My Son & Spelling

Updated on September 21, 2012
J.Y. asks from Clint, TX
9 answers

My son is 2 1/2 & he is starting to spell out words using phonics. He can spell about 10 words including his name. Should he be able to be spelling out more than that? He knows the alphabet & the phonics for the letters. He initiates spelling words by sounding out the letters. How can I help him continue & improve?

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So What Happened?

I just go off of what he wants to do. He loves to dabble into everything. He is very into letters, knows all the letters, phonics, starting to spell, knows his books inside out. He knows numbers up to 40 in English and to 20 in Spanish so far. He knows shapes, colors, automobiles, lots of animals & their sounds. He knows all the planets & other space things. He can put puzzles together. Knows opposites like empty full, light dark, heavy light. He loves to be outside, rides horses, plays with his swings, swims, plays with his outdoor toys. He loves music all kinds of music especially classical but likes to listen to all music. He knows his parts of the body. Most of the superheros out there & their villians. He even knows where or how to get to specific places even if he has only been there once. He knows all the different ways to my in-laws house, how to get to the zoo, who we went to a specific restaruant with & what he had at that restaruant with that person. We can go all day at home without watching any tv. He can play with someone or is just fine playing alone. He still uses both hands to do pretty much everything. & I just encourage him but don't push him to learn but he really seems to like to.

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K.I.

answers from Los Angeles on

At 2.5 he is not expected to know how to spell ANYTHING so he is doing great!

I say keep up with what he is doing and follow his lead! Maybe add more 'fun toy type' stuff, like those cool ABC magnet thingys for the fridge? They are made by Leapfrog and have spaces to make 3 letter words...you put in the letters and then it says the word you made. My kids always loved those.

A chalk board and 'playing school' was always the best way to engage my kids!

Good job Mommy!

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C.B.

answers from San Francisco on

Your son is far more advanced than most kids in kindergarten and some that are in 1st grade. It's great that you taught him phonics - schools don't work on that much these days. Now they try to get the kids to memorize the words - they call them sight words.

When we were in school, phonics was how we learned to read and I think it works better than memorization because it allows a person to read words they are not familiar with and that are not often used.

You have done a great job. Just keep it up. Since he knows phonics, get him some beginner readers and go for it!

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C.M.

answers from St. Louis on

Sounds like he's ahead of the curve! Keep doing what you are doing and making fun games out of spelling to keep him interested. He'll be very advanced when he goes to Kindergarten!

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K.M.

answers from San Francisco on

As as someone else said, he doesn't need to be spelling anything right now. So, no he 'shouldn't' be spelling out any more than that. Keep doing what you're doing but keep it fun & w/o pressure.

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

He doesn't need to spell anything until he goes to school.

G.K.

answers from San Francisco on

He's more advanced than my 5.5yo son that just started Kindergarten in this respect. My son has knows his letters since age 2, his numbers shortly after, and he's been able to write his name since around age 3.5, but he's just now showing an interest in phonics and reading. However, he has always shown an intense interest in math. As such, he knows basic addition and subtraction (courtesy of the number line and Team Umizoomi), and is currently asking me about money, fractions, and multiplication.

My 2.5yo daughter, on the other hand, can count to 25 and tell you number up to 50, but doesn't know all of her alphabet yet. Also opposite of my son, she is showing a much greater interest in writing (especially her name) and coloring. She knows her colors, shapes, patterns, etc, and I know that if I actually work with her, she'll get her letters also. However.....

Let him be a kid! Encourage him to learn, expose him to the things you want him to learn, but no pressure or regimens :) It's much more fun for kids to learn in everyday life. What shape and color is the stop sign? Do we go on green or red? Let's count the number of squares on this sidewalk. And so on....

A.R.

answers from St. Louis on

He is brilliant; he doesn't need to go forward, but if he asks for it, keep it simple and fun. Read, read and keep reading...Enjoy his childhood...

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E.R.

answers from San Francisco on

If he is happy and healthy, then all is good.

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J.K.

answers from Wausau on

Whatever you've been doing, keep doing. Just keep it fun and low key.

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