Spelling Skills – Improve My Child’s Spelling
TutorGiant
Contrary to the current educational wave, I believe spelling is an essential skill for students. Relying on a 'spell checker' might provide students with the correct spelling but it doesn't necessarily help them to become better spellers.
My favourite saying with regards to spelling is:
"I want my son to go to college not collage."
Here are some more ways you can help your child learn to spell.
Create an Acrostic
Students can use acrostics to help them improve their spelling.
For example, the word 'arithmetic' can be remembered in an acrostic.
a...all
r...rats
i...in
t...the
h...house
m...may
e...eat
t…the
i…ice
c...cream
Students can create their own acrostics which will make the word spelling even more memorable.
Use Your Body
Many students (especially boys) are kinesthetic learners who learn best by using their bodies. For these students and any other student really, they can use their bodies to spell words.
Technique 1: Take a baking pan and fill it with sand or salt. Take your child's spelling words and have your child use his or her finger to spell the words in the salt/sand.
Technique 2: Just as in the song 'YMCA', have your child spell words with his or her body.
Dictionary Word Hunt
Have your child look up words (preferably from his or her spelling list) in the dictionary. Make this a game whereby it is like a treasure hunt. You can even have a reward for finding the 'word treasures'. There's nothing wrong with a reward for playing a game. Your child will have fun, learn new vocabulary words, and drastically improve his or her spelling.
Good Old Fashioned Rules
Teach your child some basic spelling rules.
For example,
I before e except after c
Change y to i and add es with plurals
Drop a silent e when adding an ing.
Try to mix up your child's learning experiences while practicing spelling. Your child should learn how to spell using both fun, creative methods and good old fashioned spelling rules.
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