Close observation of your child can give you clues to how your child will learn to spell. Remember we are not labeling our children or declaring that this is the only way they will learn. We are attempting to understand how our children learn best. Your child may have a bit of each style within them; the trick is to discover which approach makes learning easier.
Auditory learners learn best by listening. This is the child that learns best by chanting rhymes. If you spell words with rhythm aloud, or say the word in syllables it will stick in there head. If you have an auditory write their spelling words ten times on a page it probably will not mean a lot; unless while writing they are speaking each letter in some way they will remember while they are writing.
- Emphasize the hard letter sounds, sound out silent letters for your child.
- When your child writes a word, have him say each letter aloud.
- Sing/Spell the word to a familiar tune.
- Play word games.
Visual learners learn by seeing. This is the child that learns by getting a picture in their head. If you are having your child spelling their word aloud, even to a rhythm, it will be a lot of time with little effort. However, if you have a visual learner write his words in rainbow colors, trace around letters in bright paint, write words in chalk on a sidewalk, now you are reaching your child.
- After your child writes a word in a color have your child close their eyes and visual the word in that color.
- Write the word on colored construction paper then cut around the word so that your child can see the shape of the word.
Kinesthetic, or tactile, learners learn by moving their bodies or by touching. This is the child that learns by doing. Tracing their words in salt, flour, tapping their fingers while they spell the word, uses magnetic letters to spell their words on the fridge. If you try to have them sit down and write their words, your little one might get a tad bit wiggly. They may like chanting their words if you are skipping rope.
- Have your child write their words in shaving cream.
- At night they can use a flashlight to spell the word on a wall.
- Trace their words on their back and see if they can guess what the word is.
- Write the word in mud or sand in your backyard.
More ways to support your child’s spelling program is in the slide show.
R.R.Cratty
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