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Wondering how you can help you daughter with her spelling?

Here are some tips!

Research tells us that the best approach to learning the spelling of new words is a multi-sensory approach. With this in mind, here in St. John of God NS, we use the LOOK, SAY, COVER, WRITE, CHECK strategy. You might also find this useful at home.

When helping your child with spellings;

Ask her to LOOK at the spelling. Can she picture it? What does it mean? Are there any small words in it? What are the first and last sounds? How many syllables are there? (Bear in mind that not all words can be “sounded out”).
Get her to WRITE it out a number of times, in her joined writing while SAYING it out loud e.g. “H-O-M-E spells home”. (Writing it in the air, on the table / a sibling’s back with her finger might help to make the activity more enjoyable).
When she feels confident that she knows it, ask her to COVER the word and WRITE it onto a sheet of paper.
Then get her to CHECK to see if she is right.

If the spelling is right, cover it up and write it one more time. The word will need to be written correctly a number of times over a few days in order for it to be learned properly.

** If the spelling is wrong – have a look at the word and the bit that was wrong, then cover it up and have another go.

It is not beneficial for children to recite spellings without any written activity.

The action of looking at the word, saying it out loud and writing it down involves the child using her hearing, sight and muscle memory. This is a multi-sensory approach which is very important for the effective, long-term learning of spellings.

10 minutes every day is enough time to spend.