My 6 Year Old Daughter Can Read but Can't Spell Words?

I think the problem is that phonics are not emphasized in school anymore. With phonics, you can read and write anything - but for whatever reason, the schools these days count on the kids memorizing words rather than reading/sounding them out.

I would work with her on phonics.

Get her word searches! It really helps with spelling because you find the letters in order. I used this with my second graders.

Hell, I have my PhD and can't spell words. Yes, it's normal.
Some teachers teach words by simply telling them to memorize. She can practice them by writing sentences (if she learns best in context) or writing her own flash cards. There are apps where you can record your voice reading spelling words and she can type in the answers. Practice by writing words or by spelling out loud to see which works best for her. Google strategies for learning spelling words - there are many varied ones. And just continue to encourage her.

Yes, this is normal. I used to teach 2nd grade. Don't focus on spelling too much. First step is to help her develop her written voice and to help her gain confidence in writing what she thinks. Most new 2nd graders can't spell well at all. 2nd grade is when they really start working on those skills. If you seem overly anxious about her spelling she will be nervous and less likely to express herself in written form. You mentioned she already had a bad learning experience so the last thing you want is for her to feel your anxiety. Try having her write for fun. Have her send emails to family and friends. Maybe keep a family journal that you pass around and everyone writes something about their life. Make books together. Once again, don't worry about spelling at this point. The goal is to get her comfortable writing. Writing is a creative process and correct spelling is just a small piece. If you do work on spelling find a fun spelling App or online game to increase spelling skills.

My advice would be to relax. Most likely, she will figure it out. And if spelling is something that never comes easily to her, well, it's not the end of the world. I know plenty of adults who can't spell. They are still productive human beings. If she's already discouraged about learning, stressing out about this won't be constructive.

Yes, this is normal. My daughter is 7 and a super advanced reader going into second grade. I homeschool and during first grade this year I saw her spelling (which was WAY BELOW her reading and comprehension levels) begin to improve. Great books for this are "Spelling Workout" levels A, B, C....by Modern Curriculum Press as recommended by The Well Trained Mind classical education guide. You can get them on Amazon. We got through level A and are starting level B in second grade. For good readers, they're very easy, because your daughter could read the instructions herself and understand all the words she's working with, but it provides various spelling exercises that help a lot. It's fun enough to be enjoyable. If school isn't quite cutting it on the spelling this year, you can supplement with those at home.

Well, you just don't learn much when you're scared of your teacher.

But besides that, reading and spelling are two completely different things. Just as some people catch on to reading faster than others, some people catch on to spelling faster than others. Now that she's at a different school, you might have a talk with the teacher she will have this fall - for your own assurance if nothing else. And don't let your girl think there's something *wrong* with her.

Does she spell it the way it sounds (which isn't always the correct spelling)? If so, that is normal.

My 6 year old (7 in Dec) is going in 1st grade and she can read well and spell some words but sometimes it's off because she spelled what she heard (which is how the teacher has told them to write for now so spelling doesn't hold up their writing). For instance: prinsess would be acceptable for "princess" and to is acceptable for to, too, or two.

I wouldn't worry about this but I wouldn't ignore it either. I am a Kindergarten teacher and the sentence, Today I went to the water park., is a simple sentence. I think she should be able to write this correctly by age 7. However, children develop at their own rate. I would encourage writing at home and maybe help her create a picture book (labeling the pictures). This way she can check words that are difficult for her to spell. The more she writes the easier it should be. Please don't let her know that you think she's having difficulty with writing. In fact, do the opposite...let her know how proud you are that she is an author!

Spelling and reading comprehension happen in different parts of the brain. My sister is a genius. She can't spell for anything. As she says, "that's what spell check is for".
Relax.
Enjoy her.

There is Phonemes. And Phonics.
Phonemes is about the individual sounds, of the spoken word. And being able to recognize that.
Phonics, is about the grapheme or individual alphabet/letter in written language. And about word combos or word families. ie: mat, cat, sat. And about how if you change just the first letter of any word, it can also change the meaning of a word entirely. Then there is "fluency." Which is the ability to read quickly and accurately. Aloud or silently. Fluency happens, when recognizing words/reading AND comprehension take place all at the same time.

