Techniques to Help My Son with His Spelling Words

I somehow missed this request so if this was an idea laready I apologize. www.spellingcity.com it is a free site what allows you to put in the kids spelling words and they can play games and do quizes ect. My son hates spelling but he loves spelling city.

I don't know if this will help or not...

We got a DVD from my mother called "Letter Factory". It goes through the whole alphabet and tells what sound each letter makes, and my 5 year old really likes it.

We even sound out words now. She'll say she doesn't know how to spell a word, and I'll start with the first letter and say, "What letter makes this sound?"

There's also a website (www.starfall.com) that has some activities. It has one that has two letters walking along saying, "when vowels go a walking, the first one does the talking..."

Just a few things that have helped us....Good Luck!

Hi Katherine! You have a lot of great responses. I have a couple. I know a few recommended shaving cream. What I do is get plastic wrap and put it down on where he will be working and then use the shaving cream, sometimes adding a dot of food coloring helps to color it and make it more fun.

Another idea is get foam letters for stamping (Walmart has them - entire alphabet very cheap) and they sell washable stamp pads. Have him stamp his words. The fact that he is hunting for the first letter then the second and so on gets another part of the brain thinking to remember.

Both are practices we do at school here.

I am a preK-3 grade education student at Notre Dame College. Here are some websites we use for lessons and for at-home remediation. Good luck!

www.scholastic.com
www.spelling.hemscott.net
www.phonicsworld.com
www.kiddyhouse.com
www.theschoolbell.com/links/dolch/dolch.html (Sight words are words that don't follow any type of pattern but are found in large percentages in elementary literature. Ex: a, an, the, that, one, two, three, etc.)

If your son likes using crayons, you can have him write the words and then "color shock" them by tracing with a crayon - have him say the word and letters out loud as he traces. A lot of kids like to use dry erase boards...if you have a one, have your son practice on that. You an also get a baking sheet or pan (with edges), fully cover the bottom with a good layer of uncooked rice and have him practice the words by writing them in the rice. If you are feeling really adventurous you can use a table, counter top, or large cookie sheet and shaving cream. Put shaving cream on the surface and have your son spell out the words in the cream...be sure you will not ruin the surface with the shaving cream. The last one is a lot of fun, but can get very messy. I like to do it outside on a nice day! Since a couple of these activities can get out of hand and turn into playtime, I strongly recommend setting rules before you begin (such as you can play in the cream AFTER getting all or most of the words correct). I hope this helps. Good luck.

Hi Katherine,
I am a learning coach and a Mom of 3 kids. Each child of mine has his/her unique learning style and I want to say that somtimes the approach you take "teaching" is more successful once you can figure that part out. My daughter had a tough time with the spelling words on the Dolch List (i.e. sight words). She did not have problems with words like "cat". What I found out was that she was a visual-spatial learner and she needed to be able to know all parts of a word when she was going to learn it. With a word like "cat" she could see it had a regular spelling which fit the phonics rules, and the word sounded just like it was spelled and then she could picture it with her eyes closed and she knew what the word meant. There wasn't a confusion about "cat". When she got a word like "where" she couldn't get it. Also "there" and "their" were confusing. The Davis Method devloped by Ron d. Davis is one where the kids make letter out of clay and they touch each letter in the word, make a model of the meaning and learn the definition. This might be a method for your son to explore this summer. Maybe he is a visual-spatial learning and the approach could help him. Sometimes when you've done all of the traditional things, you find the non-traditional thing is needed. www.opendoorlearningcenter.com

my daughter is also in first grade. her class has five new spelling words per week and their teacher has signed up with SpellingCity.com a free service that makes games out of your childs spelling words!!! it really is fun!! go check it out. you maybe able to create a list yourself if your childs school isnt connected with the site. it has made a world of difference and has taken the chore out of studying. playing the games makes the words easy to remember!!! i hope this helps you... being a mom is alot of work on our own!!!

