SPELLING HINTS
Please help your child get into a routine for studying Spelling patterns each
night. Remember that the study time needs to be for a short time (10
minutes). You can practice in the car on the way to soccer practice or the
grocery store!
To help your child study, you may want to use these tips:
1. Make a list of real words that end in the spelling pattern. For example,
the "at" word family would have bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat, flat
as some of the words.
2. Practice spelling these words aloud.
3. Practice writing the words on paper. The words need to be written in
lower case letters unless the word requires a capital letter.
4. Practice writing the words in salt, sand, bubbles in the bathtub, any
fun type material!
5. Use magnetic letters on the refrigerator to practice spelling the words.
6. Play "Spelling Scramble":
On a piece of paper, rearrange the letters in each word and see if your
child knows the word.
For example: "tca" is cat
7. Play "Word Puzzle":
Write the word in large letters on paper. Cut apart the letters, mix them
up, then have your child arrange them correctly to spell the word.
8. On Thursday night, give your child a practice spelling test.
9. As a challenge, have your child write a sentence containing some of the
spelling words that you dictate. Or, have your child write a story that uses
most of the spelling words!
Thank you for your help! Good luck!
MATH FACTS STUDY TIPS
1. Look at the list of facts to be studied for the week. Cross out the
ones your child can already answer automatically.
2. Repeat the facts in as many voices as possible. Shout it, sing it, say
it in a whisper voice, go up the scale or down the scale, and so on. Use
your imagination! How would a fish say 11 -7 = 4? Repeat the facts in the
bathtub, in the car, while doing chores.
3. Practice counting backwards quickly! Then, when your child sees 12-6,
he/she should be able to say "11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6" and come up with the
correct answer.
4. Tie what your child knows about addition facts to help learn subtraction
facts. For example, if your child is learning 11-2 = ___ : ask, "What
number plus 2 = 11?"
5. To help with general addition facts, play plenty of games that require
two dice!
Another game to play is:
Playing Card Addition
Materials: 4 cards each of 1 through 9
2 to 4 players
How to play:
a. One player turns the first 9 cards from the deck face down and arranges
them in 3 rows of three cards each. The remaining cards are kept in a pile
near the playing area.
b. Players decide who will play first by picking a card. The highest
number goes first.
c. The players take turns turning over two cards and finding the sum. When
a player succeeds with the correct sum he keeps the cards and fills in the
empty spaces with cards from the pile. He turns over two more cards and
play continues.
d. If an error is made, the next player gives the correct sum.
e. The game ends when all of the cards have been used. All players are
winners because they have learned how to add better!
6. Play math games on the computer! Math Blaster is one program that
covers math facts. Don't forget about this website that can be used for
practice:
www.aaamath.com
7. Make flashcards for each of the facts; put the fact on one side and the
answer on the back. Show the card, have your child say the answer and then
you show the answer.
8. Let your child practice typing the problems into a calculator!
9. Feel free to give a practice test at home each evening and stress to your
child that speed is important.
10. Be creative and use whatever works best with your child!
GOOD LUCK!