Tactile tactics and other activities for the reluctant speller

We started using All About Spelling with Pete last year in an attempt to address his difficulties with spelling, but apparently it hasn’t done the trick. It was the only area he struggled with on this year’s annual testing. I was surprised, because he seems to have learned the rules presented in AAS pretty well. He just isn’t applying that particular information outside of our designated Spelling Time.

The lady who administers the test said, “Pete is like a river. If he runs into an obstacle, he just goes right around it without a care.” And she’s right. He hasn’t had to do much writing yet, so he hasn’t had much incentive or opportunity to apply the rules.

At her suggestion, we’re trading in All About Spelling in favor of a slower, more hands-on approach to see if maybe that will help. I’m not sure what to do yet on the incentive front, but part of our exercises will be writing-based so Pete has the opportunity to use the words he’s studying more often.

To that end, I’ve been scouring the internet for fun and engaging ways to study spelling, and I’m saving every great resource I find on Pinterest. Here’s the board!

Follow Nichole E’s board spelling activities on Pinterest.

Here, there and everywhere

Hello again! As you may recall from yesterday’s post, we are currently smack-dab in the midst of a series of three posts comparing Rockford’s business-trip days with my own days on the homefront with the kids.

We don’t generally do much out of the ordinary when Rockford is out of town, but early in this trip I received a rather unexpected invitation and subsequently found myself spending time with the president of the United States. It was a thrilling opportunity, and it made my photo for Wednesday considerably more interesting than Rockford’s.

Wednesday, 4/15. 3:45pm
Wednesday, April 15. 3:45pm. Town Hall meeting with the president. / A taxi in Shanghai.
Wednesday, April 15. 3:45pm.
Town Hall meeting with the president. / A taxi in Shanghai.
Thursday, 4/16. 12:15pm
Thursday, April 16. 12:15pm. Shrimp at KFC in Shanghai. / Driving home from a morning of classes.
Thursday, April 16. 12:15pm.
Shrimp at KFC in Shanghai. / Driving home from a morning of classes.
Friday, noon and 5pm
Friday, April 17. noon & 5pm. The view from a Chongqing research hospital. / Waiting for Grandma and Grandpa.
Friday, April 17. noon & 5pm.
The view from a Chongquing research hospital. / Waiting for Grandma and Grandpa.
Saturday, 11:30am.
caption
Saturday, April 18. 11:30am.
Green belt testing. / A walk in Shanghai.

From here to there, from there to here

Rockford travels a fair bit for work, and it takes him all over the world. Meanwhile, the kids and I are at home maintaining our regular routine. On his most recent trip, we thought it might be entertaining to take pictures to compare what he’s up to at a given time to what’s going on at home. The conclusion? He may be visiting exotic locales, but he rarely has time to see more than conference rooms and continental breakfasts.

This time he went to Japan, China and India. It was a lengthy trip, so I’m breaking this up into a trio of posts. Here’s what was happening here and there for the first few days:

Saturday, 4/11. 11:30am
Saturday, April 11. 11:30am. Preparing for takeoff in Atlanta. / Playing soccer under blue skies.
Saturday, April 11. 11:30am.
Preparing for takeoff in Atlanta. / Playing soccer under blue skies.
Sunday, 4/12. 6pm
Sunday, April 12. 6pm. An appetizer with tentacles. / A dinner with family.
Sunday, April 12. 6pm.
An appetizer with tentacles. / A dinner with family.
Monday, 4/13. 12:15pm
Monday, April 13. 12:15pm.  Getting ready for a meeting in Tokyo. / Lunchtime at co-op.
Monday, April 13. 12:15pm.
Getting ready for a meeting in Tokyo. / Lunchtime at co-op.
Tuesday, 4/14. 9am
Tuesday, April 14. 9am. Some video games before school. / Navigating the train station in Kyoto.
Tuesday, April 14. 9am.
Some video games before school. / Navigating the train station in Kyoto.