Last night I went to DD8's parent teacher conference. I had a wonderful discussion with her teacher. DD is in a gifted classroom with a 504 plan for dyslexia/dysgraphia. Her teacher told me that she is very pleased with DD's writing and showed me work that looked amazing -- neatly written, good vocabulary, and a few spelling errors.
We discussed how Dd does fine on spelling tests but has difficulty transferring these skills to written work. She shared that she thought this year's spelling curriculum might help DD because it focuses on patterns (a huge strength for DD). I left the conference feeling elated.
I came home and shared the wonderful feedback with my DD. She flat out refused to believe it. She started sobbing and saying that she is the worst writer in the world because she can't spell. I told her that her teacher and I don't feel that way. I acknowledged that DD always may have spelling challenges. I told her that she still has wonderful thoughts and ideas to share. I told her I was proud of all her hard work and reminded her how far she has come. She just said that I was too nice to tell her that she's stupid.
I'm at a loss. I'm very concerned about her lack of self esteem. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.
