*Collaborative Post
To help your kids master spelling, it’s vital to make the learning process fun! Plenty of kids experience difficulty spelling words which can diminish their confidence. If you want to help your child to improve both their skills and their confidence, here come a few great ideas!
Ball games
First stand in a circle, next call out a word and throw the ball to your child. Have your kid spell out the word. If the word is incorrectly spelt, your kid can throw the ball to you who can help them. You can also use this ball game to spell out words together. For example, throw the ball back and forth, calling out one letter each until the word is completed. Games like this are often better in groups, so you could play this when your kid’s friends come over! Learning with games is highly effective across the entire curriculum.
Jumping Letters
Write the letters of the alphabet on large sheets of paper ( or use giant letter flashcards if you have these). Call out a word and have your child jump onto each letter one by one until the word is spelt. Let your child give you some words to spell too! The more that you engage in the games and make them fun, the more motivated your kid will be to learn.
Unscrambling games
Give your child a group of letters that are muddled up. You can do this by using scrabble pieces, letter flashcards or paper. Tell your kid what the word is and that they have to unscramble the letters to make the word. Give them a time limit to make it more of a fun race. Again, they can also challenge you to do some unscrambling. If your child struggles with this game or any of the others, reassure them that spelling improves in time.
FlashCards
Flashcards are a super simple way to get your child spelling with confidence! Give them a flashcard and let them try to memorise it. Once they’ve looked at the card for long enough, take it away and get them to write it down. You can also give them the definition and have them guess the word. Doing so can allow your child to learn some new vocab too! Schools love to use flashcards as they are both simple and effective. Another excellent resource used in schools is no nonsense spelling. It’s an award-winning resource offering guidance on exactly how to teach the spelling skills and strategies in line with the curriculum. If you really want to get your kid spelling perfectly, it’s well worth checking out!
The most important thing when teaching is lots of positive praise! The more that you praise you kid for their progress, the more positively they will approach their learning. When you test your kid’s spelling, use a casual approach so that they don’t feel under pressure. Teaching methods which are too rigid and can make kids feel anxious and underperform.
