While working on homework, you may have heard your child say, “Miss Silady wants us to try to write the words on our own.”  It’s true!  I have been encouraging the children to use sound spelling.

What is sound spelling?

Sound spelling is stretching a word out and writing the letter for each sound that you hear.  For example, if a child wants to write the following sentence:

I see the park.

They should be able to write the star words (I, see, the) on their own.  Once they get to the word “park.”  I ask them to say it regularly first.  Then, say it slowly stretching out each sound and writing the sound as they hear it.  Some children may write “parc” while others may write “prc” or “prk.”  There are many variations.

If they ask, is that right?  I say, “that is the correct sound spelling way for a five and six year old.”  Sometimes they will wonder why another child spelled the same word differently.  I say that five and six year olds sometimes spell big words differently.

Sound spelling is important because it helps a child identify the connection between sounds and letters.  It gives them the confidence to put their thoughts on paper and start writing words!

This week we will have our first true sound spelling assignment.  Remember, there are no wrong answers!  Just as long as they try their best and write something.

Thank you for helping me grow young writers!