same thing. Let him put in totally ridiculous letters or numbers into the word and let her teach him the correct.

Stay positive with her. I like how you are really working on this. Wow, you are good at remembering the spellings this week.

I highly recommend doing homework when you first get home from school, when medication is likely still active (I'm assuming she's being treated?). If you need it, you might consider a booster dosage of her medication to get through homework. This will make a world of difference, since she'll be able to focus and better memorize the words. I don't even attempt homework in the evening, when the medication is out of our son's system.

Consider the way she learns best. If she's a visual learner, having a picture of the spelling word with the letters under it may help. If she's artistic, she might enjoy writing out the words in colored pencils or pens. If you can make it appeal to her learning style, it may go much easier.

Also, consider talking to her teacher for ideas. They're really the experts in different learning styles and you may get some creative ideas.

First off, Ritalin really helped. We went over and over the words, made a game out of it, wrote a silly story with the words, and focused all of our attention on the words. If she has been dx as adhd, mine was, then you have the right to ask for a quiet place for her to be tested.

Yes let me give you some help. Make it a game. You need to cut up letters in her spelling list and place them in a bowl/box. Then you will need approximately 50 pennies. Cut up the letters to her spelling words and play "go fish" and have her place the letters she chooses out of the basket...next to her spelling word. You do the same. Who ever gets the first word spelled....gets a penny in her cup. Complete the game until all words have been spelled. Also count the pennies to see who won at the end of the game. I think you will be surprised how she may find spelling not so bad...take care...K. Thorson Gruhn, Speech Pathologist

Both of my boys have trouble with spelling words! Well my oldest 1 not so much anymore, he is 10 and is in Jr high now. The words always came home on Thursday for the next week so we had from Thursday night till the next Wednesday night to study and yes we did them on the weekends, and yes they complained lol. But we put them on flash cards, and what we would do is let them show the words to us first and we would say the words and then we would spell them. Usually there was 10 words and 4 "bonus" words! And then we would change and they would have to say the word and spell it and we would just keep changing and we would do it for a half hr. This way it was fun for them and it was more of a game then homework! Good Luck to you. Oh and yes my oldest does have ADHD.