Tips for helping a dyslexic child learn spelling words

[tigrou]

Every weekend, dd comes home with a list of 10-15 words to learn for a spelling test on Monday. Yesterday it took us all morning to go through them, discussing "traps", writing each one out once, then talking about what she got right and what needed correcting. And she probably won't remember any of it today. I'll be talking to the school about how best to approach this, but looking for any other tips too... I thought maybe just selecting 3 words with a similar pattern and working on getting those sorted. And ideas greatly appreciated, so we all stops draining our energy for little gain.

Same here! We use fridge foam letters first so that she can see the similar pattern ie, only needing to swap the first letter.

Also like a whiteboard as you can wipe and change a letter easily.

And then on to proper pencil writing! Coloured pencils?

Also very important to encourage her to look back at her words and see if she spot anything that needs changing.

Also one weekend is not that long to commit to memory - most schools allow a week.

mnemonics are good

eg what hat always tickles? so you have the word in there and its letters.

we did hundreds of those and it helps the spelling become automatic.

Thorough, through, though etc we just did until we exploded, sometimes with pics drawn alongside as a memory aid.

Also, standing on chairs and shouting out a spelling, or singing it, or standing on one leg all seemed to help them stay in the head!

Yep, agree with hully mnemonics, I like 'there's a hat in that and there's a hen in when' and that works with my children. Also drawing a little picture that could go with the word, ie the shape of the word bed looks a bit like a bedstead for eg.

Oh, 25 years down the line I still remember the pain.
Start early, and slowly - don't leave it all to the last minute.
Do whatever helps her learn - visual, shapes, verbal etc, or a mixture.

I know this won't help on the test, but there are some words I just can't get, even as an adult. I have alternatives to use in this situation - so if there is something she really can't get right, just leave it, but talk about what other word, out of a tet situation, she could use to say the same thing.
e.g. (and not a very good one) if she can never spell Lawn, daddy can mow the grass, not mow the lawn.

Good luck, and lots of patience.

definitely mnemonics. Let DC make them up themselves so they stick.
DS1 is 8 and is doing "Word Wasp" to learn spelling. It teaches rules, so you only have to learn 50 rules, say, as opposed to 1000 spellings. I wouldn't do it any younger than 8.
Lots of people on here recommend Apples and Pears.

Remind your child that in the grown up world there is spell check! Mnemonics work but only if what comes out of the pencil matches what they think they've written- big trap for some dyslexics. You might ask if your DC can take the test outside the classroom. My DD is an aural learner and being able to spell aloud while she is writing was important for her. She really had to hear herself say the letters as she wrote.

less words seems like an idea if she's not retaining. Ask the teacher if she can focus on 5 a week? 15 is a bit of an overload imo

I am dyslexic, look for a book called "the gift of dyslexia"
we learn in different ways, you need to engage all the senses, not just sight and sound. some schools use sand and water trays, you draw the word in sand then in water over and over again saying it as you wright it.
make the words out of Plasticine, get some cookie cutters, bake the word then decorate with sprinkles, smarty's ect.
good luck.