Parents: Help your Child

Find opportunities for your child to spell and write:

Encourage your child to write often –for example, letters and thank-you notes to relatives and friends, simple stories, e-mails, and items for the grocery list.

Help your child learn the correct spellings of words:

Find opportunities to help your child develop vocabulary, knowledge of the world, and comprehension.
Talk about new words that your child has read or heard. Ask her to make up sentences with the new words or use the words in other situations.
Help your child use the dictionary or thesaurus to check on the meanings of new words she reads or hears.
Help your child become aware of prefixes, suffixes, and root words. Point them out in books you are reading together or in print materials around the house. Ask her to think of other words related to the words you are discussing.

The National Institute for Literacy