Spelling Word Bling

With Cherith being in the first grade this year, we're encountering the spelling word challenge. I generally do not stop to think about how difficult spelling can be for a kidlet who is still grasping the idea of reading. How do you know which long a words are spelled with an a and a silent e, which ones are spelled with the "two vowels go walking" rule (and which vowel plays the silent role), and which ones are spelled with ay?

Reading is decoding what's already there. Spelling is like reading inside out with very few clues.

In an effort to learn her weekly spelling words, we've mixed things up and used several different methods. We do the "say-spell-say" method, the "write it 3 times" method, the "rainbow writing" method, and... her most favorite so far... glitter glue writing.

It's hard to write legibly with glitter glue, but the idea is not to practice handwriting as much as it is to get her to focus on one letter at a time. So, in her head, she's thinking, "Ok. Now the word goat. Gggggggg. Oooooooo. Aaaaaaaaa. Tttttttttttt."

And of course, the boys wanted in on the fun. Their interpretation of glitter art was more along the lines of "let's see how big of a gooey, globby, mixed color pile of goop we can make on this sheet of paper." They completely drained all the glitter glue tubes.