Spelling Help!

I'm a lover of the Hooked on Phonics and Leapfrog products...but to me I think you should just make the learning fun. Play hangman or wheel of fortune (even give out monopoly money that can buy prizes at the end). Buy several letter flashcards and mix up the letters and have him rearrange them to make the word (or use the magnetic letters). Whatever you do, just make it fun.

I was also recommended to get the LeapFrog Letter learning factory DVD for my preschooler...I have to say, it really has helped the kids to understand the sounds the letters make and they sing it to "the farmer and the dell"...a bit annoying after 3 weeks but my 3 yr old knows 1/2 the alphabet just from watching the video!

Good luck

Hi, J.,

I used a blackboard easel to help my son learn his spelling words. We did it like a game show -- I was the host and he was the spelling contestant. He really got into it and improved his spelling grade a lot. Hope this helps.

C.

Hi J.,

I work in a second grade classroom as an aide and wanted to drop you a few suggestions. Try seeing if he would like to write them in some shaving cream. The kids love it and it's a good way to clean the table and make the room smell good. Also, if you have any magnetic letters or you could make some letter squares on the computer and try spelling them that way. Some kids also like to unscramble the words, it helps if you also have a copy to follow along because this can be tough. Or, maybe he would like to type his words on the computer.
Have you addressed the teacher to see if maybe he could get his words sent home earlier? 25-30 words seems like a lot of words for a 2nd grader every week.

Good luck!
S.

Hello I think some kids dont know how to pronounce the letters that helped mine and make it a game aaaaaa sings then the bbbbbbb all the way down the alphabet and make it fun sounds of letters I love the advice to jump on the letters you could letters have all scattered on the table floor and make the sounds and let her put them up with stick pinsI think the sounds of letters is 1st and memorization of the letter but gl and tc D.

J.,

I am a special education teacher and currently working as a behavior specialist for a special education cooperative. 25-30 seems like a lot of words for 2nd grade, but maybe I am out of touch. Try writing words in shaving cream, finger paints, sand, etc. Try magnetic letters, type some on keyboard, play games, etc...keep searching for fun and motivating activities. If you are able to make it fun, each person could spell a word at the dinner table before starting to eat, but I would never do so if it was stressful or involved conflict...only if it could be made fun.
Break list of words down into groups with common patterns if possible. Also study small groups of words at a time...maybe 5 each night. Hope something I've offered is helpful. :)M.

How about making a singing game out of it? Or incorporating it into a sport he likes to play. Such as, if he likes to play soccer, pass (kick) the ball back and forth with each letter he is spelling. This way it is fun, you both get exercise, and you are spending quality time together!!

Best Wishes,

J. H.

I had the same problem with my 4th grader when he was that age. He is a very musical child so I started making up songs to go along with the spellings. Sometimes it helps to break the word into smaller words also. Like carrot- we would break it apart like car rot. Hope that helps.

J.,
This will take a little extra work on your part but it helped my on who is mentally challenged. Take construction paper and cut it into squares the size of a deck of cards. Write all of the spelling words very clearly on the squares, one word/ square. Then repeat on a second "deck". So you should have two decks of spelling words. "Shuffle" the two "decks" together and lay them out sinlely word down on the kitchen table. Play match game with your son. After picking up a card announce the word and spell the word together (your voice slightly softer so your son can hear himself). Pick second card and repeat. If your child finds the match or you do once again announce,and spell, and reward with a point. We kept track of all point until the weekend and then came up with a reward for so many point on our sons part. An example is 100 points from game equals roller skating session on the weekend. Personalize it to your sons likings but make it a active reward. Then also reward the spelling test in itself,such as a friend over for home made pizza that the kids get to help make. Any questions e-mail me and I'll try to make suggestions.
Good luck and God Bless,
S.

Put the words on index cards...start with 6 a day (by the way that is a lot of words for a 2nd grader to have to learn in a week) anyhow tape them up on a wall and go over the first 6, adding six a day. Have him say the word, look at the word, spell the word...close his eyes and try to spell it again. Then next day add 6 or so more...review the first ones and do the same with the next set. Good luck.
Barb

J.,
As a young girl I had a terrible time spelling! Spelling tests were the worst for my parents and we spent MANY long nights working on words. My Mother did some research and came up with an idea that actually worked for me. She took an old shirt box or shallow cardboard box and filled it with a lot of table salt. We would sit and I would write the words with my fingers in the salt. She had read that because I was using my hands there was something good about me feeling the words and saying them at the same time. There was a connection happening in my brain because I was using 2 senses to learn the words instead of just one. I was a "hands on" kind of learner and I think thats why this helped. I hope this helps you.

