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How to Motivate Your Child to Learn Spelling

May 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

You may have heard about the debate on whether text messages are killing the English language because of the excessive use of abbreviations which are being translated into daily life. Personally, I have never had a problem with SMS because I don’t abbreviate. Recently, I have seen a new benefit of text messages – it encourages my son to learn how to spell so he can send messages to his one of his favourite uncles.

Gavin loves sending messages. Initially, it was annoying because he would type random letters and send junk messages to his Dad who did not appreciate having to pay for rubbish text messages on overseas rates because he was travelling on business. Here’s another reason why we’re glad Gavin can read because all messages stopped when Daddy responded with:

Stop sending me messages. Stop playing with Mommy’s phone.

Next he started tormenting his aunts with junk messages and they did not appreciate a barrage of text messages at 6am in the morning. When he started communicating with his Uncle S over the phone, he started asking me to help him write his messages. He would type in the letters while I spelt the words out to him.

Recently, he started wanting to reply my messages to my friends. When I wouldn’t spell the words out for him, he would try to apply the rules of phonics to help him sound out the letters. How’s that for motivation to practice spelling? I’ve always believed that when a child wants to learn something, the battle is already won because whatever he sets his mind to, he will achieve.

When I was a child, we wrote to penpals using snail mail. In this age, text messaging is the new snail mail and children as young as 4 years old can have message pals.

Here’s a message from Gavin to Daddy that he wrote on his own:

Dad. I. Want. To. Watch. Angrybrds. Movie. Pelisse. Pelisse. Pelisse.

Okay, so his punctuation and his spelling needs a bit more work. Nevertheless it’s kind of amusing and he has never been more motivated to learn how to spell.

Oh yes, there is also an iPhone app that Gavin has been playing which teaches him how to spell using phonics. It’s called ABC Phonics Rocks! The words they teach are pretty basic but Gavin really enjoys the game. The app sounds out the word by breaking it up into its individual letter sounds. For example, “hat” becomes “huh” ,”eh”, “tuh” and the children need to select the letters based on their recognition of the sounds.

I’m afraid I haven’t really explored spelling games on the iPhone/iPad much. I stumbled across ABC Phonics Rocks quite by accident. If you know of any apps for teaching spelling that your children enjoy, please share them in the comments section.


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Filed Under: communication, Writing Tagged With: , ,

Mobile Phones a Danger to Children

October 4, 2008 by 3 Comments

Mobile phones may be the cigarettes of our children’s generation.  As a child, I grew up in a smoke-filled house.  I’m also pretty sure that my Dad smoked while my mother was pregnant with me.  Back then, they didn’t know the effects of smoking on the health of an unborn child or to that of children.  Although I do recall seeing anti-smoking advertisements on TV from an age as early as three or four years old, the negative effects of smoking were slow to sink into my childish brain.

Now, we know better.  We don’t smoke in front of our kids.  Some parents have the sense and ability to quit smoking altogether for the sake of the children.  We avoid smokey places and we elect to sit in the non-smoking sections of the restaurants we eat in.  Smoking, although it still occurs, is now a widely accepted threat to children and a danger we strive to protect our children from – whatever the cost.

In recent years, the boom of mobile phones, portable computers, and other wireless electronics has increased exponentially.  Although the negative effects of the radiation from these devices to adults have been quite controversial, the effects of the radiation causing cancer in children is beginning to raise the alarm bells.  Because children’s brains and nervous systems are still developing, their heads are smaller and their skulls thinner, the radiation penetrates deeper into their brains.  The danger diminishes beyond the age of 20.

It was recommended that children use mobile phones and cordless devices only in emergencies.  They also recommended the use of headsets and a focus on texting (SMS) rather than calling.  With Wifi-enabled computers, they recommended that children use desktops where the transmitter is further away (some 20cm) and the radiation levels only about 1% that of a mobile phone, rather than laptops which are usually placed on the lap (where the transmitter is 2cm away) where the radiation levels are roughly equivalent to that of a mobile phone.

Looks like good old fashion is the way to go…

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Filed Under: health, medical Tagged With: , , , , ,

Handy Nokia N72

May 22, 2008 by 5 Comments

Last year, for my birthday, the hubby bought me a Nokia N72.  The benefits of having it, he said, was so I could take photos of Gavin and play music because it contained a 2MP camera and an inbuilt MP3 player.  Since I already had an MP3 player and a very portable digital camera, I didn’t think the new additions to my mobile phone were all that useful until recently.

Since Gavin loves music, I decided to upload a few of his favourite tracks onto my mobile phone to entertain him during those difficult moments in the car.  One evening, we were at a friend’s house and Gavin was clearly tired but, as usual, refusing to sleep.  With the new environment, his god sister in the room nextdoor, it was no wonder he wouldn’t sleep.  He howled and screamed, furious that he was being locked away in a room when, evidently, all the fun was happening outside.  Finally, in desperation, I turned on his favourite track (“Pop! Goes My Heart” from Music and Lyrics).  He instantly quietened down and allowed me to rock him to sleep.

My Nokia N72 saved the day again one morning when the power to the house got cut.  When the music from the TV stopped, Gavin kept signing “more music”, getting more and more frustrated when I wasn’t doing anything about it (not that I could since there was no power to the house). Sensing a tantrum mounting, I quickly turned on some music from my mobile phone and peace was restored again.

Although Gavin loves music, I have recently come to the realisation that he won’t listen to just any music.  If you play a song he doesn’t like, he’ll shake his hand to tell you he doesn’t want to listen to it.  When you hit the right track, he’ll be all smiles and bopping to the music.  His favourite music albums are from Baby Signing Time and Music and Lyrics (don’t ask my why – I can’t figure it out either).  He generally prefers lively, bouncy music to the slower, more sedate tunes.  Perhaps because he associates slow music with going to sleep?


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