We are gearing up to start a new homeschooling year, and I’ve been collecting SO many amazing resources, books, and curriculum to use all year long! Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing more about what we’ll be using this coming year for all our children.
To start things off, I am sharing our Spelling Box! This is a box that multiple children can use to review their spelling words (or even practice handwriting). Two students will have official spelling lists from their language arts curriculum (Vera and Cordelia), and one student will be practicing some sight words during the year (Jude).
I bought some of THESE amazing boxes at Michael’s (linking to Amazon so you can see the exact product, but they are much cheaper at Michael’s) so we can use a box system for school this year! We will have a spelling box and a math box, and then Vera, Cordelia, Jude, and Theodore will all have their own individual boxes with their books and assignments (or, activities, for Theodore). The idea with the spelling box is that when it’s the time of the day for one of the children to review their spelling words, they can grab the spelling box and pick one of the ways for reviewing their spelling words. They have at least ten different options for spelling practice!
I ordered some of these mini chalkboards, and they came with a chalk marker. The kids will love writing on this and using the marker! I might also order some of this chalk… looks really nice! Has anyone used it? Worth it?
I picked up a roll of “chalkboard” washi tape at the dollar spot at Target, and I thought it would be fun for the kids to tear off strips of it and write their words on it. Anything to make practicing spelling fun, right?
I tucked in some dry erase boards and dry erase markers. The one above is from the Dollar Tree (but not recently). The cute little cactus dry erase board eraser is also from the Dollar Tree!
These smaller dry erase boards are from the dollar spot at Target! The one on the right is for handwriting practice, but the one on the left can be used for writing spelling words.
I picked up some bigger pencils (these) to help with correct pencil grip, since they have a triangular shape that makes it easy to hold them the proper way. I also bought some word list pads at the homeschool convention.
I ordered a bunch of fun pencil grips, since a couple of my children are still learning the correct way to hold their pencils!
Even though school hasn’t officially started, THIS cool little “tablet” has already been a hit! I don’t know how it works, but they use a stylus to write on it, and then you tap the button at the top to clear the screen. NO FRILLS but it’s a fun way of writing word lists, taking notes, etc.!
Jude will be using this new Wipe-Clean book for reviewing phonics and spelling at the beginning of the year, then I’ll move it to Theodore’s box! Vera used this one last year, so Cordelia can probably use it this year! We LOVE our Wipe-Clean books!
I tossed this vintage Tupperware stencil in the spelling box as well!
Of course this game is fun to play, and we will also use it to spell out words! Vintage Scrabble tiles work great too!
Probably one of the more fun spelling practice ideas is this sand tray and kinetic sand! They can use their fingers or the wooden tool to write their words in the sand! This is also something Theodore can play with when the others are doing their work!
I also bought this book to read throughout the year! It has mnemonic devices, poems, and funny illustrations to help remember spelling and grammar rules!
A few additional spelling practice ideas I may implement this year:
-index cards + markers
-letter cards
-watercolors (paints + brush, OR waterbrush pens)
-watercolor pencils (and then trace over with a brush dipped in water)
-refrigerator magnets (have some, just need to bring them out again)
-dry erase writing on the windows (this is ALWAYS a hit)
-toss a ball back and forth and say one letter of the word with each toss
What creative ideas do YOU have to share? What ways do you make spelling practice fun at your house or in your classroom?
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