We are nearing the end of our first 9 weeks of school and it’s time to put together a progress report for our records.  This first quarter had been a little shaky at first, but it is slowly picking up steam.  With the added outside activities, I am finding it harder to get the kids to get out of the mindset of ‘hurry and get the work done’ and into the ‘do my best’ mode.  We are struggling the most with spelling.  Unfortunately, it seems whatever program we are using, they just don’t apply it to their other work.  They do pretty well when drilled with a list of words, but when I go over their work it is riddled with spelling errors.  It is quite frustrating for me because I consider myself a pretty good speller and it seems not one of my three kids inherited this ability.  We are currently using Spelling Power with mediocre results.  I have tried Wordly Wise, and Abeka in the past with the same results.  They have no trouble studying the words and spelling them correctly for tests, but often when they use them in other applications, they get creative.  When I find these imaginative spellings, I make them correct them and add them to their list of words, but again, they memorize them to pass the test and then I find the same types of errors later on.  We’ve even started a word wall with the words they consistently spell wrong.  I have researched all kinds of methods and tried all kinds of things, but I am fearful that they will not master this important skill.  They have very little problem in reading and comprehension so I know they know what the words look like.   Does anyone have any ideas that might help my woeful spellers?