K.:
I know you received several posts that had helpful info. My nephew lives w/ me and he is going into 4th grade. We had so much trouble when he hit 3rd grade last yr. Here are some things I did w/ him:

I write the words on index cards and thetn we play a game. Shuffle them and then draw one, you give him the word you draw and he spells it, then he draws one and you spell his. If you miss it goes back in the pile.

Another thing is to write the words 2x on the index cards and lay them out and play match. When you turn over a word, you say it and spell it.

Something that really helped this year is his teacher started doing spelling bingo. We loved it and it really helped. It came from edhelper.com. There is a fee for this pre year, but it not only has spelling, but math, English, etc. it is for grades through 12th. You can create puzzles, and other activities and the spelling bingo.

I would walk around the alley with him and give him spelling words and also get in car and drive out a dirt road and we would talk and look at nature and give him words then.

Good luck! School is so much harder now than when I was in!

I help my granddaughter with her spelling words every week so I am familiar with your predicament.
You are doing the right things.
I also ask her questions about the words like if she can see a little word inside the big word.
We do Matching ......words with their meanings....words with their opposites and so forth.
We do fill in the blanks with sentences.
Make sure he is saying the word, seeing it in his mind, spelling it, and finally repeating saying it.
I don't know much about 1st grade word lists, but point out similarities in the words, or differences and so on.
If words are particularly tricky, point that out and why...(for example if they aren't spelled like they sound, or sound the same but are spelled differently).
Take a practice test in the middle of the week.
Spell the words in the car.
Write a story or sentences with the words, or just use his list.
Have him pick out the word when you say it, or give a clue about it.
He must say it , spell it, and say it again.
Then go on to another word.
Hope this helps you.

Is this also effecting his reading? Check out www.opendoorlearningcenter.com and http://helpforreading.blogspot.com/

My son is also in first grade. Something we have tried lately is having him write his spelling words on my back with his finger and then I try to figure out what letters he's writing. When he finishes a word I have him say it out loud to me. He loves that. He also likes typing them on the computer. We've also tried spelling them out with play-doh, rainbow writing (use a different color for each letter), and fancy writing (he can write them using his own "fancy" letters. All of these things are fun and don't seem like homework to him. I also bought a special notebook with a picture from a cartoon he likes (pokemon) that we reserve just for his words. Good luck!

Hi, K.! My son struggles with spelling as well. I got a website from his teacher that allows you to use your spelling words to play games and other things. It is www.spellingcity.com. If he has a list of ten words, only have him learn 3 on Monday, 3 on Tuesday, and the last 4 on Wednesday, then go over the entire list on Thursday before his test. I also type my son's spelling words out on the computer, and next to each word, I break it down. Here's an example: constitution con sti tu tion

That way, when he looks at it, he can see where it is broken into sections. That has helped him a lot. I really think that just learning a couple at a time is a huge help. Good luck!! I know how frustrating it can be!

I use to volunteer in the first grade and one of the big things I did was help with spelling. I use to have them say the words slowly. I found many did not know how to read the word. Then I explained phonics which at our school they teach sight word method of reading. It helped many kids and since I was not on staff I could not lose my job. I would then also have them say aloud each letter as they read the words. Then I did a spelling test with them. They also did a method of inventive spelling when they wrote stories. Kat was okay when writting stories because we would go over the story with them and correct the spelling.
Get this I was compaining at spelling in the 6th grade level with my son. The teacherr told me spelling was not that important since everyone has computers and type writters with spell check. I totally chewed her out. How can you look a word up in the dictionary if you have no real idea how the word is spelled. It's like calculators in the classroom. If your math problem is 2 plus 2 and you hit a 3 if the calculator says 5 you'll think it's correct. Educators either love me or hate me.
There should be a list of words in the back of the first grade reading and spelling books. This list is what they are expected to know. Also contact the teacher for a list.

