Learning to Write and Spell

If you want to help your child with their writing or spelling, these articles will explain how you can do it simply and effectively.

Handwriting and spelling are intrinsically linked with reading, so it’s important for your child to develop all of these literacy skills alongside each other. 

How to Teach Handwriting

There are a variety of opinions about how to teach children handwriting and some people even suggest that handwriting is no longer important. 

We cover these issues in-depth in this article so you can make a more informed decision about what’s best for you and your child.

Child handwriting

How to Teach Spelling Using Phonics

Children often find spelling difficult because many schools teach them to focus on the appearance of words while rote learning the letter sequences.  

Spelling using phonics helps children understand the basic principle of the English spelling system. This method is far more effective than rote-learning random lists of words. 

Teach Your Child to Spell More Complex Words

The English spelling system is quite complex and the spellings of many words aren’t entirely predictable from the basic rules of phonics. 

Nevertheless, it is possible to teach the spellings of these words in a systematic way that can make learning them easier for your child…

Spelling Strategies for Kids

The simple but effective strategies outlined in this article can help your child remember spellings more efficiently – if you use them in the right way…

Look, say, cover, write and check

Spelling Strategies You Should Avoid

Different websites recommend a variety of spelling strategies.  And while most of these activities work to a certain extent, some work better than others.  

Find out which strategies are probably not worth your time and effort.

Stop using these spelling strategies

Invented Spelling

Invented spelling is an approach that’s recommended by some educators, but its effectiveness is disputed amongst other groups of academics and teachers. 

We look at some of the arguments for and against its use in this article and suggest some ways of using the approach more effectively.

Invented spelling

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