Homeschooling can lead parents down the path of looking for creative solutions to problems. One of these problems is teaching your kids to spell. There is no doubt that english is an absolutely ridiculous language but it is what we speak so we must do our best to teach our children how to spell correctly.
So, how do you make it fun? And how do you make it stick?
Not knowing how to spell can really make you look foolish but it is true that some of our brightest minds out there are also pretty bad spellers, so if your children aren’t on a course to win any spelling bees, don’t worry about it. Having at least a basic knowledge of how to spell is a necessary evil.
The first rule of spelling is that kids must understand what the word means and how to use it in a sentence. This will help children build a semantic meaning for why words mean what they mean.
Mistakes are not all created equally
There are some mistakes that make sense. As I have already said english doesn’t make much sense so if your children are following spelling rules that are leading them to make mistakes, good for them. Now you just have to teach them that the rules don’t always apply.
Here are some additional ways to teach your homeschoolers spelling using a variety of different learning styles. As you will notice none of these focus on rote memorization.
- Use different internet sources to play spelling games and make things fun. There are lots of options out there and you should always be on the lookout for new ideas.
- Make words out of candy or other good stuff and allow your kids to eat the words when they are finished.
- Take it to the sandbox or into the mud. Giving your kids things to associate memories with will help things stick.
- Let your kids make codes out of different words that correspond to the actual letters.
- Practice writing with your non dominate hand. This will give your kids some good laughs and force them to slow down and think about what they are doing.
- Make a play of about different problem words. Once again this gives them something to remember and associate with.
- Get them on the computer again and this time teach them how to do power point presentations about words. Or you could even have them make some type of a video about their words. Kids love video cameras.
- Write your words with duct tape.
- Side walk chalk is always a winner. Let them get outside and get dirty.
- Make a ransom note out of newspaper clippings for different words. Fabricate a plot and make it fun.
- Create riddle or joke about your words.
- Play scrabble with your words and try to come up with different words from the letters in your words.
- Write your words in glue then color the glue with glitter to make things fun. For boys glitter may not be the best. Dirt works too.
- Write your letters in invisible ink then use lemon juice to make the words appear. Black lights are also a fun way to make words pop out.
- Record yourself spelling the words out then listen to the recording. Kids are always amused by the sound of their recored voices.
- Let your kids read through magazines or books they like and find their words. This teaches them to identify meanings and gets them reading.
- Bake letter shaped cookies and spell your words with the cookies.
You will notice that all of these are fun and many of them integrate other aspects of learning into simply teaching spelling but writing lines. Be creative in the classroom and your homeschoolers will appreciate it and learn more.
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