I haven't done much research in this area but I know our tester was absolutely shocked when they tested our DS's reading and spelling at his assessment- mostly because they were in-sync. He said early readers (even if they learned phonics) are typically whole-word readers and rely on their excellent memories to learn to read. My son was unique because he had "habituated phonics skills."
Again, not sure what that means developmentally but it sounds as if most of the young readers and gifted kids are "out-of-sync" like your DD. FWIW, I'm a very good reader, great with grammar and writing and a horrible speller. Thank goodness for spell check!!
I got this same shock from our tester. DD's reading and spelling are pretty in sync...at that time both on a high first low second grade level. She said this was unusual because most early readers are whole word readers....even more shocking to her was DD's decoding ability. At not quite 3 he could decode words on a high second grade level. She said the same thing. That DD has "habituated phonic skills" LOL.
Aparently this is very unusual, and most kids are out of sync. I personally remember that I was. I am still awful at spelling, but growing up I could read at a 12th grade level in 5th grade but couldn't spell to save my life. And I guessed on words. I see DD do that occasionally because she likes to be quick and not bothered with figuring it out, but if she does figure it out once then she knows it for life.
