One of my children is not a natural speller. That's a nice way of saying that one of my children is a terrible speller. Not only that, but he told me that spelling isn't important as long as he can read what he has written.
I have experimented with a variety of teaching methods. We tried spelling lists. We tried word families. We tried doing nothing at all with the idea that a combination of reading good literature and maturity would work their magic.
It worked and it didn't work.
My student learned how to memorize spelling lists for a quiz, but he would forget how to spell the same words in his writing. Word families meant nothing to him. The literature/maturity method worked for my other two spellers, but the terrible speller still didn't care.
This year we've stumbled on something that is working. We aren't calling it spelling. We call it writing because we are focusing on the whole package of spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, and creativity.
Now, instead of memorizing and drilling a list of random words, my children pour their creativity into assignments that mean something to them...and the spelling practice is a secondary benefit!
I have experimented with a variety of teaching methods. We tried spelling lists. We tried word families. We tried doing nothing at all with the idea that a combination of reading good literature and maturity would work their magic.
It worked and it didn't work.
My student learned how to memorize spelling lists for a quiz, but he would forget how to spell the same words in his writing. Word families meant nothing to him. The literature/maturity method worked for my other two spellers, but the terrible speller still didn't care.
This year we've stumbled on something that is working. We aren't calling it spelling. We call it writing because we are focusing on the whole package of spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, and creativity.
Now, instead of memorizing and drilling a list of random words, my children pour their creativity into assignments that mean something to them...and the spelling practice is a secondary benefit!
Click the links below to use in your homeschool!
Easy Writing Prompts for Young Writers
This set of 12 writing prompts is for the beginning writer. Each prompt is followed by two blank lines for writing. Expect complete sentences and proper punctuation, but focus on creativity.
This set of 10 writing prompts is all about animals! Geared towards older children, there is plenty of room for your budding writer to expound.
Lego Writing Prompts @ Homegrown Learners
Download writing prompts in themes such as Christmas Writing Prompts and Back to School Lego Prompts!
Teaching a non-natural speller to spell can be gut-wrenching. Especially if you are a natural speller! So pleased that you have found a program that is helping!
ReplyDeleteI think that is part of our problem! Spelling has always come easily to me so it has been hard for me to know how to help him!
DeleteI love how you're focusing on writing as a whole instead of isolating the spelling in an unnatural way. Your prompts are so fun, thanks for the free printables!
ReplyDelete