Helping a 4Th Grader Learn How to Spell

a fun game to play is Upwords. the board is a scrabble board but the letters can be "built on top of" previous words. this helps with rhyming and also keeping the vowel sound but learning different endings. good luck!

M.,
My son learned how to spell with the Spalding Phonogram method at his school. There is a book and a CD with Flash cards. I can not say enough good about this program. It teaches the sounds that each letter makes and the book explains the rules of spelling and why each sound is used in the way it is supposed to be used. This however is a good learning experience that will take some time. If you are looking for some memorization skills to help with the spelling this method will not help in that area. I did find the program very helpful for myself as well. I will warn you it might be a little overwhelming at first. Good luck with your search!

I have always played games in the car or the grocery car with my oldest son. Asking him how to spell things we see while driving, he asks me to (we do this with math also) and he asks me too. I also have him help me in the kitchen and he reads the cookbook to me (multiple times since I can't seem to remember exactly how much of each ingrediant I need), later in the evening I will ask him some of the words that I know read numerous times.I also help him larger words by associating it with a song he loves or words that he knows. For spelling each week I read the words to him, he verbal gives me a definition and then uses it in a sentence and spells it out loud while writing it down. I try not to make it seem like work.

I'm working with my 3rd grader on spelling now. When you say "rules of how to spell", do you mean phonics? If she needs help with the basics of how English words are put together, I'd try www.starfall.com first. It's meant for k-1 graders learning how to read, but it's a great start for elementary phonics. After that I'd look for phonics workbooks, etc. Unfortunately, English has many irregularities and is very hard to learn to spell by just rules. A lot of it is just practice. One thing that's helped with my son is trying to learn how he learns (better by seeing, hearing, touching?). I get him to write the words correctly lots of times, we have mock spelling bees, we analyze the words to see if we see patterns within them, or within words, and if he has a good handle on how to pronounce it correctly, then we pronounce it the way it is SPELLED (ie, mispronounce it), in order to remember the spelling. For example, necessary is pronounced "Neck Es Sary" to remember where the "c" is and that there are two "s"'s. I've also thought of getting Scrabble letters for just the spelling words and mixing them up and letting him piece together the correct spelling (if there are letters leftover, then he knows something is wrong.) Anything to use his hands instead of just seeing the words over and over. Also, I assume you've asked the teacher for ideas?

Hope this helps! There are also movies like "Aquila and the Bee" and "Spellbound" to encourage an interest in good spelling.

Good luck. I'm so glad you want to help!

Hi there. I used to be a fourth grade teacher and I am really fond of the Rebecca Sitton series for spelling. Just google that name, it is great for those who need more than rote ways to learn to spell. Good Luck!

I have two suggestions that I cannot say enough good things about.
1) www.spalding.org This is a program that is getting very popular in the schools, and is also headquartered right here in Phoenix. They give a very simple break down process to learning language skills for reading and spelling.
2)www.bal-a-vis-x.com I cannot even begin to tell parents how amazing this program is. A group here in Phoenix is bringing Bill here to Phx (actually Chandler) for a demonstration on Th Feb 12th at 6:30 pm. I dont think I can upload flyers, but if anyone is interested in more info they can e-mail me privately. The demo is from 6:30 to 8 pm on the 12th the address is 6145 W Chandler Blvd #3, Chandler AZ 85226 and you can RSVP to ____@____.com This program is AMAZING. I saw a 4th grader go from not being able to spell simple 3 and 4 letter words to spelling THORACIC - BACKWARDS and FOWARDS in about 15 minutes. If any parents have the time, if your kids are having any problems with reading, spelling, ADD, ADHD, or even if they are extrememly gifted and having issues with staying focused, I would encourage you to attend on the 12th! AND it is something that is FUN to do with your kids to help them learn.

Sequential Spelling is a good spelling program. My son has always been a terrible speller. We started using this program with him and now he is greatly improving his spelling. Search online for it or go to www.sonlight.com and you can buy it from them too.