Ashlea S. writes:
We have a 7 year old who is in second grade and is having a difficulty spelling. Her spelling used to be great and she didn’t have a problem with it until this year. She wants to write her b’s as d’s and her d’s as b’s. It’s become very difficult to try to get her to focus on the word she is doing because she keeps trying to remember the word she did before it. What do you suggest we do to correct this so that she can start spelling the way she used to?
B and D Reversals is common for 1st graders. This is part of learning to write letters correctly. Think about it, the letters ‘b’, ‘d’, ‘p’, and “q’ are just flipped around from each other. There is no ‘form or shape constancy’. It is not like a shoe is a shoe is a shoe, no matter what the direction it is, even if it’s upside down. Learning the direction of letters can be a bit daunting. Remember, it is a learned skill. Most children are able to remember the different directions of the ‘b’ and ‘d’ and ‘p’ and ‘q’ by the 2nd or 3rd grade.
Knowing this about B & D reversals should ease your mind a bit, BUT, I still would not totally ignore it. Instead I would use a quick method to show her that she has her b’s and d’s on her body. I do that with the aide of ‘b and d’ poster and stickers. I don’t think they are up on my site yet, but they are available. The poster is $5.00 and the stickers (10 of them in the pack) are $5.00. A story also comes with them.
You can order them by calling 530-888-7160 between 9 am and 4:30 pm Pacific Standard Time.
For other spelling help, check out the videos I have posted on my blog…
Spelling Problems? Learn How to Make Spelling Easy
Spelling Problems? What is the Cause and What Do I Do About Them?
Teaching Reading: The Short Vowels to Dyslexics, ADHD, & Homeschooling Kids
Hope this helps.
Bonnie Terry, M. Ed., BCET
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I don’t know if it’s just me or if perhaps everybody else experiencing issues with your blog. It appears as though some of the written text in your content are running off the screen. Can somebody else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them as well? This may be a problem with my browser because I’ve had this happen previously. Cheers
I’ve viewed the posts in different browsers and have not had that problem.