{"id":2056,"date":"2014-12-27T22:27:34","date_gmt":"2014-12-28T05:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/\/?p=2056"},"modified":"2015-05-19T10:29:43","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T16:29:43","slug":"natural-speller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/natural-speller\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural Speller versus Has-to-Be-Taught"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n
My children: Ammon, Julianna and Mark
\nWill the \u201cnatural speller\u201d please stand up?<\/em><\/div>\n

\n<\/em><\/div>\n

Having homeschooled 7 children, I eventually figured out that either kids come as \u201cnatural spellers\u201d or they don\u2019t. And if they don\u2019t, you have to teach them to spell.<\/p>\n

The natural speller can\u00a0see\u00a0the word in their head. You might see them writing it with their finger in the air when they are figuring out the spelling of a word. Spelling comes pretty easily to this child.<\/p>\n

The \u201chas-to-be-taught\u201d speller is just as intelligent. In fact, spelling doesn\u2019t have much to do with intelligence. <\/strong>As soon as the \u201chas-to-be-taught\u201d speller gets some memory clues or rules to go by, they can spell just as well as anyone. Of my 7 children, a few of them are natural spellers.<\/p>\n

\"Ammon's<\/a>

Ammon’s journal<\/p><\/div>\n

For the natural spellers, it is pretty much a waste of time to give them spelling lists, spelling tests, workbooks, or spelling activities. They will get it eventually, no matter what you inflict upon them. They can\u00a0see\u00a0the word in their mind\u2019s eye and the more times they see it, read it or write it, the easier it gets. For a natural speller, I have found the best exercise is to correct their daily journal writing<\/a>, and help them analyze a misspelled word. Once it is pointed out, they can practice that word\u2014write it a few times each day perhaps. A memory clue is big help, such as pointing out the word\u00a0end\u00a0in the word\u00a0friend\u00a0(a friend\u00a0is a friend\u00a0to the\u00a0end). Once they can see the right spelling, they generally do great at self-correction in the future.<\/p>\n

Here are a few spelling memory clues<\/strong> to get you thinking:<\/p>\n

here, hear<\/strong>
\nhear<\/em>\u2013you hear <\/strong><\/em>with your ear<\/strong><\/em>. See the word\u00a0ear<\/em> in hear<\/strong><\/em>.
\nhere <\/em>and\u00a0there<\/em> are places. You can see\u00a0here<\/em> in there<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

together<\/strong>
\nSeparate the word into syllables:\u00a0to-get-her<\/em>
\nIf you are going somewhere\u00a0together<\/em>,\u00a0you have \u201cto get her\u201d first.<\/p>\n

tomorrow<\/strong>
\nSeparate the word into syllables:\u00a0to-morrow<\/em>
\nThe meaning is “on the morrow, or the next day”. Remembering that helps you not put an extra “m” in the word.<\/p>\n

friend<\/strong>
\nHow long will a friend stick with you? \u00a0to the end! \u00a0If you can see the word end<\/em> in your friend,<\/strong><\/em> you spelled it correctly!<\/p>\n

The main thing is to talk through the misspelled word with your child the first time you spot it. Just dissecting it is often enough to help a natural speller see and correct his mistake. When my son spelled\u00a0rock<\/em> as\u00a0roc<\/em>,\u00a0I asked him to spell\u00a0sock, clock, block, lock<\/em>,\u00a0etc. As he put the\u00a0ck<\/em> on the end of each word, he quickly recognized the pattern and fixed\u00a0rock\u00a0without another word from me.<\/p>\n

You never know for sure which kids will be natural spellers, so I start all children off writing with a Spelling Dictionary by their side from about age 6 and up. \u00a0If they get in the habit of looking up words they are stumped on, instead of puzzling (and misspelling them), it seems to get them off to a better start.<\/p>\n

\"homeschooling-how<\/a>From there, we advance to using How to Spell it<\/a>, which is a unique dictionary in which children can look up misspelled words (rather than the other way around). \u00a0Words are spelled as they sound, with the correct spelling highlighted.<\/p>\n