Hi J.,
I know you say he hates to write, but would it be more fun if you sprayed some shaving cream on a tray and he wrote the letters of the words in that? Then "erase" them and write another word. We also used slates or those doodle draw toys. Also try standing and write big letters in the air using his arms. Good luck!

1. Ask the teacher to reduce the number of words on his list until you figure out why he is having trouble.
2. Find out if there is anyone in your childs school or in the district who has a background in Perceptual Motor Training or Visual Perception. There are different motor activities that would help him, but it first needs to be determined what the problem is specifically. If you don't have success in that area, find out about Brain Gym or other similar programs.
3. Write his words with glue and let them dry so he can feel the letters as he says them. You can also use sandpaper, sand, etc. to write (with finger) the words. Thin layer of sand on a cookie sheet works pretty well.

Good luck. The research is out there now showing a connection between motor activities and learning. If you can't get help, do it on your own.

Look for patterns in the words. Are they word families; ex. cat, rat, bat? If there are, group those words together and work on those words first. Also, break the total group of words into manageable amounts. If your son knows how to spell any of the words. Leave those out until the day before the test and just review those words. Work on the hardest words all week. You can write the words on cards and cut the cards apart. Give your son just the letters of the word you are working on and have him rearrange the letters to spell the word correctly. You can also do this with magnetic letters on the frig. Give him a paint brush and a piece of dark paper. Have him paint the word on the paper instead of writing with a pencil. You can also use a chalkboard and chalk.

Have you ever tried anything with a phonics based style of teaching (like Hooked on Phonics)? I used it with my son and it really helped him learn words and how to sound things out.

Hi J.,
I have a 1st grader and this is what we do with him.

1) we write each word down on an index card and then show them to my son and he has to say the word.
2) We then tell him the word and he spells in and if he gets it wrong then we go over it again. With the bigger words I seperate the words into segments of words that he already knows how to spell. For instance take the word TOGETHER- there are 3 words they already know how to spell TO- GET- HER, once I showed my son this spelling words has com much easier because we look at the words we already know how to spell.
3) We give a spelling test every morning. We give him each word and he has to write it down on a piece of paper just as if he was taking the actual spelling test at school. When we do this he gets to practice his grammer at the sametime.
Now we do all of these everyday we do them in the morning before school. Are nights are busy and I sometimes have daycare kids here late and with dinner and baths we have just found it works better in the daytime. Also we think it is fresh in his mind because then he goes to school thinking of his spelling words.

I hope this helps, this is what we have started since my son has started 1st grade and he has gottne mostly 100% on his spelling tests. W.

Hello J. -

My son is now in 6th grade however he has struggled since 1st grade. Finally, this year his school offered me a book that is called " TAMING THE DRAGONS". I am still wondering why it was not offered sooner. This book gives wondeful techniques in many different areas. I think it would be a great book for you to have to help improve his spelling skills. It did amazing things for my son. Good luck and if I think of anything else, I will pass it on.

One of the techniques used for spelling words is as follows: Get index cards. With your help, have your child write each word on the index card in one color marker, but divide those words into syllables by putting a different color dot in between the syllables. This will teach your child to learn the words by syllables. There are other techniques however this one worked the best. My son also does not like to write. This way he only writes them one time and then you just study them with your child throughout the week; maybe in the car while driving somewhere or at dinner or if your are a TV family maybe during commercials. I promise your child will like it better than writting those words over and over.

Again, GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey J.,

Looks like you already have a ton of great suggestions. I would just add one more thought. Is your son a Kinesthetic learner - does he have to be moving to learn something? If so, then the 'playing soccer' suggestion you got would be great. Also try jumping rope while he practices. Anything that involves motion while he practices will help him learn and remove his frustration.

:)

Amanda

I have a third grade daughter with the same problem. We have been singing them and putting a beat to the letters. It has worked wonderfully, she has raised her spelling grade from a
c to an a-.

