How to help your child with spelling and dictation at home

How does phonics help spelling?

Phonics gives children a way to work out spellings instead of memorising every word as a picture. To read, children blend sounds together; to spell, they do the opposite and segment a word into its sounds, then write a letter or letter group for each sound. For ship, that's /sh/ /i/ /p/: sh, i, p.

Once children know common letter patterns, such as ee in tree, ai in rain and igh in night, they can spell many more words on their own. For a clear explanation of how this works, read blending and segmenting and our phonics glossary for parents.

A quick way to segment is to use fingers: hold up one finger for each sound as you say the word slowly, then write one sound for each finger. Children can see how many sounds to listen for.

How should we practise a weekly spelling list?

Little and often. Five or ten minutes on four or five days usually works much better than an hour the night before. A simple weekly routine might look like this:

1. 1Day 1: read and sort. Read the list together. Sort the words into groups that share a pattern, and circle any tricky parts.
2. 2Day 2: say, cover, write, check. Say the word, cover it, write it from memory, then uncover it and check, letter by letter.
3. 3Day 3: build and play. Make the words with letter tiles or magnetic letters, or play a quick game such as spelling a word in chalk or on a steamy window.
4. 4Day 4: use them in sentences. Ask your child to say and write a short sentence with a few of the words.
5. 5Day 5: a calm practice test. Read out the words, let your child write them, then correct them together and praise what went well.

Look at mistakes as clues. If your child writes bote for boat, they heard every sound correctly; they just chose a different way to write the /oa/ sound. That's a small step to fix, not a big problem. Keep the list somewhere visible during the week, such as on the fridge, so the words are seen every day without extra effort.

Why does my child spell words as they sound?

Because they are using their phonics, and that's a good sign. Writing becos for because or wen for when shows your child can hear the sounds in a word and match each one to letters. This is often called phonetic spelling, and it is a normal stage for young writers.

English often has more than one way to spell the same sound, so a phonetic spelling can be a sensible guess that just isn't the usual one. Children learn which spelling to use through reading, practice and learning common patterns over time.

In free writing, such as a story or a card, let your child spell words their own way so their ideas keep flowing. Pick one or two words to work on afterwards, rather than correcting everything at once.

How do we learn tricky spellings?

Find the tricky part and focus on it. Most tricky words are only tricky in one place. In friend, the f, r, e, n and d are regular; only the i is unusual. Learning that one part is much easier than learning the whole word as a shape.

• Highlight the tricky part in a different colour, then write the word a few times saying the letters.
• Use a silly saying for stubborn words, such as “big elephants can always understand small elephants” for because.
• Say it the way it's spelt. Saying Wed-nes-day in three parts helps children remember the letters they don't hear in everyday speech.
• Group words with the same pattern: could, would and should are easier learned together.

How do we make dictation less stressful?

Make it familiar. Dictation feels hard when a child has to listen, remember, spell and punctuate all at once, often against the clock. Practising the same steps at home, calmly, takes the surprise out of it:

• Read a sentence aloud once at normal speed, then again in short chunks.
• Ask your child to repeat the chunk quietly before writing it, so they hold it in memory.
• Remind them to start with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
• Give a short pause between chunks, without rushing.
• Read the whole passage once more at the end so they can check their work.
• Correct together afterwards and point out what went well first.

Keep your tone light. A few practice sentences, two or three times a week, is enough. If your child is anxious about tests, talk about what they can control: listening carefully, writing neatly and checking at the end. Praise the effort, not just the score.

If spelling stays very hard despite regular practice, talk to your child's teacher. They can tell you how your child is doing in class and whether to go back to particular sounds. Gaps in early phonics, such as being unsure of some letter sounds or vowel teams, often show up first in spelling, and going back to them can make the weekly list much easier.

How does CurioKids help with spelling?

CurioKids teaches live, 1-to-1 online English lessons for children aged 4–12, 25 minutes each, with a real teacher. Most young children start with Phonics Starter, which builds the sound knowledge that spelling relies on. See the phonics course, or visit our Singapore or Malaysia page to book a free first lesson.