From day one of homeschool, I have my children keep a school journal.<\/a> \u00a0This is an easy way to teach spelling, as they learn to spell right along with learning to write, and the spelling words are the words they use in their everyday conversation.
\n\"1171\"<\/a>When it is time for some formal rules, I reach for Better Spelling in 30 Minutes a Day<\/a>. \u00a0This book is great for older children who need some spelling help, or as a guidebook for you, as a teacher, to get the rules down so you can teach better. Workbook contains exercises that allow you to identify weak spelling areas and practice to improve them, tricks for spelling those commonly misspelled words, proofreading practice so you can learn to spot an error, and an answer key in the back of the book so you can check your answers as you go. Of course, you don’t have to spend 30 minutes a day, but I’m certain this book will improve your spelling even if you only spend a few minutes!<\/p>\n

Good spelling is just about as important as brushed hair or a washed face. It is often the first impression we will make. <\/strong>In a day when email or texting is a common form of communication, spelling matters. Believe me, I have seen my share of misspelled job applications\u2014and they are not very impressive. It\u2019s worth it to teach our kids to spell!
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

May I recommend:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

\"spelling\"
\nSpelling Those Tricky Words
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"IMG_6036-150x150\"
\nSpelling Clues
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

\"1788\"
\nTeach Any Child to Spell
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My children: Ammon, Julianna and Mark Will the \u201cnatural speller\u201d please stand up? Having homeschooled 7 children, I eventually figured out that either kids come as \u201cnatural spellers\u201d or they don\u2019t. And if they don\u2019t, you have to teach them to spell. The natural speller can\u00a0see\u00a0the word in their head. You might see them writing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[190,9],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-2056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-spelling","category-what-articles","tag-spelling","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6IrRN-xa","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":663,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/spelling\/","url_meta":{"origin":2056,"position":0},"title":""I" Before "E", But Not After "C"","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"I am a product of the public schools of the 1960's. I was taught the spelling ditty: \"i\" before \"e\" but not after \"c\", and a host of other rules. Spelling rules seem to be made for the logical, perhaps, mathematical minds (not mine), but I am a good speller.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Spelling"","block_context":{"text":"Spelling","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/spelling-what-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/rat-440987_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/rat-440987_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/rat-440987_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/rat-440987_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/rat-440987_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":677,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/spelling-clues\/","url_meta":{"origin":2056,"position":1},"title":"Spelling Clues","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 English is a beautiful language! It is the language of the Kings James Version of the Bible. It is the language of Shakespeare. Then, why\u2014oh, why can't we spell? Over the years of teaching my 7 children to write, I wonder if perhaps I have seen nearly every misspelling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Spelling"","block_context":{"text":"Spelling","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/spelling-what-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_6036.jpg?fit=854%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_6036.jpg?fit=854%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_6036.jpg?fit=854%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_6036.jpg?fit=854%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":695,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/spelling-those-tricky-words\/","url_meta":{"origin":2056,"position":2},"title":"Spelling Those Tricky Words","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Spelling correctly is just as important as doing your hair! How's that? Well, it makes quite a first impression, whether on a job application or in a love letter. Spelling is not something that we stop learning the day we graduate from high school, or college even. I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English: Spelling"","block_context":{"text":"English: Spelling","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/english-spelling\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/3kids_Louisa_Ammon_Emily.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/3kids_Louisa_Ammon_Emily.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/3kids_Louisa_Ammon_Emily.jpg?fit=600%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1099,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/kids-cant-spell\/","url_meta":{"origin":2056,"position":3},"title":"Kids Can’t Spell?","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"It is an all-too-common problem. 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Learning to write is pretty important, as we use if daily in our communication.\u00a0Nothing blows \"lookin' smart\" faster than misspelling a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "English: Spelling"","block_context":{"text":"English: Spelling","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/english-spelling\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ammonsbeet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/ammonsbeet-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1044,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/pronunciation-poem\/","url_meta":{"origin":2056,"position":4},"title":"Pronunciation Poem","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0Pronunciation Poem I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough? Others may stumble, but not you, On hiccough, thorough, laugh, and through. Well done! And now you wish perhaps, To learn of less familiar traps? Beware of heard, a dreadful word, That looks like\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Spelling"","block_context":{"text":"Spelling","link":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/category\/what-articles\/spelling-what-articles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Photoxpress_485144.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Photoxpress_485144.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Photoxpress_485144.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/Photoxpress_485144.jpg?fit=800%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":265,"url":"https:\/\/happyhomeschooling.com\/site\/writing-in-my-homeschool\/","url_meta":{"origin":2056,"position":5},"title":"Writing in My Homeschool","author":"Diane Hopkins","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Come take a peek inside my homeschool. 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