Help your kids with spelling My Special Word Collection.

My educational pick of the week (coinciding with Homeschool Wednesday!) is a little book which we’ve used in our homeschooling program for years.

And just to make it that much better… it’s under $5!

My kids call this their “Spelling Cheat Book”. 😜

However, the official name of this book is “My Special Word Collection”.

For under $5, this is a fantastic, full colour, incredibly helpful little book to help kids with their spelling.

The book is set up in alphabetical order, allowing a page for each letter. On each page, there’s a small list of commonly used words. Kids can use this book when writing, to look up words they’re unsure how to spell.

What’s great about the words that have been selected is that they are the 200 most used words in the English language. These 200 words make up 90% of the words students will use when reading and writing.

Our kids keep it in their backpacks and take it everywhere with them. It’s small enough to be put in a bag, or be kept on a desk as a  help as needed.

There’s also plenty of space on each page for kids to add their own words to the list.

Over time, adding words as needed, kids will naturally create their own personalised “Special Word Collection” which they can use any time they need help remembering how to spell a word.

With frequent use, this self-checking, self-correcting method will help kids naturally learn to spell commonly used words correctly.

My Special Word Collection is great for kids who aren’t confident with spelling. Having their own, personalised list of frequently used words which they can access and look up any time they’re writing, can help build confidence as they don’t have to worry about drawing attention to their spelling abilities. Not having to ask for help, and not having to worry that they’re spelling a word incorrectly can give kids more confidence when putting their ideas down on paper.

This tends to help reluctant writers overcome a big hurdle, making writing much less intimidating.

Some additional features I love in My Special Word Collection:

• Additional Word Collection pages. Along with a page for each letter, there are also pages towards the back of the book with additional “cheat sheets” showing how to spell numbers, days/months/seasons, family, feelings, colours, shapes, contractions, opposites, and plurals. 
  

• The Alternative Words pages. Also towards the back of the book, there are four pages of “alternative words” which can be used as a mini thesaurus. Great for building vocabulary without the stress of trying to work out how to spell new words! 
  

• Homophones pages. The English language can be hard to understand when learning to spell. These pages give examples of many commonly used homophones. Students can use this list to work out which spelling is correct if they are attempting to spell a word which has multiple meanings and spellings. 
  

• Explanations and Examples. There are also fantastic explanations towards the back of the book, explaining when to use capitals, how to abbreviate certain words (eg. Centimetre is cm), the meaning behind many acronyms (eg. ASAP is As Soon As Possible), explanations of adverbs, adjectives, vowels and consonants, and various other parts of speech. 
  

The My Special Word Collection is incredibly easy for kids to use, contains full colour illustrations, and in my opinion, it’s one of the best little purchases we’ve made for our homeschooling program. 

My Special Word Collection is available to purchase both in store and online at Brain Spice. 

Purchase My Special Word Collection online here from Brain Spice.

Delivery or local pickup is available, and Afterpay is available both in store and online.