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Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Hi SkatePixie,

Spelling was my worst subject in school, too. I was so bad that my teachers thought I was faking it just to make them crazy: "You're so smart in math, why can't you spell C-A-T?!"

When I was in the first grade they were just starting to experiment with the "look-say" method of teaching reading, where children are taught to recognize whole words rather than to sound out each syllable. My parents blamed this non-phonetic approach for my difficulties in spelling later on, but I don't know if this is right or not. Everybody is good at some things and not so good at others. I went on on to get a PhD in mathematics and to become a college mathematics professor. But I still can't spell without a dictionary at hand or running spellchecker all the time.

I keep working at it though. Here's a tip that I recently learned. When does a word end in "ence" rather than "ance?"

Answer: if it comes from a Latin verb that ends in "ere" then it's "ence" and if it comes from a Latin verb that ends in "are" then it ends in "ance." My parents made me study Latin in high school just so I would learn things like that. :laugh:

But it still didn't make me a better speller.;)

Mathman
 
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Grgranny

Da' Spellin' Homegirl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
This is just trying to help. On words that need an apostrophe, can you remember if it's two words rolled into one and the apostrophe goes where the letters are missing? In other words, when you say it's the i from is is missing and so it would be it's.
Don't - do not
it'll - it will
Hope I explained it ok.
 
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skatepixie

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 2, 2003
i remember and do it for school and in handwriting. I just really hate reaching over to that side of the keyboard because of the wy my desk is I have to type on my lap at a slant. I do school stuff on my dads computer so I can type properly. if you notice, most of my typos are on the right side of the key board.
 

mpal2

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
skatepixie said:
As far as spelling goes, I should be honest and up frount about my background here. I learned to read by age 5 and so reading and spelling were never connected because all I can do is sight read, Ive never learned to sound out.

Skatepixie,

I'm a little confused on why you've connected reading at age 5 with spelling problems. This is not a criticism just curiosity. My older sister wanted to play school and taught me to read at 4 1/2 and I haven't had problems learning to spell. I'm just wondering if there is something else.

Don't feel too bad about it, there are a lot of people dealing with several types and severity of learning disabilities. My roommate struggled all the way through to her junior year in college before they diagnosed dyslexia. I wish they could have helped her sooner. She really had to fight her way through and her chosen field is far too picky about the grade average. She has plenty of practical experience and intelligence, she just doesn't have straight A's.

I think my dad had to deal with a minor learning disability which has never been diagnosed. He would never bother going to get tested anyway. No one expected him to even go to college much less end up with post graduate degrees and teaching! Way to go dad!

Edited: Don't let it stop you from doing what you're doing with the website. Just be really careful with spellcheck. My brother-in-law found out that he is really good at pubic speaking instead of public speaking. :laugh:
 

skatepixie

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 2, 2003
I was never taughted to read is what I meant. Theyre sure thats theres nothing wrong exactly except that I cant sound out words.
 
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