Hey J. I know how you feel my kids are the same. The school actually set up a website through the school with spelling games on it you might check and see if your school has something like that. If not we have found that since the kids love computers we let them type them on the computer over and over. This not only helps them remember, but helps them learn the keyboard because they say the letter out loud looking for the letter. Just a thought for you. Wish you luck in trying new things, and I hope that I have helped some.
Robin

What about putting letters on a piece of paper and put on the floor mixed-up. Have him jump on each letter in order and then spell it outloud or write them.

J.,
Phonics was what helped me to spell - they don't teach it in school any more - but there is an audio and maybe even video version now - it's called Hooked on Phonics.

There are so many videos, out now surely there is some kind of spelling game??

S. ###-###-####

have your kid write the words

Does your son's school offer any extra tutoring for reading? My youngest son is in the first grade and has struggled horribly with reading, spelling, and writing until they put him into a "Early Lit Improvement" program. Now he loves to read and is getting 100's on his spelling tests. The program is offered through the public school district so it is free. You might want to check into it. I am sure he is very discouraged as you are. My son started having meltdowns in class because of his frustration.
If they do not have a program then I would check into some phonics games/books. You can usually get those through the Scholastic book orders very reasonable.
Good luck to you both. Hope some of this helped.

P.

If it is just the amout of words that is overwhelming, I would suggest learning them in groups, for example 6-7 words a night the hardest first and then each night add another group until thursday night he is quized on the whole group. It may also be helpful if they are grouped phonetically. For example: stake, bake, lake ____ rain, drain, stain_______tree, feet, meet. As a Eled Teacher, I have seen these methods work really well. Repetative writing is really a waste of time and boring to the child. Monday Have him group the words phonetically on flash cards, Tuesday have him draw a card from the stack and write it in the appropriate group, ph____Phone, ea___break, words with silent E. etc. Wed. Have him write them in the appropriate groups as you call them out all mixed up. Thursday review or play a game with the cards. I hope this helps.

J.,

You said that he hates writing, but I don't know of a better way for him to learn the words, especially at his age. We home school, and all of my children, ages 7-12, write each word several times every week, they always know the words by the end of the week.

Also, my 7 yr old can easily handle 25 words per week, and I believe it is the writing them "over and over" that helps cement them in his head.

Blessings!
J.

Ok, well, my kids really love their spelling. It's mainly because we use the computer for it. There are a couple great free sites such as www.aaaspelling.com and also www.spellingcity.com . BUT, if you want an AWESOME site that will turn him onto his spelling wonderfully, try www.spellingtime.com . That one is not free, but totally worth the price. Especially if it is just one child struggling. You can make your own lists (or enter the list provided by the teacher) and then let them go to town. They play games, have quizzes, earn points toward game play. It really is wonderful. And best part, NO WORKSHEETS. Also, you may want to have a talk with your childs teacher. 25 words for a 2nd grader is a bit much. If she doesn't feel like it is, ask some of the other parents of the class and see how they feel. If they agree with you, take it to the teacher once more and then to the principle. Just a thought.

First of all, I would talk to the teacher about getting a modified assignment. It is much better to be successful at 10 words than to fail at 30. The professional buzz words to use with the teacher are "differentiated instruction." It means to challange a student at the student's level, not the level of the book.
Secondly, what is your son good at? Try and hook spelling into that. If he likes computers, look into some of the online spelling games or invest in a grade appropriate game. (Jump Start use to have a great line of edcational software.) If your son likes physical games, move physically while spelling; give each letter a movement (t=right hand on ear). If music is his thing, set the words to music.

I had trouble spelling when I was a kid too! My mom would make me a tape where she would say the words, then give me time to write it down and then spell the word for me right then. I would use the tape over and over. I also used flash cards going over them multiple times, just looking at the words and spelling to myself. I went thru grade school when they did not teach me phonics, so when people say "sound it out" I have no clue what they mean.

My son also had trouble with spelling. He learned the words by writing them in a triangle. For example, if the word was "advice", he would write "a", then "ad" then "adv" then "advi" and so on. It helped him somewhat. You might also go to the teacher and asked if his list could be shortened. Some teachers will and some will not. I also found practicing spelling words, math facts, etc while in the car going to the grocery store or church worked well. My son knew there was a limited time he would have to work, so he found it easier to focus.