According to Rae Pica of BAM Radio, “Children learn best through active involvement.” Some common strategies that actively involve children as they learn new spelling words include:
- tracing letters in the air
- tracing letters on sandpaper or in a sand tray
- tracing letters in shaving cream on a desk
Another way to add meaningful movement to spelling is to use fingerspelling (manual alphabet). Here’s how:
- Learn the manual alphabet with your child at the beginning of the school year.
- Practice new spelling words by fingerspelling each letter as you say its name aloud.
- If there are patterns in the words (the consonant blend “str”, for example), see how many times you can fingerspell the patterned letters in 10, 15 or 30 seconds.
- Practice by fingerspelling a word to your child and letting her guess the word. Now give your child a turn while you guess the spelling word!
Get started today with the Practice Time ABCs video from Signing Time!
Already have it? Here are some more great resources for fingerspelling:
- Signing Time Vol. 5 ABC Signs DVD
- Signing Time Vol. 5 ABC Signs Flash Cards
- ABCs and 123s Wall Posters
Handy links: