Teaching Children to Spell

Spelling in English can be quite a difficult subject for educators to teach and for students to grasp. Even adults themselves have difficulty spelling some English words. The most effective way to teach spelling to a child is by using the phonics method. The phonics system teaches children how to sound out words for reading, and can also be used to teach children how to spell. However, it is important for teachers to remember that children must learn how to read before they can be taught to spell. Below are several points that should be addressed when teaching spelling especially to a young child:

· Talk to the child about how the phonics system works and how words are sounded out. Phonics has already helped many children in learning to read and spell by using the sound of each letter in a word to discover the spelling of the entire word as a whole.

· Use core words in practising spelling. A teacher may use flash cards to help a child learn core words while using the phonics system in spelling out the more difficult words. Practise these two procedures as much as possible without exhausting the child and making him or her lose interest in the subject matter. 

· When the child is a bit older and is already starting formal school, he or she will already be able to spell at least his or her name as well as simple words. Thus, the challenge will only be in spelling more difficult and complicated words. Help a child with this predicament by spelling a word and have them repeat it back. The teacher or parent can also give the meaning of the word while assigning the child to mention what the word is and how it is spelled. A fun way of doing this together is to create quirky but still grammatically correct sentences that will easily stick to the mind of the child that can be easily associated with the meaning of the word and its spelling.