my son is 5 1/2 and is in the 1st grade as well. he had alot of trouble with everything due to post concussion syndrome(he had 2 concussions within a month apart last year), it affected his attention span, memory, & atittude among other things. he had him tested for learning disabilities & psychological disorders. he was also diagnosed with adhd. i make up sentences and leave where his spelling word goes blank, i write the list of spelling words off to the side and tell him to read the sentence & start inserting words from the top of the spelling list until he finds the word that makes most sense. i also write out his spelling words and leave out a letter & he fills in the blank with the correct letter. his grades have improved drastically from a D- to a B in spelling & from a D- to an A- in reading. i also go to thrift stores & buy him books for his reading level(usually only cost me 25 cents each) and instead of me reading him a bedtime story, he reads it to me. it takes a little effort on your part to come up with new sentences & things, but it's well worth it in the end.good luck.

Oh my gosh! I am so glad you asked. When I taught 2nd grade my kids got high scores on spelling tests because I used this technique every day of the week before the test and RIGHT before the test.

You will need:
1. White board
2. Dry erase marker
3. Dry eraser or klennex (to erase0
4. List of spelling words
5. Your own set of all of the above for instruction.

Step 1. Write the word on your board.
Step 2. Say the word aloud.
Step 3. Child repeats
Step 4. Say every letter aloud.
Step 5. Child repeats after every letter you say and writes each letter as he repeats it. (Do this part as slowly as needed.)
Step 6. Now, you repeat the word
Step 7. Child repeats the word
Step 8. Child holds up his white board and shows you the answer. Encourage him to compare your white board with his white board. Is it the same? I let the kids look at eachother and give positive feedback. They'll help eachother out. Make sure they are nice to eachother. It's really important that they are kind to eachother during this game. At home he'll only have you, but maybe he can have a buddy come over to study with him.
Step 9. Move on to next word.

This process uses visual, auditory and kinesthetic learing styles. Every child benefits from this study.

I hope this helps. Make sure you say each word with a smile and get super excited when he repeats the word and holds up the correct answer on the board.

I was just hired as a copywriter/editor & illustrator for Teaching Resource Center yesterday! Visit http://www.trcabc.com/ soon to see me online. I'll be making crafts and clipart. I'll also be making posters, doing product research, interviewing teachers and product design.

I wondered about getting magnetic letters, and having your son spell the words on the refrigerator while you are in the kitchen. I know kids love magnets, and I see them using it at school. Boys usually like to be more active and using magnets gives them a chance to be a more active learner. I also wonder about spelling the words in a pan of sand with his finger. It's fun, and different. Sometimes kids aren't good writers so if you are concentrating on writing the lettrs, hard to also concentrate on the words. The sand also helps with fine motor skills.
Hope this help.
R.

I taught second grade for a number of years and I would have the students clap out the words or we would make little melodies to sing out the spelling of the words. This helped many kids with words that were challenging for them. I also had them practice their words using different things then paper and pencil. For example, I would put shaving cream on their desks and the would spell the words in the shaving cream. Also, typing them on the computer and changing their colors and fonts also made it exciting for them. The more they are exposed to the words, the easier it was for them! Hope these ideas help!

You might try a more tactile approach such as writing his words in sand, flour,or shaving cream. Kids usually like this kind of activitity and the hands on may help. If you have magnetic letters he might like trying to find the letters to spell his words. My suggestion is to be patient, all kids are not great spellers and he may always has some difficulty in this area.
How is his reading? If he still doesn't know his letter sounds this may be part of the problem.
L.

My son and i review his spelling words by me reading him the word and he writes it down on the erase a board. He also hated reviewing spelling words. He chooses the color/ writes in multicolors. He enjoys it much better

try something physical. it puts it in a different part of the brain, and muscle memory will help when he can't remember. one kindergarten teacher has the kids slap their thighs for each letter, then clap and say the word--- for example "y (slap)-- o (slap)-- u (slap)-- YOU (clap)" you could try marching or jumping (have you seen akeelah and the bee? she slaps too, or jumps rope, to remember her spelling words) or what about assigning a letter to each finger and tapping it on his desk?

just a few ideas. also explore aural, tactile, artistic, and other ways of learning. every kid learns differently, so find what his thing is and use it!

