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With word predicting software and spell checkers how useful is it really to have her spend a lot of time on spelling?
I wouldn't have her spend too much extra time on it. We went to great lengths in first and second grade to get the words in her head. It resulted in a lot effort and stress without much payoff. By third grade, we only had her do the spelling packet sent home by the teacher. It included varied exercises -- making other words out of the letters, writing the words multiple times in the shape of a star, etc. She didn't do any better or worse than when we spent hours on it. Last year, they used a curriculum that was based on learning letter patterns. That worked somewhat better for her.
Keyboarding takes a lot of pressure off of our DD. We still are working on her typing skills. She finds the word predicting software annoying but spell check has been a godsend. When she sees the red squiggle, she usually can pick the correct word out on the list of suggestions. If she hasn't gotten close enough for spell check to help, she will ask for help. Right now, she is experimenting with using dictation to get a first draft on the computer and then editing. Unfortunately, the dictation software has a hard time recognizing her voice so she may go back to typing more.
