Do you remember the first time your infant said that magical word? Well, it’s a wonderful memory when your child utters their first word. Whether it’s ‘Dada’ or ‘Mama’ doesn’t matter, it’s just special to hear them utter the first word.

As they grow up, you try to help them spell different words. It could be something simple like an apple, ball, hat, cat, dog, or bat. Parents find a way to teach their kids how to spell, but it’s not going to be as easy. You will have to introduce them to the alphabet – A to Z and then move to spellings. Is it challenging for you?

In this article, we will share how you can teach your child to spell words. Let’s get started!

Why Are Spellings Important?

Spellings are important to learn otherwise a child will never be able to express their feelings.

For example, you can say ‘right’ but there are different words that sound the same but their meaning and spelling are very different from each other.

Words that sound similar but have different spelling include right, wright, and write. All have different meanings, but if you say them, they all sound the same.

That’s precisely why spellings are important. Otherwise, the child is not able to convey the message. If your child is the right age and is ready to learn spelling, you must make the effort and help them with it.

Moreover, learning to spell can also help the child write proper sentences.

The child can’t be writing, “You are writing!” The spelling of write does not fit here and as you may have noticed, the whole sentence doesn’t make sense. Help them understand why certain spellings need to be correct because a word can change the whole sentence and lead to miscommunication.

This is your chance to improve your child’s vocabulary, and help them learn new words. They also start understanding the difference between certain words that may sound similar.

Learning spellings is also helpful because you get to know about your child’s ability to pick up concepts. You will get to know if they have any learning difficulties such as dyslexia. Don’t be alarmed even if they do have dyslexia – it’s not a life threatening condition.

How To Teach Spellings To Your Child?

We can think of innumerable ways to teach your child how to spell. For starters, the child needs to know the alphabet. So, the initial point is to help them learn the alphabet. Once this is done, we can move to the steps where we teach them how to read and spell words. Brace up! We are going to tell you what would work.

1 Encourage Reading Out Loud and Marking The Difficult Words

Take a fairytale book or anything that interests your child. Ask them to read out loud and mark the difficult words that they are not able to pronounce. These are the new words you need to reach your child. Don’t punish them if they stutter – help them out and read the word in case they get stuck.

Once you mark the difficult words, ask the child to spell the word. They can see the highlighted word and spell it out loud. As a learner, they will have difficulties pronouncing certain words, but they will get there eventually. You need not give up! It’s just the beginning.

2 Let Them Copy and Repeat

Write a few difficult words on top of a notebook and let your child copy those words in the same notebook. Ask them to spell the word and then write it. Your child can spell it out loud and then write it at least ten times. This way, they will be able to memorize the word and won’t have difficulties pronouncing it.

3 Try Out a Singing Game

Parents can be as creative as they like! They can teach spelling using their singing skills. Kids don’t like monotony in a spelling class. We reckon your child is a young girl or a boy. Teach them the spellings in a way that they don’t get bored or disinterested.

4 Associating Words with Images

As we said, don’t make the spelling class boring. Let your child know that learning can be fun. Use certain images and let your child write the word associated with them. For example, it could be a picture of a garden with dogs, cats, sun, and clouds. Leave the blank empty and let your child write the word. Ask them to spell it out after writing the word on the blank.

Kids learn faster this way. Moreover, the learning process will be a lot more interesting. You could join them in the learning process because kids tend to feel like you have given them a task. Don’t make them feel like learning is a punishment.

5 Make Mealtime Fun and Informative

So, whenever you sit for breakfast, ask your child what they are eating. It doesn’t mean that you have to bother them during mealtime. But yes, you can endorse the idea that it’s good to learn about the food you are eating. You could also share that you are eating eggs and milk. Spell the two words and start promoting the idea of spelling out the word. This can seem irksome to you and the child, but that’s how they learn. Don’t trouble them all throughout the meal.

6 Start Playing Kiddy Scrabble

Scrabble that you get in newspapers can be complicated for a child. Create a kiddy scrabble for your child and play it with them. This way both of you can engage and learn some new words together.

Concluding Thoughts

Learning can be so much fun! Don’t reprimand your child if they are taking longer than usual. Be an understanding parent and teach your kids how to spell as patiently as you can. You can let your spouse join the learning process. When both parents are involved, the task of teaching spelling becomes easier.