Parent Tips: Spelling

Unfortunately (or not?), English spelling is a mishmash of words that follow rules and make sense, and words that break the rules and seem to make no sense. So, while kids who read a lot and have good memories will pick up easy and complicated spellings quickly, many other kids will trip over spelling even simple words. We teach the history of spelling to help children understand why these odd spellings exist in our language, impress upon them the value of consistent spelling, and let them know that spell check has its limitations.

The spelling words are a mix of very basic words—which even well-read kids can sometimes misspell—and more advanced vocabulary words. Your child will be challenged to look at these words more deeply than usual: we ask them to note the phonemes and to match the word with their (sometimes odd) word roots. Your kid will finally know exactly why the word “know” has a k, and will never forget to spell it correctly again.

If your child struggles with physical writing, it’s fine to have them spell out loud some or all of the words in our practices; better to have them use their developing stamina on deeper thought writing work for now. In addition, if you’re your child is doing the practice by voice and they’re a kinetic kid, have them stand and move their body while they dictate the spelling. One movement per letter can help them get in a groove.