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.....and he will be done with spelling list two. He's a good reader but he's a math guy. Spelling isn't his thing. Capitals and periods elude him. He is a very phonetic speller which seems like it would be great....if only English were phonetically regular! Basically, he will be done with them but he hasn't done super well with them. He can pass them each unit but often doesn't do well with review weeks. And it isn't particular spelling.patterns bc he will get different words from different lists right and wrong, even getting one.word right and a rhyming word wrong.
What do you suggest? He will be in Bigger, ready to start DITHOR following an early school year finish of the emerging readers. Ill have to start slow for.him.with dithor writing.

I would suggest giving dictation a try when he is done with the 2nd spelling list. It takes time to see the fruits of dication, but it is well worth it. He will be studying the passage before you dictate it to him, and you can dictate it in smaller parts at first. My 14 yo dd has always had trouble spelling and puctuation, but after a year and a half of dictation I am beginning to see the positive effects.

My dd7 sounds very similar to how you described your son. She is a phonetic speller and struggled with Spelling list two. We've been doing dictation 3-4 x's per week for the past six weeks and I can tell you that it has helped her tremendously! After struggling through the first few passages she finally understood to "take a picture in her head" of the words that she was having trouble with and she's really improved. I've even noticed an improvement in her spelling with things that she writes in her own free time. She still has a ways to go but I am convinced that dictation is key to her improvement. So my encouragement to you would be to go ahead and try it!

Thanks for the input! I've been doing dictation with my oldest for ....3 years?? I'm not sure. And she's a horrible speller and an advanced reader, but dictation has been the key to getting her going with spelling and on grade level. She's in 5th grade and on level 4 of dictation (I'm thinking that's about right for 5th grade).

I'll give it a go with him. I was thinking they needed to kinda have mastered the words in the two spelling lists to be ready and by no means has he done so. But, the words in dictation 2 are actually simpler words than in the spelling lists, and for good reason since they have more to attend to. Maybe that's exactly what he needs! Ok...now I'm excited to start it with him!

I'd start the dictation too - good advice there! I'd also really help him out with DITHOR by writing it for him, then on the markerboard to copy, then finally quite late in the year just be near to help with spelling. Helping him out with the DITHOR writing will let him really focus on the dictation. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie