Spelling Strategies?

Hello Reddit,Would you mind sharing some fun strategies that have worked to improve your children's spelling?A little background in case you like reading that sort of thing:My daughter is 7.5 years old and in second grade. She is reading at a 4th grade level and is generally doing well in school. However, the past 4 spelling tests have come back to me with a grade of "1" (not meeting standard) on a 1-4 scale.She spells things phonetically, but gets tripped up on where to place the vowels in a word... especially "oi" "ou" "ea" anything with a silent "e" that sort of thing. Another example, this week one of her words was "made" but every time I quiz her she says "M-E-A-D". She also often reverses letters and numbers... and it isn't just "b" "d" "p" "q" but letters like "s" and the number "3". Teachers often comment to me about her letter formation being slightly off...This is causing my otherwise confident child to have self-esteem issues. She calls herself "dumb" "stupid" "not smart" because she can't spell.In the past, I've wondered if she was dyslexic (or dysgraphic) as it runs on her father's and my families. The school says that they won't test her for it until the end of second grade, and even then, the reading teacher said that I would probably have to pay for an outside evaluation (I'm a full-time college student and don't know that I could afford that). Now that she is reading so far ahead though, people (family, not experts) tell me that it's unlikely that she does have it. I am obviously still worried though.I believe that learning should be fun, and I've been searching for apps and games to encourage spelling without my constantly drilling her on her spelling list (think Scribblenauts). I recently (as in yesterday) got a game system called Turbo Extreme from leapfrog, and I'm hoping it will help somewhat...Anyway, I'm hoping that you might have some thoughts to share with me... I just want to make sure that I'm doing what I can to help her to succeed and improve her self-esteem. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2eeKU8z