Homeschool Spelling Energized
Activities to Motivate Your Child to Study and Learn Spelling
The use of unique teaching materials, humor, music, and technology can wake up your child's spelling routine.
Whether you buy spelling workbooks from one of a number of publishers, find grade appropriate lists online, or develop customized spelling lists based on words your child uses in writing, there will probably be times when your student needs extra activities for practice. When those times arise, try out a few of the ideas listed below.
Kinesthetic
Have your child type his or her spelling words, either for real or pretend. Your child can use an actual keyboard or a keyboard printable. When using the copy, students can keep the printout in their spelling folder and pull it out when practicing the list.
Tactile
Let your child practice the word list using different media. Spelling words can be printed in a pan filled with sand or shaving cream. (The words may not always be clearly visible after they're written, but the point is they have been practiced.) Children can also spell words with toothpicks or rolled pieces of clay.
If they have learned to write in cursive, students can manipulate long pieces of string into spelling words. These activities may help children learn by giving them a chance to experience spelling using the sense of touch.
Visual
Have children practice spelling words by printing them in colored chalk, or by using crayons or colored pens and pencils to make each letter a different color. This activity makes a visual impact.
Musical
Invite your child to sing his or her spelling words. Use one tune for the entire list or different tunes to fit the words. In addition, try a cheerleading sort of chant. For chanting, you may find it effective to have your child chunk words into syllables as he/she spells.
Additional Ideas
Have your child use graph paper to write his/her words in crossword form. As an alternative, you or your child child can do a computer search to find free crossword puzzle or word search generators. With many word search generators you can enter your child's spelling list and select from varying levels of word search difficulty.
Print your child's words in large letters on a note card. Snip the letters apart and put each word in a separate envelop. Have your child arrange the letters in the correct order to spell the word. (Free word scramble generators can also be found online.)
Use the telephone's keypad to translate each spelling word into a string of numbers. Ask your child to match the number to the correct spelling word.
Have your child write silly sentences for each word. As an alternative activity, have your child write a story using as many of the spelling words as he or she can work in. Ask them to underline each word they use.
Ask your child to create a spelling word dictionary as a document to be saved on your computer. Each week have him/her place the new words in alphabetical order among the words already saved. This list can be used as a writing resource, and by year's end, it's a powerful reminder of an important accomplishment.
If your child's motivation to study spelling is ebbing, try shaking things up a bit by giving him or her a new way to practice. Chances are you'll both be energized by the change.
