Spelling Blocks

So Spelling has kind of always been a subject in which we've struggled with here at Ruby Slippers. Poor Biggest Sis has had to endure many trials and error when it comes to Spelling and unfortuantely this year, although better, is still much of the same. Well one day I was pondering how to make it easier for Biggest to spell word with more than one syllable. I figured that since she needs to take most things in small pieces in order to better learn I felt that maybe I could do the same with spelling. Well, I belive that the Lord put this little gem in to my head. I was thinking about how to break down the word into syllables and then some how "build" them back again into a word. Well, all of a sudden it hit me...LEGOS!! Of course! I could have her build longer words by attatching them to Legos and having her build them by connecting the Legos.
Brilliant huh?! I though so!! So I began writing each syllable for all 10 of her Spelling words onto small pieces of index cards. (Make sure that the are only as wide as your Legos or you'll have to do some overlapping upon connecting them). I attatched a piece of tape to each block and then an index card to each. Once accomplished I spread them all out on the table in random order (she later went and organized them by color...) and called her over to the table.

Upon explination of the activity Biggest got excited, she LOVES "active" learning and preferrs it to writing. Anyway, as Biggest sat at the table I sat on the couch and called out a word to her. She was then to find each part of the word, connect the words as she believed they would go together and then spell the word out. She LOVED this and did WONDERFULLY!!!

I think by breaking the words down like that and putting them in smaller more managable pieces she was able to do a few things:

1. learn to spell words by syllables instead of letter by letter
2. remember each word easier because it made more sense to her by recalling the syllable groups come time for the test
3. and most importantly she was able to face Spelling without feeling overwhelmed and frightened!!! YAY!!

Don't you just love those "Ah-ah" moments that you have as a homeschooling Mom?!