Frequently Asked Questions 
Is it “normal” for a 2nd grader to spell words with many missing letters?
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2007 by Anne-Evan Williams
Filed under: Spelling FAQs,
It depends on what type of letters is missing. By second grade, children should have good control of the sounds they hear in words and how they are represented by a letter or letter patterns. If the child's spelling attempts of words are "phonetically" correctly (i.e., all the letters appropriately match a specific sound) the child may still be learning the conventions of irregular words or words that she doesn't encounter often. These conventions are still working its way to her long-term memory. It's natural for second graders to still be learning these conventions. However, if the child is missing letters to many sounds that are in words, she may need intervention in accelerating her attention to the discrete sounds in words (or phonemes). (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
My son is in 2nd grade and can read OK but can’t spell very well. Should I have him assessed?
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2007 by Anne-Evan Williams
Filed under: Spelling FAQs,
Yes. The processing abilities that are required to make a good speller are the some of the same processing abilities that make a good reader. Beginning readers who have trouble spelling often have trouble becoming efficient readers as well. In my experience, adults who consider themselves poor spellers are often phonetic spellers. (2) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Can both adults and children be assessed for spelling and reading problems?
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2007 by Anne-Evan Williams
Filed under: Spelling FAQs,
My daughter is in seventh grade and reading and spelling have always been hard for her. Reading and spelling were always hard for me too and I still don't like reading very much. Should she be assessed or can we both be assessed? (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
My son is in 3rd grade and does not like reading. Does that mean he is not a very good reader?
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2007 by Anne-Evan Williams
Filed under: Spelling FAQs,
Not necessarily. If he is doing fine with reading and spelling in school, he may be fine. However, he may not like reading because it is hard for him. Most anyone likes doing things that come easily. Third grade is a particularly critical time where reading is concerned. Third grade is the first time a student is required to read independently. A lot of readers realize reading problems for the very first time in midyear of third grade. Monitor his progress closely to make sure that he continues to make appropriate progress. Identifying a reading issue early is one of the most important things your can do for your child's reading abilities. A child who is one year behind this year will likely by two years behind next year and so on. (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Having trouble viewing detailed Acrobat reports?
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2007 by Anne-Evan Williams
Filed under: Reports FAQs,
In order to view detailed reports, our system requires that you have free Acrobat Reader 4.05 (or later) as well as the Acrobat Reader PDF browser plug-in properly installed. For Microsoft XP operating system users, you must have Acrobat 5.05 or later. Check our Technical FAQs for more information. If you still cannot view your reports, e-mail us and we will e-mail you a version of the report as a stand alone PDF file which you will be able to open with Acrobat 3.0 or later. (0) Comments • Permalink
What does it mean if my student misspells a word several different ways?
Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2007 by Anne-Evan Williams
Filed under: Spelling FAQs,
My daughter is in fourth grade. She is not a very good speller. The weird thing is, she seems to spell the words wrong differently every time. She spelled "straight" several different ways in the same paragraph. Why does she do that? (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink