Spelling Monster » Spelling tips

More Great Spelling Ideas.

Tracie Davis — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 01:36:18 +0000

Had a few requests asking about more spelling ideas. Practicing spelling can be fun with a little creativity. Here are some more fun ways to practice spelling and have fun with your kids at the same time.

1.Finger Paint: Have extra paint around have fun finger painting your letters and/or words. Have fun outside on a sunny day for easy cleanup.

2.Family Fun Night: Play scrabble not only are you spending quality time together everyone young and old can practice their spelling.

3.Alphabet Magnets: We all have a set of these. We got a few packs at the dollar store that way we had multiples of each letter and can spell multiple words and make fun sentences.

4.Old magazines: Have fun cutting out letters and spelling words you can even glue them down.

5.Play Dough: Don’t want to buy play dough you can make it easy. Check out play dough recipes online. Just add a little food coloring and voila. Shape play dough into letters and spell words.

Tried all these options already. Do what I do when I am falling short on ideas, check out online. One of my favorite places http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com. This site has tons of options. Remember to be a great speller takes practice, but nothing says that practice can’t be fun.

More Fun Ways to Spell

Tracie Davis — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 11:00:30 +0000

In a previous blog we have discussed different ways to become a better speller. As a parent I am always looking for different fun ways to practice spelling. It’s important to me to make learning fun. Here a few more fun practice ideas for learning to spell.

1. Have small kids? Foam letters are a great learning tool. Stick the letters on the bathtub wall and have fun spelling. My kids even liked creating and sounding out their own word creations.

2. Use sign language to sign your letters as you spell your words.

3. Connect the Letters. Just like connect the dots but with letters. Ex: Connect S- P- E- L- L. There is another option to this making several dots for each letter itself. Both are very fun.

4.Pyramids. Ex: S

SPE

SPEL

SPELL

These are fun my kids also like to change colors with each level.

5. Pipe Cleaners. Are you are crafty mom? Break those pipe cleaners out and bend them to form letters to spell words.

There are so many fun ways to practice spelling. Over the years I have gotten ideas from teachers, other parents, and the internet. Have more fun ideas to practice? Leave a comment and let us know.

Learning Lost Over Summer Vacation

Tracie Davis — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 11:00:42 +0000

Did you know that children experience educational losses over the summer when they don’t engage in some kind of learning activity? Studies show that summer learning losses can equal a month or more of your childs instruction depending on the subject. Teachers typically spend between 4 to 6 weeks re-teaching material that students have forgotten over the summer. What’s one of the most susceptible skills lost? Spelling skills! Not to mention reading writing and mathematical skills. In addition to these loss of skills studies show that this loss of skills contribute to the growing gap in performance. In order to slow or even prevent learning loss students must have access to appropriate materials and practice activities. A survey of 100 school districts recently found that all districts operated some type of summer program. Although more than 90 percent of summer programs were described as “remedial,” targeting only students who were not on grade level. So what can you as a parent do personally, to help combat summer learning loss with your kids?

* Look into your local library. It’s a wonderful place to promote the love of reading, and the librarian can suggest grade-level appropriate books to read.

* Check out safe, parent-approved Internet sites. There are many that offer a daily craft activity to do alone or with a parent each day, some brain teasers, some fun educational games, etc.

* Download educational apps like “Spelling Monster”.

* Be sure to check with your childs teacher to get suggestions for summer books, workbooks and pleasure books. Or you could check online for age/grade appropriate book lists.

* Look into your local bookstores for a childrens reading hour, wee read, or story hour. One of our local bookstores often hosts reading hours with guest teachers and parents.

*Take your kids on a hike on a nearby nature trail. Walk slowly, and give your kids a chance to explore the trail, looking at whatever catches their eye. When you see them interested in something be sure to stop and examine their finding.

Just remember no matter whether you are walking a trail, finding a book at the library, or playing an interactive game keep your child engaged. The more fun your child is having the more involved he or she will be, and the more they will learn.

Resources :

http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/primer-on-summer-reading-loss.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_learning_loss

http://www.summerlearning.org/?page=know_the_facts

http://www.jbse.webinfo.lt/71-77.Geske.pdf

How to be a Better Speller.

Tracie Davis — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:00:13 +0000

So what makes some people better spellers than others, well simply put practice. Though different articles debate what is the best practice. We at Spelling Monster think any and all practice is great. Wikihow.com suggests writing a paragraph without stopping.Then when you are finished go back and circle all your misspellings and look them up in a dictionary. The more you see the words spelled correctly the more you will recognize when they are not. In fact reading in general whether it’s a book, comic, or magazine your brain remembers spelling patterns. So the more you read the better speller you will be. Lets see what other things we can do to be a better speller.

Playing traditional word games such as word searches, ( my favorite ) scrabble, crossword puzzles, and memory but with spelling words are all great ways to practice. I love playing games to learn, that is what inspired Spelling Monster. Playing games to learn is fun and it changes the pace of learning from something kinda boring, to something fun and exciting to do. Besides traditional games, you see more interactive video games used to practice spelling. So whether you play video games to practice, or play hang-man try to make spelling fun.

Another fun way to practice your spelling words is to make a rhyme or silly sentence using each letter of the word. After words every time you think of the word your rhyme or sentence will pop in your mind. This works with remembering lots of things. This is how I taught my daughters to remember a compass. We created a silly sentence ”Never eat soggy worms.” It worked even I can’t help but think of north, east, south, and west in this way. Another example of this method is in mathematics with “Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally. ” So this method of learning is very tried and true across the board.

Don’t forget when you are practicing not to over do it. You will retain more in 3-15 minute segments then you will in 1- 45 minute segment. Make sure there are minimal distractions, as to not pull your attention away. An don’t forget your basic spelling rules. Need an example, how about ” i ” before ” e ” except after ” c “ or a silent ” e ” makes a vowel say its name. These are all helpful tips when becoming a better speller.

There are many ways to become a better speller, these were just a few. Have your own trick or tip? Let us know we would love to hear from you.