Spellings are an important aspect of your child’s learning in English. They also open up a world of new vocabulary for your child to use in their writing. Here are some tips to help your child learn their spellings:

• Use the Look, Cover, Write, Check method which allows children to learn their spellings independently. Children look at the word from their spelling list then cover it over and try writing it themselves before checking it. This can be done as many times as needed!
• If the list of spellings includes a rule, e.g. all words end in ‘tion’, reinforce this when your child is learning their spellings as it will help them to remember that part of the word.
• Make sure your child knows the meaning of the word as it’s much easier if they can put the word in context.
• If possible, use phonics to sound out, reinforcing the link between the letters and sounds at each stage of the word as this will help children to spell the word e.g. chat = ch – a – t.
• Challenge children to create a crossword or word search which contains all of their spellings.
• Download a free spelling app which children can independently use. Some apps allow parents to type in and record the word so the child can hear the word. This also ensures they are learning the correct spelling of the word.
• Play a game of hangman with the spelling words.
• Use memory jogs to help your child remember different parts of the word. e.g. accidentally – there was an accident in the ally (this helps them remember the suffix -ending) and appear – an app which you listen to with your ear (this helps them remember the app and ear part of the word).
• Use anagrams – jumble up the letters of the words – can your child un-jumble them and put them in the correct order?
• Grab the letters from your game of ‘Scrabble’ or a similar word game and ask your child to spell each word using the letter tiles. If children spell the word correctly, they could add up the points on each letter tile and earn prizes when they have reached a certain number of points.
• You could also use the letter tiles to form a crossword of their spellings as per the game ‘Bananagrams’. How many of the weekly spellings can be included?
• Encourage your child to write a sentence for each spelling or incorporate all of their spellings in a short story or paragraph. These could be silly sentences using their imagination or a creative short story about something they are really interested in. This ensures that they understand the meaning of the words. It also allows them to apply the spellings into their writing as often children are confident in a spelling test but find it difficult to use the words correctly in a piece of writing.

SIGN UP TO MY NEWSLETTER BELOW FOR UPDATES AND MY FREE ‘TIPS AND ACTIVITIES FOR HELPING YOUR CHILD WITH PLACE VALUE, TIMES TABLES & MENTAL MATHS‘ GUIDE

Free guide includes:

• Free ‘Place Value Chart’ with different year group activities to help children learn to read, write and recognise the value of digits in numbers up to 7 digits.
• Tricks and tips for learning the 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 times tables and tackling tables tests.
• Mental methods to help children become confident and speedy with adding, subtracting and multiplying mentally, including number bonds, halving/doubling/near halves & near doubles, bridging ten, quick-fire questions, multiplying 3 digits mentally and square numbers.