Children who fall behind classmates in spelling, who forget words easily, or who mix up letters when writing, are children who need special, loving, considerate attention regularly at home to help them overcome their unique learning problems. Forcing an activity on them or making it over-demanding only serves to intensify the child’s negative feelings about it. Here are some suggestions other parents have successfully used to help their children in these areas.
Spell out every word
Spell out every word. This might sound funny, but works for sure. For instance, when you hand out an apple to your child, make sure you spell out the word like, “Here is an A-P-P-L-E, apple for you.” This will help her build, object-word coordination and also memorise spellings.
The game way
Indulge in fun games. If you think she’s too young for scrabble, spelling bee, or crossword puzzles, you could indulge her in a game for finding words, word building (she has to know the letter in which the previous word ends to start a new word, so that’s going to teach her spellings too), Name, Place, Animal, Thing, etc.
Do not shame
Rome wasn’t built in a day. So, be patient and teach her the same spellings again and again. Do not shame or punish her if she gets it wrong after being taught a few times.
Keep trying and go at her pace
She might learn a few spellings fast, and a few others (which seem relatively simple) might take time. That’s normal, so do not pressurize her and let her learn at her own pace.
Make it all fun
Make her look forward to learning spellings. The best way to start is by teaching her to spell out her name, followed by the spelling of everyone in the family, her favourite cartoons, food, toys, etc. This will keep her motivated to learn more. You could also encourage her to spell out by asking her “how do you think this word has to be spelled.” Be friendly and not authoritative while you teach her.
Read a lot
Read out bedtime stories to her from a very young age, and encourage her to read as well. This will increase her inclination towards learning spellings and words faster. But make sure you do not make it seem like a chore that she cannot escape.
Practise
Encourage her to spell out words, write them down, play games that involve spellings, and everything else that will get her to practice what she’s learned. Add a mix of activities so that she doesn’t end up doing the same thing all day, and end up hating the language and the task of learning spellings
All kids love codes, so why not encourage your child to decode messages diet you leave for him? Let him make up his own codes for you. You make up one but make sure he has a way to decode it.
If your child is working on a class spelling list and can only remember half of the words, speak to his teacher. Teachers are more than delighted to hear how their students respond to homework. Perhaps the list can be reduced so that your child has fewer words and can learn these more efficiently and comfortably.
Don’t tackle an entire spelling bar in one sitting. Take one-third for example, each evening, to work on with your child. Break the practice into small units. Try fifteen minutes of review when he gets home; fifteen minutes before supper; fifteen minutes after supper. Shorter periods given frequently are more effective than one massive review-which is also exhausting and frustrating.
Sometimes words on a spelling list can be “clustered” into similarities. For example, you might try attempting all of the five-letter words one day, all the words beginning with consonants the next day, all the words beginning with blends the next day. This kind of grouping will help your child to perceive similarities and differences in the words, and, hence, develop his recall.
An old trick that really works is to have your child practice. Write each of his words, and then draw with a black crayon around each word. Then he can lightly color the shape of the word. This is known as “studying the shape” (or configuration). Just make sure your child uses straight, not curved, lines when he outlines the word.