Help With Spelling for Your Kids

[nikked]

A friend of mine (my AD) hooked me up with a GREAT website to help our kiddos with spelling. It's SpellingCity.com Home Page. It's free to use. After you're signed up, you can create and save your child's spelling list, and the program creates games and other activities to help reinforce the list.

Hope that makes sense. It's free (did I already mention that? ), but they do have a pay version as well with more features. It's definitely worth checking out!

Happy spelling!!!

 

[straitfan]

A lot of teachers use this and plug in their unit's words. I have my list programmed in my for my 2nd grade class! We use this to practice on the Smartboard and the kids LOVE it!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Okay - I have a little rant here.

What good is it to have my son practice spelling, when he is being taught by a teacher who can't spell?

I've already had 2 notes home with misspelled words...and it really irritates me. Both times, I really wanted to send the note back, with the corrections made in red pen, but I refrained. Supposedly, we are in one of the very best school districts - and our teachers are paid 42% above the national avg. I know this because it was just in the paper in an article about budget cuts. Of course the teachers say that if we want to continue with the high level of education that our children are receiving, then cuts shouldn't be made to teachers benefits.

I would think that a higher level of education should include being able to spell simple words, and knowing when to use your & you're.

 

[Jean DeVries]

Not to make excuses for incompetence, because you KNOW how much it grinds my a$$ when people misuse your and you're, but......

When I spent a year teaching in an elementary school, I looked at so much inventive spelling all day I sometimes found myself at times saying, "How do you spell that word really?" Words spelled right didn't look right, and I way forgot how to spell grown up adult words.

However....being fully aware of that, I made sure to mega-proofread everything I sent home.

My cousin teaches in a Spanish immersion school, where she speaks Spanish most of the day. Her previously perfect spelling isn't so much anymore, because she gets the Spanish spelling of words confused with the English version and vice-versa.

 

[akwife]

Thanks for the website tip! We signed up for the free version and my 2nd grader is having fun. My K wanted in on the act-no spelling list for him so he was 'helping' his sis. Both are having fun!

 

[Triciascucina]

My DD second grade teacher does not give spelling words. She says they just memorize them for the test then forgets them by Monday. She also did not have spelling words in first grade either. As cute as her(DD) notes are she cannot spell. I am going to sign up for this sight to do my own spelling words. Thanks

 

[akwife]

Thanks again for this tip...DD took her test today and she scored 100%! First time this year! I had her practice her list every night using the website. She did much better & enjoyed the homework than if we wrote them out.

 

[nikked]

I'm so glad that you (and others) are finding this helpful. My DD loves this site!

 

[TrishPCMommy]

Okay - I have a little rant here.

What good is it to have my son practice spelling, when he is being taught by a teacher who can't spell?

I've already had 2 notes home with misspelled words...and it really irritates me. Both times, I really wanted to send the note back, with the corrections made in red pen, but I refrained. Supposedly, we are in one of the very best school districts - and our teachers are paid 42% above the national avg. I know this because it was just in the paper in an article about budget cuts. Of course the teachers say that if we want to continue with the high level of education that our children are receiving, then cuts shouldn't be made to teachers benefits.

I would think that a higher level of education should include being able to spell simple words, and knowing when to use your & you're.

I used to teach first grade and even went back to school (already had my MEd) to become a primary literacy specialist... I had spelling tests even in my first grade classes and each list was differentiated to the ability groups in my class. I gave spelling homework several times a week: put the 12 words in ABC order, find them in a word search that I created, create a sentence using each word... It's critical for kids to see how words are spelled and used correctly! It helps with their reading and their writing (stories, etc.); it corresponds. The fact that the teacher can't spell is embarrassing to other teachers who work hard to make sure everything is spelled correctly and grammatically correct. I would circle the errors and send it back asking her to please keep an eye on future communications! For those of you helping your kids with spelling, thank you! For those of you who read stories aloud to your children, thank you for demonstrating fluency in reading and showing them "how" we speak so when they read they'll know it "sounds right, looks right and makes sense"- what reading and writing at the primary grades is all about! "Learning to read" in the primary grades makes "reading to learn" a lot easier in the upper elementary grades and older!