The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-387-Vol-3of3.iso/h/hpj01.zip/HPJ05.DOC

Text File | 1993-03-06 | 4KB | 84 lines

TEACHING SPELLING TO A 2nd GRADER
by Steve Hudgik


What do you do with a second grader
that, in addition to being more
interested in Nintendo than in school,
does not seem able to learn.  It
could be that he is young for his
grade - his birthday is in June which
makes him one of the youngest kids in
the class.  It could be because he's a
boy -- I've always heard that girls do
better in school at this age.  He seems
to be intelligent and can remember the
names of every insect in his insect book,
but he just can't seem to remember how
even the simplest words are spelled.

My wife and I tried everything we could think of.  Flash cards.
Repetitive drills.  Some weeks we'd spend an hour a day working
with him on his spelling words, but he was lucky to correctly spell
more than five of the ten words on friday's spelling test.  He just
wasn't getting it, and only was growing more frustrated the more we
tried to help him.

I was getting worried that we might be pushing him too hard and all
he was learning was to hate spelling.  A different approach was
called for.

I had no ideas until I realized how I had learned to spell-- or at
least how I learned to improve my spelling.  I could see where my
son got his problems with spelling.  I've always been terrible at
spelling.  Through twelve years of school I was a "B" student.
Except for spelling.  The only subject I ever received an "F" in
was 8th grade spelling.

How had I learned to spell?  My spelling only improved when I got
my first job and had to write regular reports.  The spelling had to
be correct and I soon got tired of looking words up in the
dictionary.  My having to look up the correct spelling of words was
inconvenient and tiring.

So I decided to apply the inconvenience method of learning to
teaching my son how to spell.  And it worked!

Here's what we do.  Every monday when he comes home from school I
get the list of that week's spelling words and write them in large
letters on a sheet of paper.  I tape the paper to the window behind
his chair at the dinner table.  Now, when we study spelling, the
rules are that he can turn around to look at the list and see how
a word is spelled anytime he wants.  But, turning around to look at
the word is inconvenient.  It's easier to remember how the word is
spelled so he doesn't have to turn around.

Using this method helps him learn in many ways.  For example,
memory is involved.  He can't write the word while he is looking at
it.  He has to turn around, look at the word, commit it to memory,
then turn back to the table and write the word in whatever exercise
we are working on.  If he forgets how to spell the word he has to
turn around again and repeat the process.

Plus there seems to be a bit of macho pride coming into play.  My
son doesn't like to have to turn around and look at the list.  It's
become a matter of pride that he can spell all of the words on the
list without looking.

And it all works without either my wife or myself badgering him or
making him feel bad about spelling.  He now looks forward to
working on his spelling words and the challenge of not turning
around to look--and he's getting perfect scores on his spelling
tests!

The inconvenience method of teaching spelling worked for us.  But
it may not be right for your child.  But if you keep looking, and
apply your own experience toward finding different ways of helping
your children, you can find ways to help your kids improve their
grades in school.