Spelling Strategies

Looking back a few decades, rote learning was everywhere. Fast forward to 2020 and we`re steering away from it as much as possible.

However, children in many schools are expected to learn a set of words for a weekly spelling test. There is a variety of research both for and against this. Either way, if your child is being asked to learn them, you need a way to help them do that!

For some children, the traditional "Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check" does actually work.

If your child finds that doesn`t work, please try a different method (a different one each week if you like!)

• Have the letters for the word either cut out/ on a whiteboard/ with magnets and ask your child to make the word.
  Encourage younger children to sound it out and check what they have created.
  
• Rainbow writing: Have a variety of colours for your children to write with. Write each letter in blue, then red, then green, then orange and so on... Repeat for each letter until the word is complete.
  
• Show your child the word. Give them a newspaper and ask them to cut out the letters to make that word.
  
• When your child is more familiar with the word, grab a ball and throw it back and forth spelling out the word between you.
  
• Pyramid writing (Google this one if you`re not sure)
• Spell it out in shaving foam.
  
• Paint the word!
  
• Make it in mud/sand.

There are so many more possibilities and all of them make learning spellings much more fun.
Most importantly, we know that children remember new words IF they are in a context. So once they know the word, talk about the meaning& ask them to put it in a sentence. Have a look at the word - does it look like any other words you know? Does it sound like another one? Are they any familiar words within it?