My son also struggles with spelling. His teacher suggested having him type his words a few times each. He loves using the computer but has limited time on it, so this is a special thing for him to do. Since he is not a proficient typer, he has to think about each letter as he hunts for it. It has really helped with the weekly tests.

Might want to check out some of the LEARNING LEAP FROG items. We had one that Abbie got for Christmas when she was three that RRRRREALLY helped with phonics, spelling, writing, etc. She's in first grade and reads at about a third grade level.

Find books that contain some interests he likes....like baseball, trucks, etc. Take turns reading pages. Sound out words, help him if he needs it. If you don't understand phonics, it's HARD to read. I began teaching phonics at THREE when I taught preschool. By the time they were four and out of my class, they were FAR ahead of the rest of the 4's. They could "read" the calendar and other things, just because they knew the "W" sound and knew it must be "Wednesday". When they get excited about knowing something.....RUN WITH IT! I did. They got excited about learning to read just because I started them with a few basic things.

Use opportunity when you're in the car........road signs, etc. In the grocery.......signs, reading boxes, etc. There is a learning opportunity around EVERY corner!

Sign up for Spellingcity.com. You can put his words on a list and then he can play fun games and learn the words at the same time. My son's teacher used it at the start of the year and my boy loved it. I got on and made my own lists for my daughter to give her a jump start.

Some things that help us:

They quiz me on the 1st day (that way I know he knows the words).

I quiz verbally every day, but the day b4. That day they have to write them on paper.

We've used a whiteboard and dry erase markers instead of paper.

A website that we found is SpellingCity.com. It's awesome. You can create your own lists, they can play games, take tests, etc.

I give choc. chips for every word they get correct.

These are a few ideas. I'll do one for a while, then when they get bored or whine, I'll suggest something else. I always make them take a real test on Thursday (the last day b4 their tests) and I always offer the choc chips. You could offer a minute of video games for each one they get correct. Some reward. Choc chips work f/ mine.

My son's teacher uses Spelling City (www.spellingcity.com). I have recommended the site to friends and they can load their child's weekly spelling words themselves. There are all kinds of tutorials, tests, and games that he can play. My son likes it because it gives him time on the computer to play, but he is learning at the same time. His spelling list comes home every Friday and he almost always spends an hour every weekend on the website. The online test is cool in that you can print a certificate that says how you did. Good luck!

We bought our son (also in 1st grade) a Leapfrod Didj for Christmas. He LOVES it. We love it because it's totally customized. Each week, I hook it up to the computer and select the current week's spelling word list and download it to the Didj. Then for the week, whenever he's playing his language/spelling games, he gets the spelling words to practice. I also customize the math so the math games focus on what they are currently learning in school. He was also doing good in school but since doing this he's doing awesome and hasn't had an error on a spelling test in 2 months.

My son has reading, writing, and math learning disabilities, so we use a multi-sensory approach to education. The ideas listed here are wonderful. My son also responds really well to touch and movement so we use tactile and kinesthetic activities to help him learn his spelling words as well.

His favorite involves spraying shaving cream on the kitchen table & spreading it out. He then spells his words with his finger in the shaving cream. Very effective! (The shaving cream dissolves as you "play", so the activity is over when the shaving cream is gone.) You can also use sand, or beans, (in a deep tray or flat rectangular container for containment) or have your child roll play dough into letters to form the spelling words. Once, we used "Sculpey" baking clay, and then baked the words so that they were permanent. We then played games with the words throughout the week. One involved my son closing his eyes and tracing the clay word with his fingers, and figuring out the word. I would then mix up the letters, and ask him to spell the word correctly. With his eyes closed, he would feel the letters and put them in the correct order. Any activity that involved his sense of touch (fingers) was very effective. (When we used a stick to spell words in the sand outside, it didn't work as well for him because this was more visual - similar to using a pencil and paper.)

