Dayspring Home Educators Annual Spelling Bee is for Dayspring members only. All updated information regarding the Spelling Bee time, location, etc can now be found on our Dayspring Yahoo group. Thanks! The following are general Spelling Bee tips and word lists that all are welcome to use.
Click on the Grade Level you want and it will be displayed as an Adobe Acrobat Document. Download instructions for the latest version is listed at the bottom of this webpage.
Here are a few tips to help you teach your children how to spell:
- Look into Spelling Power as a spelling curriculum, it is very good.
- Have your child write his/her spelling words in different mediums. For example, get a tray and put some sand in it then have him write the spelling words in the sand with his finger.
- Use a chalkboard (not a dry erase board as it doesn't give the sensory feedback to the brain like a chalkboard can) to practice writing the spelling words.
- Get a sheet of sandpaper (perhaps a variety of different grades of sandpaper) have him trace the spelling words on the sandpaper with his/her finger.
- Have him/her close his/her eyes and visualize the word and spell them from memory.
- Have him/her jumping up and down (if you have it, try this on a trampoline or he/she can use a jump rope if it isn't too frustrating) while spelling the words. At first you might need to call out the word and spell it letter by letter as he/she jumps and repeats the letters and spells the words.
- Write the alphabet on the driveway/sidewalk with chalk and have the child run to the letters as he/she spells the words.
- Have him/her cross mid-line---this is harder to explain, but here goes...if he/she is right handed, .have him/her put the sheet of paper on his/her left side near/under his left hand; have him sit facing the table, then reaching over with his right hand (don't twist the body so that his right hand must cross over his mid-line) have him write the words on the paper. Obviously, you are NOT concerned with how neat the writing is. :-)
- Many people "remember" better if they move their eyes and look up and to the right slightly cocking their heads. You might remind him to try looking up and to the right when he is remembering how to spell a word.
Many children learn easier if you can get the hands and feet involved in the learning process. Here are some links that might be helpful:http://www.questia.com/Index.jsp?CRID=teaching_spelling&OFFID=se1&KEY=teaching_spelling
Q: How will the words be chosen from the list? Will it be totally random or will they be given in the same order that is on the list?
A: As far as the selection of words are concerned, rule 3 tells how this will be done. I have generated random numbers to determine how the words will be asked. This is how it works: for the first 2 or 3 rounds of each grade the Spelling Marshal will pick the first random number (which will be between 1 and 50) and ask the word on the list corresponding to that number. The Spelling Marshal will then move on to the next random number in the list for the next word etc. After doing this for 2 or 3 rounds, the Marshal will begin using the next set of 50 random numbers (between 51 and 100) and so on. The decision to move on will depend on how well the students in that round spell the words. If they are all too easy, then we will move on to more difficult words.