How do I help my ds (5 yrs) remember his spellings?

[Sallyssss]

He just struggles so much with them. I know he is only 5 yrs old, but his peers are managing it. I need to make it fun - does anyone have any tips on how to help him learn them?

[Moominsarehippos]

How much does he have to learn? We do them on the way to school and used to sing the spellings when he was little.

[ReallyTired]

Is your son a summer born? He may not be ready for spellings at the age of five. What is his reading like?

There is 12 months difference between the youngest and oldest child in an academic year.

This is a really useful book for strageries for learning how to spell.

www.amazon.co.uk/Superphonics-Spelling-Ruth-Miskin/dp/0340851953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358174299&sr=8-1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[Moominsarehippos]

Our son's a summer baby. Try to find out how he learns - maybe write the words out in felt tip using bright colours, or sing the spellings, or even tap the rythm of the letters out on his hand as you say them. Make up a silly story with the words in it and as you tell the storym, shout out the spelling too:

"Once there was a doctor -D-O-C-T-E-R! called Dr Brown -B-R-O-W-N!. He had a large umbrella -U-M-B-R-E-L-L-A! and a small, smelly mouse - M-O-U-S-E!" etc etc etc.

Sometimes they just need a bit more practice. Ask him to say the word first, then say the spelling. If he gets stuck, tell him to close his eyes and imagine the word written on a blackboard/whiteboard (or whatever they use these days).

[BlueberryHill]

I had a similar problem with this, Mrz helped me out loads.

We used post it notes and split the words down into sounds. DS's spelling were generally grouped around vowel / constanant combinations so 'igh', 'or' etc.

We looked at the combination, the letters that made it up and the sound that they made together. We then spelt the words using the sounds, so footpath would be split into 'f' 'oo' 't' 'p' 'a' and 'th'. You can put the post it notes on walls, floors etc and reuse the 'oo' and 'th' bits to stress the sounds.

We concentrated on keeping it fun, praise for trying and high fives.

I also spoke to his teacher, part of the problem was lack of concentration when doing the spellings in class. They may have some ideas to use.

[MissPB]

One thing I have done is to write the words with a big felt tip on a piece of A4 and stick it on the wall near the kitchen table.

This means they see the spellings when having breakfast & usually dinner. It also means you can ask them how to spell something and it is there in front of them so easy to chant out the letters.

Seems to work for mine at the moment at least!

[Carpediem2007]

My also summer boy (5) has 12 words to spell every week and has to practice them by writing them in a spelling book. He hates writing!
His teacher gave us lots of ideas, such as writing on a blackboard or white board or even an etch a sketch board, or using magnetic letters, as long as we put in his spelling book that we did the spelling in any alternative way, she counts it as done. She said that the actual writing of the words helped remember them so we use magnetic letters once or twice and blackboard or his notebook for the rest of the week. We used to spell orally too but she recommended writing to learn the spelling as you use other forms of memories to record the right spelling if you write them apparently.
He actually loves writing now so this is less of a struggle. (this teacher does wonders with very active but reluctant learner boys).

[Carpediem2007]

My also summer boy (5) has 12 words to spell every week and has to practice them by writing them in a spelling book. He hates writing!
His teacher gave us lots of ideas, such as writing on a blackboard or white board or even an etch a sketch board, or using magnetic letters, as long as we put in his spelling book that we did the spelling in any alternative way, she counts it as done. She said that the actual writing of the words helped remember them so we use magnetic letters once or twice and blackboard or his notebook for the rest of the week. We used to spell orally too but she recommended writing to learn the spelling as you use other forms of memories to record the right spelling if you write them apparently.
He actually loves writing now so this is less of a struggle. (this teacher does wonders with very active but reluctant learner boys).

[Carpediem2007]

sorry, I don't know how i posted this twice.

[Sallyssss]

Thank you for replying. I really appreciate it! Great suggestion which I will try. Ultimately, I don't actually think he is ready for them - he is August born, but as everyone else are doing them in his class - we have little choice.

Thank you again x

[noisytoys]

DD is 4 and she really struggles with her spellings. She is a lime level reader but still struggles with all but the most basic spellings like cat hat etc

[simpson]

Which words is he asked to learn??

If its some of the more common ones, you can get fridge magnets from wilkinsons...

DD in reception seems to learn hers quickly (and use them) DS (yr3) remembers his for his test but when it comes to his writing, they are out the window

[simpson]

Also, do the whole class do the same spellings??

When DS was in yr1 the kids who struggled would get 5 and the top table would get 10...

Might be worth speaking to the teacher as I'm sure they would rather he learnt 5 well, rather than struggle with all 10 iyswim...

[Sallyssss]

He gets 15!!!!

5 high frequency words - this, then, them, they, that and then 10 words with different sounds "ee", "oo", "ea" etc.

Its just too much.

[BlueberryHill]

Sallyssss, I agree with Simpson is it worth talking to the teacher, there is no point at this age with your DS getting upset about it.

[crazygracieuk]

My youngest was not ready so instead of spelling practice we did handwriting as he could not even form all his letters. Once he was more confident with that, we aimed to learn 1 or 2 from the list. He is not in Y2 and an average reader and his scores average 5/8 although there are sometimes easy weeks where 8/8 is possible,

[sunnyday123]

Wow I'm shocked my kids didnt get spellings until year one! Dd is in reception and hasn't had any spellings!

[PeppermintCreams]

My little man has only just started with spellings, but I've written them on a post it note and stuck it in the car. When we are at traffic lights I throw a couple at him.

We've also got the Squeebles app on our ipad. I don't think it's fantastic at the moment as his typing isn't great, but we had fun loading the spellings on together which has helped stick them in his head.

[gegs73]

My 5 yo DS (year 1) struggles with spellings and finds it hard to remember them. However thanks for the ipad app tip Peppermint. He spent 10 minutes on it this morning and he got them, then proceeded to spell them to me all the way to school!!!