My Kid Can't Spell: Understanding and Assisting Your Child's Literacy Development [Paperback]

J. Richard Gentry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0435081357 | ISBN-13: 978-0435081355

My Kid Can't Spell is a readable and accessible handbook for parents who want to play a more active role in their children's reading, writing, and spelling development. Spelling, after all, impacts virtually every aspect of reading and writing, and it is the key to unlocking literacy. But helping your child with spelling can be confusing. When is the right time to correct misspelled words? How can you help your child move to the next level of development? What are the important underlying concepts to reinforce?

Spelling expert J. Richard Gentry offers timely and practical solutions to many of the problems parents of K-8 children face. The book is packed with tools, guidelines, and strategies that parents can immediately use, including:

• development guideposts to track children's literacy
• tips for helping children progress through early spelling stages
• a spelling test to determine children's level of spelling
• strategies to help children visualize words
• guidelines for identifying poor spelling instruction at school
• ways to recognize if a child has a spelling disability.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A former struggling speller himself, J. Richard Gentry, Ph.D., has authored three books and a video on the topic with Heinemann, including My Kid Can't Spell (1996), Teaching Kids to Spell (1992), Spel...Is a Four-Letter Word (1989), and Richard Gentry on Spelling (1992), as well as numerous articles in academic journals and textbooks for school-age children. A former elementary teacher and university professor, Gentry is a Heinemann Professional Development provider and has lectured and conducted workshops on literacy and spelling throughout the world. Visit http://JRichardGentry.com for additional information about Richard Gentry and his work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 90 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann (December 2, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0435081357
• ISBN-13: 978-0435081355
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #272,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For more detailed information about Richard Gentry, visit his website, www.JRichardGentry.com.

J. Richard Gentry, Ph.D., earned his Elementary Education degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and a Ph.D. in Reading Education from the University of Virginia in 1977. For sixteen years he taught Reading Education at Western Carolina University where he directed the Reading Center. He is well known for his research and writing in literacy education and is currently an independent researcher, author, and educational consultant. A frequent keynoter and featured speaker at conferences for teachers both nationally and internationally, J. Richard Gentry continues to write and speak widely on literacy development and spelling. His depth of knowledge and breakthrough thinking about the importance of teaching spelling for reading and writing development has resulted in a number of books including Spel... Is a Four-Letter Word, The Literacy Map: Guiding Children to Where They Need to Be, and My Kid Can't Spell as well as numerous articles in academic journals and textbooks for school-age children.

J. Richard Gentry's ground breaking book, Breaking the Code: The New Science of Beginning Reading and Writing (Heinemann) was released in February of 2006. Writing with the same clarity and teacher-friendly approach as in his best-selling The Science of Spelling (Heinemann, 2004), Richard Gentry shows you how scientific thinking and student-centered teaching can work together to create powerful literacy instructional practices. His staff development sessions open a window for teachers and parents into the minds of young readers, so that they can open a window for them into a world of literate possibilities.

His books Breakthrough in Beginning Reading and Writing, released by Scholastic in late in 2007 and Step-by-Step Assessment Guide to Code Breaking released in 2009 are already popular for teachers of beginning reading and writing and along with his other books have established Richard as one of the foremost national experts on teaching beginning reading and writing. Richard is the author of Zaner-Bloser's new Spelling Connections: Words into Language, one of the nation's top selling spelling programs for grades K-8.

In his latest book and in many ways considered his best work yet, Raising Confident Readers, How to teach your child to Read and Write, from Baby to Age 7,to be released by Da Capo Press in July, 2010, Dr. Gentry has created a template for parents who are looking for guidance with their child's literacy path. We all know the importance of reading aloud to our children, but beyond that, how do kids really learn to read? Why should you jump-start the process before formal instruction in school begins? How do drawing and early writing fit into the literacy picture, and what can you do to encourage them? How can you recognize and intervene if your child's literacy skills are not developing normally?

In this empowering guide, Dr. J. Richard Gentry describes how to teach reading before your child enters kindergarten and how to monitor progress once your child is in school. He offers parents an easy-to-understand program outlining the five phases of kids' literacy development, with age- and stage-appropriate activities that make reading and writing fun. Raising Confident Readers is essential reading for every parent who wants their child to succeed in school and be a lifelong learner.

A life dedicated to literacy education, Richard Gentry also has enjoyed life to the fullest. Time with family and friends, traveling to far away exotic places, cooking, gardening, working out, and just relaxing while reading a good book are just some of the personal attributes that round out and center his life. He currently resides in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book for parents of a non-spelling child, December 6, 2010

By 

Donna M. Dunlap "33 years with 7th graders!!" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Kid Can't Spell: Understanding and Assisting Your Child's Literacy Development (Paperback)

By middle school if you have a child making numerous spelling mistakes, the reality is that all the spelling lists in the world won't help. Begin checking with family members and you will find a genetic component. This book helps you better understand this disability and gives great suggestions like the use of the Franklin Spell Checker and of course using the spell check on the computer.
It would be better helping your child become proficient on the key board rather than drilling spell lists.