So JD Boy (fourth grade) does not like spelling. After spending too many days demanding that it has to be done the way I say, I decided to try to figure out ways to make it more appealing to a nine-year-old boy.
I finally came up with one way for him to practice his words that he thinks is fun. Plus, it leaves him too worn out to complain. He’s doing jumping jacks while practicing his words. He also has some creative jumping jacks, I have no idea what they are called in real life, but he likes to do those too. Those were his idea, so they’re even better.
Another thing that I found is that it is the writing that he doesn’t like. You would think, by fourth grade that wouldn’t be an issue. What I can say–he’s a boy! So we have now switched to doing all spelling verbally. He does have to work on penmanship every day though and is doing a writing class too, so I am making sure that he gets some practice with that pencil. For spelling, he writes the words that he needs to practice, on the white board. So I guess, it’s not completely verbal, but the tests are all verbal. So far, this has improved the outlook on spelling dramatically. Yeah!
In case you’re wondering, we are using Spelling Power for our spelling program, but with a slight adjustment for him.