Developing Spelling and Writing Skills

Children are very often very keen to learn how to write - especially when they realise that it can be used as a way of telling someone something, just like talking. They enjoy being able to label drawings, write their names or write a story to go with a picture. Help your child to see that developing writing and spelling skills can be fun, as well as something important and to be proud of.

Writing Tips

• Get young children used to making the shapes of letters by joining dots or using a pen to go over shapes you've drawn in pencil.
• Use lower case rather than capitals; children find it easier to practise the patterns of the letters that way.
• As they progress, write out words and whole sentences for them to copy.
• Offer to write down a story that your child invents; they can learn from watching you write and can help by suggesting letters and spellings.
• Help them to make their own labels, cards, notices and books.
• Have a written conversation with each other; for example, you could write to ask them if they'd like to go out, then, after they've written their reply, you could ask them where they want to go, or what they want to do, and so on.
• Write the first line of a story, and then ask them to think of the next line and write it down after yours. This game can be played with the whole family.
• Explain that they need different words to write about the past (we flew to France on holiday last summer), present (I am at home) and future (I will go bowling with my friends next weekend).

Spelling Tips

Many children find spelling hard and can find that it gets in the way of their enjoyment of reading and writing. There are a number of ways you can help:

• Play games with lists of words:
• Can they put them in alphabetical order using the first letter of a word (for example, hop, mop, pop, top)?
• Can they order a list of words using the second letter (for example, pat, pet, pit, pot and put)?
• Spell out words with fridge magnets or letter tiles from word games. Take some letters out and get your child to put the right ones back in the right places.
• Play word finding games in books or magazines, for example:
• Can they find all the words that start with wh-?
• Can they find all the words that end with -ing?
• How many times can they find the word 'the' on the page?
• Think up harder versions as your child develops.
• Make a game of rearranging letters to make other words (anagrams).