Today’s OT approved spelling tip comes from my youngest, who has dyslexia and dysgraphia so spelling is a challenge for them.

Words as Shapes

For those with dyslexia, letters may not have the same connotations as they do for those of us without it. My child says that she sees the shape of words more than the individual letters. This can make spelling a huge challenge, as it usually requires us to remember all the letters in each word. Phonics really doesn’t work past short three letter words so we all memorize a lot to be able to read and write in English.

My child described the letters as tall, short, or hanging down, referring to the lower case letters we use in our spelling work. As a result, she could pair them with Lego bricks that are positioned to fit the shape of the word. Small squares are letters like an and o, taller blocks with the bottom in the same placement are t and l and those same blocks placed with the tops aligned are g and y. Can you picture it?

Spelling Program Use

The way we are using this method is for practice with words she can’t remember how to spell. Our spelling program, Spelling Power, has you test the child on all the words and only practice the ones they miss. So, we figure out the list of words she missed. I write one on our white board, she builds it with blocks, then she tells me out loud how to spell the word while looking at her blocks, not the word. This tactile method has helped a lot with her memory.

Of note, my kid sometimes declares that for a specific word, a certain letter is going to be tall. For example, in the word tomorrow, there are too many short letters in a row. However, if the r’s are now tall, it makes a more memorable pattern. So, if your child likes this idea but needs to change it up, let them make it their own.

If you give this a try, let me know how it works for your child!