How to teach spelling to 4yr old??

[workathomemother]

Hello, I'm posting this on behalf of a friend whose son is 4 and expected to learn to spell and write 2-3 new words each week and then gets tested on 10 a week (some from previous weeks)

This is causing some problems as he is just isn't interested and his mum cannot get him to learn these words, even after sitting and writing them out time after time he still doesn't pick it up.

So, this is stressing her out (personally I think 4 is WAY too young to be learning spellings but thats the way his school approaches things).

There are 2 issues 1) she is worried because her son just doesn't 'get it'...he cannot learn the words. And 2) how to try get him to want to learn them, she says he just laughs at her.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks

When children learn to speak there is just the odd word and then about a million words suddenly one week. After a torturous attempt at sentence construction, suddenly they ask you to get them another biscuit and a glass of juice. When I teach young children to play the piano they often sound like Les Dawson, until one week it clicks and they become accurate.

So: One day your friends ds will click with spelling _ UNLESS the whole process has been made so revolting that he decides not to.

As I am fond of saying - in NZ he wouldn't have even started school.

Your friends needs to tell the school that she is doing it - remind them he is young and that she is keeping it light and fun so that when it does click he becomes fascintated. Then she should stop doing it, and just read really good books to him instead - pointing out the words that he has "learnt" and any others off the list.

I do hate the way the National Curriculum is applied in a "one size fits all" type approach in some classrooms. Think there is something wrong with the teacher rather than her son, if she cannot accept variations in motivation, ability and readiness for such learning in 4/5 years olds. dd is also the youngest and is happy with the academic pace but there are older children than her , boys in particular, who are far less willing and this is accepted. If this is a pattern for the rest of the school would agree with robinpud that perhaps it is not the most suitable for your friend or her son.

Why is a 4yearold being giving spellings to learn. These aren't usually given to children until year one. I work in a nusery and our 4 year olds are only just beginning to write thier names.

Going back you your original question , my (just)5yo dd has to learn spellings each week.

We started by doing something silly with them, like sing them, or do silly actions, but she just seems to pick them up now quite quickly by chanting.

hth your friend

My DS2 is the youngest in his Reception class and they don't do any formal spelling, though of course they are taught (at their own pace) how to spell. This means some children are ready to write sentences now, and some children are still working on words.

I feel really sorry for your friend's little boy. Presumably, as Twiglett says, he is not being taught Jolly Phonics. Unless he is reading relatively well, which most 4 year olds are not, learning to spell key words will just seem baffling and pointless.
No advice on how to teach him the spelling, as I have found it very difficult to teach my 4 year old to do anything he doesn't want to.

Hello - I am the mum of the 4yr old boy..I do think it is alot to ask of him, but the rest of the kids in his class(bar one!) all seem to be able to do this... Yes he is the youngest in the yr group, so my friends daughter will be a whole school year different to my son - Who turns 5 in May.. They do teach by jolly phonics but has not got the hang of this either, i am guessing this is the reason for the problem with spelling.. He has just no interest and does not co operate at all.. It is a good school and yes they do push them, I have had various meetings with them re praise etc... I am sure given time i will wonder what my worries were!!!! Thanks for all your ideas xxxxxxx

I thought the point of Jolly phonics was that you then added the spellings once you had a grasp of the phonemes. Trying to do spellings would be like trying to run whilst you are still bum shuffling.

Ok, the Jolly Phonics approach does advocate children learning to spell "tricky words" (ie keywords that are irregular eg said, one, was etc). A list of 60 of the most common ones are focused on.

It is recommended that they are introduced when approx half the letter sounds have been taught, so if a school is following the Teacher's Handbook "to the letter" (excuse the pun ), then these spellings would begin to be introduced about 5/6 weeks? after starting the programme.

Two new words a week is suggested, so this is what the school must be following.

I have taught using the JP method and think it's great, but we held off expecting all children in the class to formally learn "tricky" spellings until Year 1.

Yes, some reception children would be able to spell them, but there was no weekly testing and certainly no expectation to be able to recall and spell 12 words in a whole class test.

How many of the words your child is expected to spell each week, can he actually recognise and read independently?

Direct quote from the JP teachers handbook:

"The children would be expected to recognise the words for reading before being asked to spell them correctly".

You need to talk to the school again about this. Tell them he should not be expected to learn these spellings if he is unable to read the words at the moment (you can refer the teacher to his/her Jolly Phonics Handbook ).

Sounds like a recipe for how to put your child off school for life.....

Sounds like a nightmare to me. There is no way any child should be learning to spell a word before they can read it. It just makes no sense at all.

And the best way to become a good speller is to read and read and read some more. I'm all for opportunities for children to read in reception, if they are ready for it. But all this emphasis on writing is ridiculous, and learning to spell is just nutty (IMHO).

My DS is now 4.5 and was the youngest in the year bar 1 who is an incredibly bright boy and is streets ahead of my DS academically. But the teacher does take into account that DS is one of the youngest and a boy and makes allowances and has found ways to encourage him along. He has never felt left out or at a disadvantage. The teacher seizes upon any indication that DS is interested and takes it from there.

I think that spelling tests for 4 yr old is WAY OUT OF ORDER. I would seriously re-consider my choice of school.

Surely spelling follows reading and quite a long way at that. We have bright 5.5yo ds with very good reading and he is doing spelling now (and doing the JP tricky words) but he is ahead of his class at that (and in a fab school). Sounds awful - can't imagine ds2 starting spelling in a matter of months. Completely potty. Find a new school.

My DS is 5 & is in reception & they have just started to have 4 words a week to read & then spell.
I'm not sure how they teach at the school (I intend to find out) but he has problems with letter sounds/ combinations ie he spells LOOK as LUK. Reading doesn't seem to be a problem.

my son goes to a local primary and gets 10 spellings per week!!! and hes just 5 years old. he does find alot of the words hard. but i dont pressure him as i dont want to put him off. i just think that there is alot of time. you cant win though, becasue if you dont put on a bit of pressure, they dont do well and they know and if you do you risk putting them off.
i dont think there is anything wrong with your ds spelling look as luk. its just him spelling phonetically which is how all children begin to spell and is very good. i would say that once your child is confident guessing phonemes, they can start to learn proper spellings later.

I would just keep reading to him, books he really enjoys. and get him to sit with you, and try to get him intrested in reading a couple of words. Just keep reading to him, he will soon get involed and want to read himself. Don't worry and don't presser him!