9 is a great age to learn to keyboard, if her hands are large enough. I am a terrible speller, and very creative and 'dreamy.' At our house when DS's doctor said that his ADD probably runs in the family, DH raised his eyebrows at me in a very pointed way. I was a terrific reader, and everyone told my parents not to worry about the spelling because I would pick it up from reading...eventually! That didn't happen. Lucky for me, I was sent to typing class the summer before high school, which was thought to be crazy-young back then, and I learned to type.
Wow did typing set me free. Even my tangled up brain seemed to be more amenable to staying on task if I could get the words out fast enough. I was suprised to discover that there was more to writing than spelling and grammer! (Read 6+1 writing traits to see what else is there - she may as well develop her strenths.) My parents were very careful to steer me to a job with a minimum of writing and lots to keep me busy.
I'd also recommend an OT eval, your insurance may pay for it. I was an unathletic child, and it is painful. A little OT can go a long way.
My teachers certianly didn't get how I could be 'so smart' in some ways and 'so dumb' in others, and many of them called me lazy. What I found out about myself is that if I can find something to love about a topic, then I can use a superhuman level of strength to overcome my bottlenecks. So try to teach your daughter to brainstorm topics when she starts to write a paper for school to be sure that this subject-love is on her side. Writing in first person from weird subjects, like a drop of water, was one of my favorites.
Since she has a great imagination, you and she might pretend that for every grammer error she finds a starving person will be given food for a day, or that there is $100 prize, or a lost bunny will find their mommy - whatever works for her.
Shoe tying for me was a great trial. I still don't know the '1 ear' method, but am ok with the 2 ear method (square knot) done twice. Also - New Balance makes wavey laces that are less likely to unravel. Lots of times adults had to show me a 'second option' way and that helped a lot. I couldn't memorize lots of steps, but did fine with something that 'make sense.' She may be more of a 'bird's eye' thinker than a 'step by step' thinker.
I think it's great that she is writing 3 page stories with the spelling words - I'll bet they are quite interesting. Once she starts to type you'll be able to read them and see. My poor mom used to drill me on the week's spelling words, and I'd barely make any progress - finally learning one part of the word, only to mispell a part I used to get right. Also, some of my friends can write down a word to see if it is right, and that never works for me. "model" and "modle" both look terribly wrong to me. I never tried gluing sand to words and touching them with my fingers, but that's my next plan for the next time I go on a 'I WILL learn to spell' binge.
Try listening to your DD talk and see if she tends to refer to 'that looks right' or 'that sounds right' or 'that feels right' to me. Apparently we can help people feel safe and loved if we match their language this way. Perhaps it's also easier to provide tutoring if you match the sense language - worth a try anyway.
I stay organized with big lists with fancy fonts and colors that I print off on the computer. This might help with organizational skill. Alternative is to write on her hand what she is supposed to do next. I'll bet she can come up with a cute acronym for many of her routines. I rename everything so it's easier to stick in my brain. Basically my working memory is my bottle neck, so I have to get everything into long term storage (rename or cute acronym) or do it right away. Otherwise I will forget it. My new favorite organizing book is 'Making it all work' by David Allen. See if your daughter is willing to read it and turn it into a giant craft project.
LoL about the wrong ages - my son was big for his age, and I was always making the opposite mistake. At 14 he has finally grown into his age - at 6 feet tall.
Anyway - with all this, I work a great career, run a small family of three plus dog, and have lots of great friends who keep me on time, and a happy life. I can't guarentee this for your DD, but it is certianly possible!
Love and More Love,
Grinity