Movement was also very helpful. He would spell words while doing jumping jacks, or jumping on the trampoline (one jump per letter). He also threw a tennis ball against the wall, calling out one letter per throw, and did the same while bouncing a basketball on the driveway. Some movement activities didn't work (somersaults, shooting baskets) because too much time goes by for your child to really retain the information, and the spelling rhythm is irregular. Activities where the child can rhythmically do the movement and call out "there" "t" "h" "e" "r" "e" "there" worked best for my son. He is very musical and very active, so that may explain why the rhythm/movement combination works well for him!

I really appreciate your question & this thread on spelling - I am going to try some of the suggestions that were made. Each child is so unique. They all seem to learn best in their own special way! All three of mine learned differently!

Thanks,
S.

Hi, K.,

I wish your son didn't even have to do it! Children are pushed way too much when they are this young. But, unfortunately, public schools do this, so you and your son will have to deal with it. (My son goes to a Waldorf school, and is just dealing with spelling words for the first time this year - third grade)

Anyway, one thing most children love is music. So maybe you could try singing the words, or do them to rhythmic clapping games. I STILL remember all the words to the Preamble of the Constitution because of Saturday morning "America Rocks" cartoons! :)

Best of luck - and know that he WILL get there, just maybe in his own time. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Blessings, J.

Does he like typing on the computer. A few years ago I tried that with my daughter and it really helped.

Good Luck

Have him write the word 3 times one day. The next day let him type it on the computer. THe next day ask him verbally. The next day him a quiz with a reward for improving. FInd other games too. Do something different every day. Also let him know up front what your expectations are from him and then stick to it. e may be just testing you to see ehat he can get away with. He can't like everything in school that would be impossible. But he needs to understand your ground rules at home. ANd encourage him when he is successful at it.
A good investment for you would be Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax since you have 4 boys. Sometimes us mothers don't "get" our boys. Take the time to find out how boys tick. They are nothing like girls and you need to understand that and encourage it when you can. If you can do this I think you will find raising boys not as hard and don't forget your husband was a boy once and respect what he has to say.

When my kids struggle with a spelling word, we turn it into a singing or rapping version, with a distinct pattern that they can easily remember. Works every time!

As a kid, I had trouble with spelling. My mom would break down the words and come up with fun little ways to remember them by things i could remember, or make into a song. For example:conscience. Break into two words..
con science.
L.

K.,

Try www.spellingcity.com
It is free.
You can use established word lists or type your own.
There are reinforcement exercises and games.
My 2nd grade son enjoys it. Learn while having fun.

Best wishes,
K.

It's also good to have him move around while he's learning. Don't ask him to stand still (hard enough for 1st grade boys any time!). Have him hop the letters, clap/say the letters, do somersaults, jump rope (worked for Akeelah and the Bee!). The movement helps with brain connection and memory. And maybe he'll sleep a little sounder!

hi, I've not read any of the other responses.....but you can get a manilla folder, open it up and turn it into a game board. Make squares on it, with a finish line and starting line, put stickers of what he is into right now......and then either laminate it or put clear contact paper on it. Then get some card stock and cut them into square cards.....write his last weeks and this weeks spelling words on them. Put numbers on each word for a value. Buy at the dollar store some kind of erasers or little cars that can be used at a game piece and then get someone or all of them to play the game together.......they get the work right, they move that many spaces on the board......until someone wins.........it's easy, cheap and it's affective. If you have any questions, let me know.

try teaching him the words in a rythm. It worked for my daughter who was a terrible speller. This is also a technique used by some Scripps champion spellers. Good luck, remember when this challenge is over another one takes its place.....such a journey.

Joyce is right on with the different mediums of writing the words out. Also suggest, sidewalk chalk, sand, markers, anything that sparks his interest. You could even use Legos. It makes the rote work more enjoyable/tolerable.

Remember, we all have our gifts and talents... My son was in the same situation with spelling, and over time he has become a good speller.

I remember when I was growing up my mom used to make each spelling word into a song/tune. I still remember many of the tunes to this day. Good luck!

