Children
who fall behind classmates in spelling, who forget words easily, or who
mix up letters when writing, are children who need special considerate
attention regularly at home to help them overcome their unique learning
problems. Don't try to be a teacher. Be a parent who teaches. Keep the
activities shortand fun, and do them regularly, with variety. Forcing
an activity 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:
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Develop
auditory and vocal skills. Good spellers are usually good readers
and good speakers and vice versa. Using the school or local library
helps your child develop some of these skills. Restrict the amount
of TV he watches. Your child cannot talk back to a television set.
Children need to use the language they will be writing. Give your
child the opportunity to talk with you. |
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Experience
stories. Let your child write about the things he likes. He can
illustrate the stories himself or cut pictures from magazines to illustrate
them. Let him write the words without assistance unless he asks for
help. Misspelled words can then be used in little games you play with
your child. A one-line "story" may be all that he can handle.
If so, fine. |
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Write
letters. Corresponding with a friend or relativeor a simple
statement at the bottom of a letter you write to someone your child
knowsoffers him opportunities to spell. |
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Trace
words. This activity helps many children. Have your child sit
next to you (or, if young, sit on your lap). Sit so that you can guide
his writing hand. Make sure that only his index and middle fingers
are extended, and that his eyes are closedd. If your child is using
manuscript, use that form. Take his hand and print (or write) the
word that is confusing to him. |
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Finger
paints are messy, but ever so helpful. Use oil cloth and a large
table. Have your child roll up his sleeves and wear an old apron.
Let him use both hands to write letter and words. It is a marvelous
activity. Just getting the feel of large movements may be sufficient
without introducing formal spelling to the activity. |
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All
kids love codes, so why not encourage your child to decode messages
that 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. |
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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 that list
can be reduced so that your child has fewer words and can learn these
more efficiently and comfortably. |
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Don't
tackle an entire spelling list 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 reviewwhich
is also exhausting and frustrating. |
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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. |
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Before
your child starts to silently study his list for that day, let him
pronounce each word. Children must know how to properly pronounce
a word before they attempt to spell it. If their pronunciation is
not correct, they will indeed spell it as they would pronounce it
in their own way. (Also make sure they know what the word means and
can use it or understand it when they hear it.) |
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To
start studying, a child should look at the word, pronounce it,
spell it orally as he looks at it, cover it with his hand, and then
attempt to spell it orally as he traces it on your kitchen table,
letter by letter. |
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After
your child has studied, let's say five words, in the manner described,
spell the words to him, in random order, and have him name the word
you spelled. |
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Invest
in a set of plastic magnetic letters that are available at many
discount, toy, and variety stores. Let your child spell the word by
successively placing the magnetic letters on the magnetic board. You
can show him the word, then remove it. Have him name each letter as
he locates it and places it on the board. This is good for developing
the correct order for letters within the words. |
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Word
lists. These can be made using paper available in the house. Print
or write the words being studied. Post one copy of the list on the
refrigerator, another on the door to your child's room, and another
in the bathroom. Use a different color crayon for each wordor
use a different color for parts of each word regularly confusing your
child. For example, if he continues to write "come" as "cum,"
use black for the "c" and "m" but red for the
"o" and "e." |
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Put
movement into learning words. Have your child clap for each letter
or take a step for each letter as he spells the word orally. This
will help "lock in" the correct sequence of letters as well
as develop full recall for the word. |
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Let
your child play teacher. Let him teach you the words he is learning
to spell. Spell them orally to him. Let him correct you. Then have
him dictate to you and you write them. Have him score your paper.
Make a game of it. He'll know you really know how to spell them, so
tell him it's a game. |
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Commercial
dice with letters rather than numbers. Take turns with your child
in tossing them and building words. List the words as they are made.
The list can be saved and added to each time you play. That way he
can develop a "reference list" to use over and over again
to reinforce his recall. |
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Listening
skills do help spelling. "What letter does 'chart' end with?"
What letter does 'piano' begin with?" Play these games just for
a few moments before supper, or after breakfast to develop your child's
ability to hear sounds in words. |
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Rhyming
words is another game that can build spelling skills. "Can
you think of a word that rhymes with 'fill'?" As you child says
'hill', 'Bill', 'till', and so on, write them down. He'll soon notice,
himself, that they have identical endings. |
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Remembering.
This is a game to develop visual memory. Write one word on a piece
of paper. Leave space underneath it. Tell your child to look at it
as long as he wants, that is, until he can remember the letters, then
have him fold the paper so that he cannot see the word. He is then
to try to write the word from memory. Let him check it himself, and
if he has misspelled, try again. |
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Practice
in spelling can come in a variety of ways. For example, you might
ask him to help you make a grocery list by looking at the advertisement
for a local supermarket. You could check the items you want to purchase,
and you could ask him to make a list to help you out. |
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Find
the wrong word. Write a short sentence for your child. Tell him
there is one word spelled incorrectly. Ask him to see if he can find
it. To begin, make it a rather obviously misspelled word. Leave a
letter out, or add an extra letter to a word. Ask him to first read
the sentence, then to circle the misspelled word. Then make sure you
erase it and write it correctly. |