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Some kids are naturally good spellers; others have a much harder time learning how to spell. For this latter group, learning to spell is frequently seen as a chore for all involved. Many parents have trouble finding ways of making spelling relevant to their children. Most kids get bored by learning spelling by rote. Here are some other ways for helping kids learn how to spell.

Help children learn the patterns between words and discover the origins behind those patterns. Devonshire and Fluck (2010) have proved that learning the origin of words is a huge help when teaching children correct spelling.

Kids can become “word detectives” and study the roots and etymology, or origin, of their chosen spelling words. While most words in the English language come from Latin, many come from other languages. Knowing which language a word originated from can help children differentiate between different spellings for similar-sounding words.

Use spelling bees. McPherson (2008) found that teaching her children to spell also improved their vocabularies and allowed her children more ways to express themselves. She found that spelling bees were a fun way for her children to learn and show off their spelling skills.

There are several different spelling bee organizations that publish word lists. The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a popular choice for both schools and homeschooling organizations. Spelling bees are generally verbal, but a spelling notebook or other written component can also be incorporated when teaching kids to spell.

Ask your child to write a story. Because children have different learning styles, some may learn the most from spelling the words out loud, but others will learn more from encountering the word in a story or writing it down themselves. Many creative children would rather practice spelling by writing a story that incorporates the chosen words than learning the words by rote.

Other tips include:

• In addition to writing the word down, kids should learn the correct pronunciation of the word.
• Looking up the word in the dictionary and attempting to use the word in a sentence is another useful part of teaching kids to spell.
• Aside from teaching individual words, children should be taught to look for patterns and similarities between words; double-letters sounds and words that start with non-intuitive sounds are a good start for grouping words.
• Homonyms are another fun teaching concept; these are words that are pronounced the same way but spelled differently, like whole and hole.
• There are several riddles and even picture books that help children become familiar with words that involve double letters.

REFERENCES

Devonshire, V & Fluck, M 2010, 'Spelling Development: Fine-Tuning Strategy-Use and Capitalising on the Connections between Words,' Learning and Instruction, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 361-371.

McPherson, J 2008, 'Not Just Another Spelling Bee, Teaching Spelling,' Practical Homeschooling, July-August, i83.