Are you looking for ways to improve your child’s spelling and confidence in spelling new words? We did some research and found the five most effective ways to learn to spell are:
1. Stair steps
Write the words as if they are stairs, adding one letter at a time.
S
St
Sta
Stai
Stair
2. Flash cards
Using index cards, write the words your child is practicing on the front of the card and its definition on the back. Then your child can independently go through the cards by looking at the definition, saying the word out loud and spell it out loud. You can also help test them by reading them the definition and have them say the word out loud and spell it for you out loud. Alternatively, you can use pen and paper and have them write the words.
There are lots of sites that also offer spelling flash cards if you’re not sure where to start, including this set of flash cards that we created.
3. Trace, Copy, Recall
Fold three columns on a piece of paper, and label one column ‘trace’, the next ‘copy’ and the last ‘recall’. Write the word in the first column, and have your child trace the letters. Next have him copy the word by looking at what he’s just written. Finally, have him fold (and hide) the first two columns and recall the spelling on his own as he writes the word independently.
4. Memorization
Memorizing spelling words is a traditional method that you can teach your child. Show your child the word written on paper. Then explain to her how to visualize a word in her mind. Then have her closer her eyes and picture the word, letter by letter, in her mind. Ask her to spell the word out loud, then open her eyes to check if she was correct. Repeat for the next word.
This method is called visual memorization and has proven one of the most effective ways to learn to spell.
5. Spelling train
Read a word aloud and have your child write it down. Using the last letter in that word, ask them to write another word beginning with that last letter. They can continue the ‘spelling train’ using the last letter of the word. For example:
Tin
Not
Tea
Apple
Eat
You can also try out K5 Spelling as part of a 14-day free trial of K5 Learning’s math and reading programs. K5 Spelling is an adaptive test-study approach with automatic word generation that continually tracks each student’s progress, having them repeat misspelled words until they get them right.
