More learning tips from Rose Marie Hester, who runs a monthly Q&A session about learning issu on the first Monday night of the month at the Community Bookstore. She can be reached at rosemariehester(at)mac(dot)com.

Words like said, was, where and they can vex young students.  Here’s a way to draw on the memory potential of the mind’s eye to make spelling easier.

Ask your child about his/her favorite food.  Then have the child close his/her eyes and draw in the air, pretending that the letters are the favorite food. 

Start with a challenging word and say each letter one-at-a-time, as the child draws and names the letter.  “S —- A —– I —– D.” 

You will need to repeat the word several times until the child firmly sees each letter in his mind’s eye and is able to say the letters with you. 

When he/she’s ready, ask the child to “skywrite” the whole word and say the letters one-by-one. 
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Then, with the child keeping his/her eyes closed, ask, “Which is the first letter?”   “Which is the last letter?”  “Which is the second letter?”  “Which is the third letter?”  “Spell from back to front.”  “Say the letters front to back.”  Repeat the questions a few times. 

Work on only one word at a time and keep it light. Your role is to be a coach and cheerleader.

The next time you work together, review the previous word or words.  Add only one word at a time.  Review is key.  Some days don’t add words.  Just review.  

It’s also important to have a child write the words on paper after visualizing. Putting the word in a sentence and drawing an illustration is also very useful.

Practice sessions can last five to ten minutes and are much more effective in the long run than having a child rewrite the word over and over, as the visualizing method brings ALL the child’s learning channels into play—hearing, saying, visualizing, writing, memorizing, drawing, discussing, emotional connection, creating, using color and associating with food! 

Eventually, ask the child to write three-sentence story using a few of the words that had been challenging. 

These kinds of exercises may seem tedious, but you can make them a party.  In the long run, they will help a child’s growth as a writer tremendously and will also help to stimulate all the learning channels.