Spelling Practice is fun!

Spelling

 doesn't have to be as scary a prospect to practice as you might think!

My little man (Love of Learning phase) has expressed frustration that he doesn't spell well. So I am consciously looking for opportunities to incorporate opportunities to spell in our activities. 

Enter: Games!

I have become a big believer in the whole concept of "game-schooling." (It's actually a real thing!) At least with my son, playing games has been a game changer. He loves playing them, any game, any time! And I love what I have been seeing happen to him. His attitude is much more eager, his strategic thinking has sharpened, he is a better "sport" and is becoming pretty good at accepting losing. Plus he is really gaining skills in core subject areas.

Here is a peek into our Kid School today:

We pulled out the game "Word a Melon" by the Bananagram company. (I recommend all of their games actually!) I found it at Target, and I know it is available on Amazon, and can probably be found many other places.

The game is played by a player rolling the dice. (You'll get a 3,4 or 5.) The player turns over as many letter tiles (seeds) as indicated on the dice. Then the player tries to create words out of the letters revealed. The longer the word, the better. The player then takes the letters that created the word off the game board and keeps them. Turn any remaining letters back over. The object at the end of the game is to have the most "seeds" in your pile.

When we play, creating the words is a team effort. I help him find words out of his letters. We have a lot of fun. I deliberately sound out the letters in an order that creates a nonsense word. And He is learning to do it too. We laugh at all the crazy sounding words. But this is worthwhile because it is teaching him to pay attention to the individual sounds that letters make and to practice blending them.

The first lesson is consonants and vowels. We learned quickly that most words need a combination of both of those. We have a short, little ditty that we sing that helps us remember which letters are vowels. 

As he is gaining confidence, he creates words that are "almost" correct. It is a great opportunity for me to point out spelling rules, but in an off-hand way that doesn't tell him he's wrong.

For example: He turned over the letters P-I-N. He said "pine." I was able remind him of the pesky rule about silent, final e that makes the vowel say it's name. I asked him if the vowel could say another sound. And after thinking a second, he was able to come up with "pin." 

Many times I am the one that finds all the words, but I am modeling how it is done and he stays very engaged in the process. And he gets to keep the letters when it's officially his turn.

Another aspect I added at the end is that when we tally up our letter tiles, I will announce that I am going to count my tiles by 5s or by 2s or by 3s, etc...and model how to do that. He almost always does the same, the little copycat!  So we get a bit of skip counting in too! 

I have a tub full of games that I use for spelling practice. I keep my eyes open wherever I go to see if there is something else we can add. With the Kon Marie movement gaining so much momentum, people are purging their game closets like crazy. Keep haunting the thrift stores and you'll be amazed at what you can find! And if your family doesn't like a game, re-donate it! You will only be out a couple of dollars.

Comment below if you have a game that works really well for spelling at your house!