Activity

Simultaneous Oral Spelling (SOS)

How to play

• Choose a word suitable for your child’s level (e.g., “dog” for younger learners, “table” for older ones).

• Write the word on a piece of paper and show it to your child.

• Have your child say the first letter out loud (“D”) and write it down while saying it.

• Repeat for each subsequent letter (“O,” “G”).

• Once the word is complete, have your child say the full word out loud while reading what they wrote.

• Repeat the process with different words, focusing on tricky spellings.

Why it helps

This activity reinforces the connection between hearing, seeing, and writing, making it easier to remember spellings.

Suitable for

Ages 7 - 12

Activity

Playdough Letters

• Provide your child with playdough or similar materials like modelling clay or kinetic sand.

• Pick a word for your child to spell. Start with simple ones like “cat” or “sun.”

• Have your child form each letter of the word using the playdough, saying each letter out loud as they create it.

• Once the word is complete, ask them to say the entire word aloud and compare it to the written version.

• For variety, try using magnetic letters, letter stamps, or writing in sand with their fingers.

This activity engages the senses and allows children to physically create letters, helping them visualise and remember spelling patterns.

Ages 5 - 10

Activity

Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check

• Write a word on a piece of paper or whiteboard and show it to your child.

• Have them look carefully at the word and say it aloud to themselves.

• Cover the word with your hand or another piece of paper.

• Ask them to write the word from memory on a separate piece of paper.

• Uncover the original word and have them check their spelling.

• If incorrect, encourage them to identify the mistake and repeat the process.

This step-by-step approach builds focus and reinforces memory by encouraging active recall.

Ages 7 - 14

Activity

Visualisation Techniques

• Write a word on a colourful piece of paper or whiteboard.

• Ask your child to close their eyes and picture the word in their mind.

• Encourage them to imagine the word in a specific colour, font, or style (e.g., “DOG” in red bubble letters).

• After a few seconds, ask them to write the word from memory.

• For tricky parts of the word, use colours to highlight specific letters (e.g., bold the “ph” in “phone”).

• Repeat with new words, creating visual connections for each.

Engaging the visual sense helps children internalise spelling patterns and tricky sequences.

Ages 8 - 14

Activity

Word Hunt

• Write down a list of target words or word families (e.g., words ending in “-ing”).

• Challenge your child to find these words around the house, in books, or even on food packaging.

• Each time they find a word, have them write it down and say it out loud.

• Discuss the spelling and meaning of each word to reinforce learning.

This activity encourages curiosity and connects spelling with real-world contexts.

Ages 6 - 12

• Hangman: Choose a word, draw dashes for each letter, and have your child guess letters until they spell the word or complete the hangman drawing.

• Scrabble/Letter Tiles: Provide a set of letters and challenge your child to create as many words as possible. Start with simple words and progress to longer ones.

• Spelling Bingo: Create bingo cards with common words. Call out the words and have your child spell them correctly to mark them off.

Games turn practice into play, keeping children motivated and engaged

Activity

Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Dragon NaturallySpeaking offers industry-leading accuracy for speech-to-text conversion. It works across most devices and adapts to the speaker’s voice, improving performance over time. This makes it an excellent tool for students who require detailed note-taking or support with extended writing tasks.

Good for

Students who need support with extended writing tasks or taking detailed notes during lessons.

Pros

Highly accurate transcription, supports multiple languages.

Cons

Requires initial training to optimise accuracy and can be expensive.