This guide is suitable for parents of children in all years. Help your child revise… spellings Not being able to spell a particular word is a problem that affects nearly all of us in our adult lives. Don’t believe me? See if you can make the necessary corrections to these notoriously difficult to spell words (the answers are at the bottom of the next page). Seperate Definately Embarassed Accomodation Recieve When we don’t know how to spell a word we usually reach for the dictionary or, if we’re honest, type it into Google and wait for the computer to correct it for us. Unfortunately, your children won’t be able to do either of these things in their exams. Which is why learning how to spell words might sound old fashioned but is still an incredibly vital skill. The next time your child asks you ‘how do you spell _____?’ feel free to give them the answer (after a quick dictionary/Google check if necessary). But then follow it up with ‘…and how are you going to remember how to spell it next time?’. If they pull a face and claim to have no idea, try going through one of these three methods for learning spellings. It might be a good idea to give them a go yourself first though as you may come to prefer one over the others. Method 1 – good for people who remember things visually 1. Write out the word the way you think it is spelled 2. Look up the correct answer and write it out alongside your first attempt 3. Circle or underline the bit you got wrong 4. Look at the correct answer 5. Cover it over with something (hands are good) and say it aloud 6. With the correct version covered, write out the (hopefully) correct version yourself 7. Check your answer This is called Look, Cover, Write, Check (for obvious reasons) and it’s the fastest method for learning spellings but for particularly tricky words you will probably need to do it a few times. Scientists suggest that when we do something 4 times we’ll remember it for all time, so keep going if it doesn’t work the first time you try it. Method 2 – time consuming but worth it Create mnemonics (pronounced ‘nemonic’ with a silent ‘m’, talk about difficult to spell) for whole words or the parts of words you have difficulty with. For example volcano very old logs cats always nibble on because big elephants cry and upset small elephants They don’t have to make sense, as long as you (and your child) remember them! Method 3 – requires a bit of imagination Create your own spelling maxims. These are short little sayings which help you to remember things. For example, if you always spell separate as seperate (a very common mistake – did you get it right at the start of this guide?) say to yourself “There’s always a rat in separate” Or if you have trouble with definite (did you?) remember “It’s definite init” Use this table to have a go at creating maxims of your own. SEPARATE
Word as I usually spell it Correct spelling Separate Accomodation Separate Accommodation Achieve Definiately Definitely Maxim (short saying to help you remember) There’s always a rat in separate. I always book two double rooms for my accommodation. I before E, except after C (a classic). Or you could try: I always Eat achievement for breakfast. Independance Millenium Answers to opening quiz Common misspellings: Seperate, Definately, Embarassed, Accomodation, Recieve Correct answers: Separate, Definitely, Embarrassed, Accommodation, Receive The bits that people usually get wrong are underlined. Isn’t English spelling random?!