Spelling Help for an Eight-Year-Old Russian Girl

[Steven D]

Hi,

Does anyone happen to know of any good resources on the net for helping children with spelling?

I'm helping an eight-year-old Russian girl with basic English language skills. She seems to be adapting to English very well. However, she has trouble with spelling.

She is not in any way a typical ESL/EFL student. She doesn't have grammar questions or questions about anything. She's learning English in a communicative way only.

She speaks English very well. She has some difficulty with the past and articles. I'm sure she'll adapt and have no problem as she progresses. She attends school.

Besides the spelling, any suggestions or ideas anyone might have for this situation would be appreciated as well. This is the first time I've tutored someone that young.

Thanks,

:D

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by X Mode

Hi,

Does anyone happen to know of any good resources on the net for helping children with spelling?

I'm helping an eight-year-old Russian girl with basic English language skills. She seems to be adapting to English very well. However, she has trouble with spelling.

She is not in any way a typical ESL/EFL student. She doesn't have grammar questions or questions about anything. She's learning English in a communicative way only.

She speaks English very well. She has some difficulty with the past and articles. I'm sure she'll adapt and have no problem as she progresses. She attends school.

Besides the spelling, any suggestions or ideas anyone might have for this situation would be appreciated as well. This is the first time I've tutored someone that young.

Thanks,

:D

Phonics is the way to go. There are various resources online. :D Try an on-line search under phonics ESL.

All the best, :D

[Steven D]

Thanks, Casiopea.

I'll do a search.

[Casiopea]

You're welcome.

[Tdol]

Some phonics here:
http://www.usingenglish.com/links/Reading_Skills/

Hi X Mode,

Casiopea is absolutely correct in saying that the phonics method is the best way to help your student with her spelling.
It's a good idea to work with groups of words that sound the same. In that way, she'll learn the concept (rather than just individual words). Say for instance you pick words that end in -ck (block, clock, sock etc.), she will learn that all short accentuated words ending in with a "C" sound, is written with a -ck at the end. Later she'll instinctively apply this rule to other words too.
I think www.spellingfun.com is an excellent site to use. They have a full spelling program based on phonics.
If she does the "free flight test", you will know exactly where to start. She'll love it. The program is games based. It has sound and the first exercises explains the meanings of the words. There's lots of great tips and tools too.
I think you're giving her a wonderful gift. Learning how to communitace with confidence is one of the best skills to have.
Keep up the awesome work!
Charine