Helping the dyslexic child improve spellings
Jun 03, 2006
A father whose son continually made spelling mistakes threatened his little boy with insults that he was an embarrassment to the entire family.
TEACHERS' DESK
By Deborah Mbuga
A father whose son continually made spelling mistakes threatened his little boy with insults that he was an embarrassment to the entire family.
Naturally, the little boy’s self-esteem was shattered. The response of the father may have been out of desperation. He may have wanted to help, but his approach was definitely not the right one.
Undoubtedly, society condemns those who cannot spell right and as such, spellings are often-times a big issue to parents, pupils and teachers.
The National Curriculum puts great emphasis on the importance of spelling at each level and emphasises the need to help pupils increase their knowledge of regular patterns of spelling. Good spelling can in some way be a passport to educational opportunities and employment for many people.
There are various friendly strategies that can be used to help the dyslexic child improve his/ her spelling. Among them is the use of phonics in the classroom. The phonological development of the word tends to make more sense to the child and thus, easier to remember.
The multi–sensory method is also a viable way of teaching spelling. Here, the child is able to use visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile senses to spell.
The child looks at the word using his eyes, says the word aloud using his lips, writes the word using his hands and reads the word he or she has written.
The traditional classroom technique of using spelling lists has proved less productive for dyslexics as some of them may remember the word for the spelling test and a week later might, they have forgotten.
There are, however, some work-books on the market that can be helpful to parents as a way of helping to reinforce the spelling abilities while at home. These have exercises in them which can be useful when practicing to improve the child’s spelling.
At every level of development remember to reward the child as this greatly encourages him or her and builds the confidence to carry on.
The writer is a teacher at
Aga Khan Primary School
mutumbad@yahoo.com
By Deborah Mbuga
A father whose son continually made spelling mistakes threatened his little boy with insults that he was an embarrassment to the entire family.
Naturally, the little boy’s self-esteem was shattered. The response of the father may have been out of desperation. He may have wanted to help, but his approach was definitely not the right one.
Undoubtedly, society condemns those who cannot spell right and as such, spellings are often-times a big issue to parents, pupils and teachers.
The National Curriculum puts great emphasis on the importance of spelling at each level and emphasises the need to help pupils increase their knowledge of regular patterns of spelling. Good spelling can in some way be a passport to educational opportunities and employment for many people.
There are various friendly strategies that can be used to help the dyslexic child improve his/ her spelling. Among them is the use of phonics in the classroom. The phonological development of the word tends to make more sense to the child and thus, easier to remember.
The multi–sensory method is also a viable way of teaching spelling. Here, the child is able to use visual, auditory, kinesthetic and tactile senses to spell.
The child looks at the word using his eyes, says the word aloud using his lips, writes the word using his hands and reads the word he or she has written.
The traditional classroom technique of using spelling lists has proved less productive for dyslexics as some of them may remember the word for the spelling test and a week later might, they have forgotten.
There are, however, some work-books on the market that can be helpful to parents as a way of helping to reinforce the spelling abilities while at home. These have exercises in them which can be useful when practicing to improve the child’s spelling.
At every level of development remember to reward the child as this greatly encourages him or her and builds the confidence to carry on.
The writer is a teacher at
Aga Khan Primary School
mutumbad@yahoo.com