Learning Spelling Through Play

Just because the holidays are with us, doesn't mean your children have to stop learning. Indeed, now is the time that they can do some really deep learning. Children who struggle with spelling learn spellings best if they use all their senses. This involves their brains in making more neural connections, and thus embeds the spellings more deeply in their long-term memories. Moreover, it provides more routes for their brains to access those memories when needed. Teachers of children with dyslexia often work with wooden alphabet letters that children can touch as well as see. If your child struggles with spelling, I recommend that you invest in a wooden alphabet. Even better, involve the senses of taste and smell, and get your child helping you to make Christmas alphabet cookies. Talk about the letters and the sounds they make, as she cuts them out and arranges them on the baking tray, so as to write out words she finds difficult to spell. A lot of children find the high-frequency words hardest to spell as they don't follow obvious spelling rules, so build her confidence by working with these words. Find lists of these words at: www.highfrequencywords.org