"Moooom! How do you spell...?" Do you hear this in your house? I do on almost a daily basis. I usually have them try to spell the word on their own before helping them. I will ask them, "How do you think it's spelled?"
By doing this I feel that I'm causing them to think for themselves rather than just looking to someone else for a quick answer. I'm also helping them to continue building their phonemic awareness. We often think that this skill is only for younger elementary children. I think that we all need to continue building this skill in order to be a great speller and reader.
My kids are great readers, but they struggle with their spelling. One more great reason for me to make them try to figure out how to spell words on their own. Another tool that we utilize in our homeschool is www.spellingcity.com. There are games and other resources to help kids stretch their spelling muscles.
So the next time you hear one of you kids ask, "How do you spell...?" Ask them, "How do YOU think it's spelled??"
2 comments:
One of the most wonderful little tools ever invented, IMHO, is the Franklin Talking Dictionary and Spell Checker (http://www.franklin.com/for-children/children-s-talking-dictionary-spell-corrector). For my son with dyslexia, any time he wanted to spell something, he would type the word into the machine, and no matter how far off he was, it would spit back at him the correct spelling. It is based on phonetic spelling algorithms so if he puts in "spe-shull" it just automatically knows he means "special" and tells him so. ;) Magic!! And no more "Mom, how do you spell...." Woo-hoo!!
Oooo, that sounds very cool! Is it very expensive?
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