Syllables

If your child has long words on their spelling list it can help to break them up into syllables to help spell them. Syllables are the beats in a word and usually contain a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or a vowel-like sound. Sometimes y makes a vowel sound e.g. sky.

Examples:

1 syllable word - sun

2 syllable word - armchair (arm/chair)

3 syllable word - kangaroo (kang/a/roo)

Instead of trying to sound out a long word, your child can sound out each syllable.

You can clap the syllables in a word to help your child break up the word e.g. football, foot/ball.

Chin bobs

If your child finds it tricky to hear the syllables you can use chin bobs. Show them how to put their hand under their chins as they say the word. As each syllable contains a vowel or vowel-like sound, when they say the word it will make their mouth open wide and their chin go down. As they say the word they can count how many times their chin bobs and they feel their mouths go down. Say the syllables with a gap between them.

lunchbox - lunch/box

Then sound out each syllable. Remind your child to write the syllables as one word. They don't need to leave a space between them.

lunch - l-u-n-ch

box - b-o-x