It may help for him to see the words around the house, use index cards and tape them around your house. You can also use this as a way to introduce new words like window or cabinet that may not be on his list. I take care of children in my home and that is something we always do is label everything. You can also give him a bunch of letters it can be just ones you write on paper nothing fancy. Mix up the letters for a few words and have him try to pick the letters in order to spell at least one word correctly. Rewards are good but really make it work for you. I have a 5 yr old and he gets a sticker for things he does when his chart has 40 stickers then he gets to choose what he wants to do, usually go bowling, but it works for us. We started with a goal of 10 stickers for a toy from the $ store.

did you have him tested for dexlixia oops sorry with the spelling

I've tried a few fun things in my classroom with students that seem to help them with their words. One is using shaving cream--put a big glob on your table and then have him practice his words with his finger in the shaving cream. After each word, he can wipe away and then easily write a new one. It also cleans your table pretty well! When it gets nice outside, practice words with sidewalk chalk can also be fun. Try to always write in colors--many kids remember words easiest when they can relate a color with them. Good luck!

You got great responses but I have something else to add if your son struggles with confusing the letters "b" and d". I have my daughter put the letters together at the top of the page bd and make the shape of glasses. This way she remembers which way the letters form. Hope that helps!

As a few others have said try diffrent things. all people learn in diffrent styles some main ones being visual, auditory, by feeling or by moving. try using shaving cream or less mess sand and use his finger to write in the sand or whatever. also you could make card with one letter per card and he can arrange the cards to spell the right word. (he will also need to write them at some point to make sure he will be able to on the test. hope this sparks some thoughts and helps

Just a couple more ideas...

I print out the spelling list in outline form in a huge font and have my students color the letters in. Also I make a sheet with boxes on it with a spelling word in each box, then they draw a picture for the word. I have them put them in ABC order, write them with each letter a different color, and another fun one is to make a bunch of big shapes on a word document and they fill each shape with as many repetitions of a spelling word as they can. The kids really like all these fun activities and they help them learn to spell the words.

Good luck to your son...He's lucky to have such a caring mom!

I've been a teacher for 40 years. One thing the other moms came close to, but didn't really use was making a "picture" of each word. Take the word picture---make boxes showing the p goes down, i and c are regular boxes, 5 would be a rectangular up box, ure are regular boxes. He has to put a letter in each box. This way he gets to see the shape of the word. Blends and 2 vowels together where the "first goes walking but the second does the talking" and things like that are easier to see if he sees 2 boxes together for l sound. So picture would be _--up higher line for t ---
Grandma N.
After doing the boxes, the pudding, sand, or clay creating the letters out of makes it a good tactile game to create the letters.

I saw the response below. Another way to help with b and d confusion is to write the word bed and make the word into a bed. Hard to explain I guess. I teach second grade and that is what the RSP teacher had me do for my student struggling with that confusion.

You already have lots of great suggestions. I have two additional comments:
one: someone mentioned that instead of reading a bedtime story to her child, she started having the child read books with the spelling words. I think it's great that the child does some reading, especially with words that have become familiar, but as a reading specialist, I have to beg parents to not stop reading to their children!!! Spelling is one thing, but listening to stories is critical to language and vocabulary development, understanding more complicated stories, etc. We never want to limit our children to books that they can read themselves. We always need to be exposing them to books and language that are above what they are able to read themselves to stay one step ahead. We cannot read and understand words that are not in our oral vocabularies, so expose your kids to lots of rich language AND books that they can read themselves and spelling words that are appropriate for them.

2. Our language is so interesting in that our words have been derived from many different languages. That's why sometimes it seems we have words that don't follow the "rules". Encouraging a curiosity about words and why they are spelled in certain ways makes learning more fun. Also, it is impossible for most of us to memorize every word in the language. We spell by patterns. Try encouraging your sons to notice similarities between words that are spelled the same, and once in a while notice that there are "oddballs" like have (where the silent e doesn't make the a say its name...no words in English ever in a V).