How Do Kids Learn to Spell?

(Word Study,
Part 2)
by Anna Geiger June 13, 2013 21 Comments

Do you teach spelling? It’s important to understand the stages of spelling

development. Let’s take a look!

In my last post I shared a better way to teach spelling.  Children learn best from a
developmental, research-based approach to spelling instruction.

Kids learn to spell just like they learn to read: they progress through developmental stages.
You know that kids learn to read at vastly different rates. One child starts chapter books in
kindergarten.  Another isn’t ready for chapter books until second grade.  Both might be
excellent readers, but they learn at different rates.

Keep that in mind as you look at the age ranges.  These are estimates – children may fall at
either end of these spans or even out of them.  (And it’s helpful to remember that children
with special learning challenges may not progress through these stages.)

The 5 Stages of Spelling Development

STAGE 1
The Emergent Stage (ages 2-5)

Children might recognize their alphabet, but they are just starting to write it.
Here’s a sample from the beginning of the emergent
stage.  Writing looks the same as drawing.  My just-
turned-Three draws and scribbles, but he doesn’t write
letters yet.

 For more detailed information about this stage, visit This Reading Mama’s post.
STAGE 2
The Letter-Name Alphabetic Stage (ages 5-7)

Children know their alphabet and sounds – this comes out in their writing.

My four 1/2 year old is at the middle of this stage.  His letter and letter sound knowledge is
solid, and he is putting that to work in his writing. Sometimes he writes just a single letter for
a word (H for have), but other times he sounds out the whole thing (BLO for blue and HAT
for hat).

For more detailed information, visit This Reading Mama’s post.

STAGE 3
The Within-Word Pattern Stage (ages 7-9)

 Children start to see patterns within words.

My six-year-old (who just finished kindergarten) is at the beginning of this stage.  She does
well with blends (streebarres and plants) and is starting to experiment with long vowel
sounds (baens for beans).
For more information, see This Reading Mama’s post.
STAGE 4
The Syllables and Affixes Stage (ages 9-14)

Now kids start to understand how to put endings and extra syllables onto
words.

(Sorry, my oldest is six years old – I don’t have a writing sample for the last two stages!)

For more information, see This Reading Mama’s post.

STAGE 5
The Derivational Relations Stage (middle school through adulthood)

Understanding the meaning of words helps us spell them.

For more information, see This Reading Mama’s post.

That was a lot of information. Now what?

© 2013 – 2016, Anna Geiger. All rights reserved.

Ads by Amazon 
Word Study Part 1

Word Study Part 2

Word Study Part 3

Word Study Part 4

 Word Study Part 5

And if you’re looking for printable games that you can use with any word list, we highly
recommend this ebook. Many of the games are editable!

 http://www.themeasuredmom.com/how-do-kids-learn-to-spell-word-study-part-2/