Mamas & Papas-
DS is into spelling. He wants to know how things are spelled, wants to practice writing words, and sometimes wants to defy convention, i.e. mommy carrot shouldn't start with C it should start with K. Anyhow, any suggestions for a good set of letters? We've got a set of capitals (hard plastic with magnets). We've also got the Melissa and Doug wood ones with magnets (capitals, lower case, and numbers). Looking for something with multiples and extra vowels.
Also, do you have any ideas for fun ways to handle and introduce age appropriate spelling? I write a word with body wash in the tub before drawing the bath.
Thanks a bunch,
F. B.
I always got a few sets of magnetic letters/numbers at the same time. I had SO many, so close in age.
I was also blessed to have a FULL size frig AND freezer in the kitchen when they were little. (Did not keep them from stealing letters though! lol)
They are 18 to 25 now, and I still find 'magnetic' messages from them as they come and go!
Also, years ago, they made bath 'crayons'...those were a lot of fun to use!
Best!
Merry merry!
Get a set of bananagrams.
I had a container of little white squares that my kids could use to make words. We would play several different ways. Sometimes, just grabbing a handful and seeing what we came up with. And sometimes we would have fun spelling a word wrong--like kwak for quack. Amazon has something very similar. I don;t recall the brand we had but this does look like it. It had a lot of multiples and tons of vowels. We never had a problem. Eureka Tub of Letter Tiles. Apparently they also sell them at Office Depot.
I need to go get another one for my little ones.
How 'bout these, too, he can use in the bathtub?
http://www.amazon.com/Munchkin-Bath-Letters-Numbers-Paste...
:)
Buy him some Scrabble letters (and/or the game itself).
They are perfect - we used them a lot when our son was learning to spell.
http://www.amazon.com/Scrabble-Tiles-100-Letter/dp/B003G5...
Hit a teacher store. Ours is called lakeshore learning. They have great resources there.
Domino phonics. They come in long vowels, short vowels and digraphs
Sand paper letters are great too.
Homemade spelling tool... Styrofoam cups.
I simply wrote letters on the side of the lip with a sharpie. 1st 13 on the first set and last 13 on the next. We made several to accommodate longer words. You simply stack them and turn to line them up.
Cutting up letters like a ransom note also helps.
A fun way to introduce/encourage spelling:
Write either a partial or whole word on a post it note and put it on an object (lamp, floor, door, juice, bed, pillow, bathroom, towel, table, stairs, calendar, etc.), along with another blank post it. Let him find it and fill in the missing letters or rewrite the entire word. Once he finds 10 he "wins" (for us, that means a sticker or pack of gummy bears).
I agree with Bananagrams too, not for the game, but the letters. It's basically a little pouch full of scrabble-like tiles. My daughter will make words or small sentences while I'm making dinner. It's easy to come up with "challenges" like "spell a word that describes dinner tonight" or "spell a word that describes how your day was today".
I found a goodie at a yard sale a couple of years ago...
It is called "Bananagrams" ..... basically, it is like scrabble tiles without a board. It comes in a zippered bag shaped like a banana.
We don't use it for the actual "bananagrams" game, but we use it for my grandson and his spelling practice!
He has to search the pile of tiles for the letters to make his spelling words......
You could use the tiles, and start with easy words like "cat", and then show how you can make other words by taking the C away and putting other letters in... (bat, rat, hat, sat, fat, mat, etc....)
A fun way to practice making words and sentences without having to write the letters!
Google manipulatives and child care or pre-writing skills and child care.
We have a lot of techniques that we use and lots of toys that help kids learn pre-writing skills. Even a sand table is used for tracing letters. Making letters with macaroni and gluing them on a paper with a letter drawn on it.
There are soooo many things in child care supply places that address this.
Go, google, have fun. It's a whole world of wonderful things when you start doing this.
What about using something like fimo clay and make your own? With fimo, you bake the clay after you mke the shapes so they remain hard. the great thing about fimo is that it come in colors.
There are other product similar to fimo that would work a well, but I don't remember what they are called. Any good art store or Michael's would have a variety to chose from.
Have fun!