At 6 year old, these ages are still... learning to read and spell. The foundations of "reading" occurs up to 3rd grade.

I would practice with her.
Spelling, is not the same as reading.
And also, it is not the same as comprehension.

Some kids, can "spell" because they have a good memory.
Some do so because, they know the actual word sounds or letter sounds of alphabets and words.
And many, can read but cannot spell everything all the time. Even adults.

It sounds perfectly normal to me. Kids write phonetically, but most words are not actually spelled phonetically. My son (also 6, but going into first) reads very well but can't spell. Most kids can't spell well at all. I wouldn't worry and I don't think you need to change schools or anything just because of that.

I agree with S.H.
I also want to add that there's reading by word recognition, and then there's real reading by phonetically sound out the words (clear recongnition of phonemes & mastering sound blending).
There are students who are as young or even younger than six that are able to read this correct way. So even if you give them a word that they don't know the meaning to, they can still sound it out. Not because they're smarter or anything. But they've had a stronger foundation in reading instruction - taught to read the correct way. I believe from my own experience.

And usually, they also have stronger spelling skills.

My only advice is to give your daughter words that you know she hasn't heard of, and see if she can phonetically read them.
Such as intervention, calculated etc. Words that I consider straight forward - if you've actually mastered the individual
phonemes; including long & short vowels. That way, you can know for sure if she is reading by memorization or sound blending. It's difficult to write if you haven't mastered sounds.

Of course, there is a lot more to spelling than this. But this is where it all needs to start...phonemic awareness.

Our daughter over all is considered an excellent student. She taught herself to read and we did not even realize it.

When I asked our daughters second grade teacher about our daughters "poor spelling", she hemmed and hawed and finally spit out " I just think, "daughter" is not a natural speller."

I am not sure why I would be surprised. I also am a terrible speller. Sometimes even word check cannot figure out what I am trying to spell!

My husband on the other hand is excellent. Our daughter has worked very hard to be a better speller, I gave up a long time ago..

One of the things we used to do to help our daughter study for spelling tests, was to have her give us, spelling words, then she had to go back and check our work.

Of course the repetition of writing out a word, and the repetition of calling out a word and having her spell it on paper, spelling it out aloud and sometimes, handing her a book and having her search for the word.. also helped her.

Once she was a bit older, we kept a "Word a day Calendar" on the one bathroom we all share. We would each try to learn the definition of the word word, try to learn to spell the word.. and then use it in sentence that day.

Spelling comes after reading, just like learning to talk comes after understanding other people's words.

Learning the rules of letters, letter teams, etc. comes around 2nd or 3rd grade. It's then that spelling starts to come. It's also memorizing, which will happen around 3rd grade. Learning how to spell is a lifelong process, I wouldn't worry too much about your daughter!

I'm not saying this is her problem but there is a form of dyslexia that causes spelling and math problems. I, like your daughter, always read above my grade level but had a lot of difficulty in spelling and math. Back in the days before calculators you had to have very good to exceptional math skills, for instance if you were a cashier and canned veggies were selling 3 cans for 59 cents but the customer only wanted one can you had to figure out the price of one can in your head. As a kid when I tried this I couldn't do it because the numbers transposed--it was worse with 3 and 4 digit numbers. Spelling was just as bad I couldn't always picture the spelling of the words and transposed a lot of letters.

So if the problem continues to the 3rd grade have her tested for this form of dyslexia.

That sounds normal... My daughter is also 6, just finished kinder and heading to 1st grade. She can decode words quite well and easily read basic level 1 books. But her spelling is extremely creative. I think it takes a few years for them to be able to learn all the conventions of spelling in the English language. In the mean time they give it their best guess.

My second son was like that. It took him until 4th grade before spelling really clicked for him. According to his teachers, it was a non-issue and normal. He was doing his best and it was simply not a natural talent.

It had initially worried me too, as my firstborn was an amazing speller from the start.