Have you used flashcards yet? (spelling)

February 10th, 2010 admin Posted in education |

By John from Learning Huddle

Using Flashcards to help children learn

Flashcards are successful for children of essentially any age. However one of the places they are most often used is in the first years of school. They are generally thought an excellent way to improve phonics and spelling abilities.

In the UK they are used extensively for the Scottish Curriculum for excellence and in KS1, KS2, KS3 in the early years. This trend is also followed in other countries like the America although the set of words used can vary. Governments generally give out a set of words and sounds for teachers to use.

Flashcards take many forms. They can be cards that are professionally made but more often they are printed out from the World Wide Web and then laminated prior to use. This is generally a cheaper alternative and also ensures that you get exactly what you want.

The internet is a superb source of cards. You’ll find many places on the web that offer them for free, for example Learning Huddle .com has 117,800 alphabet cars that can be printed out. Probably more than you’ll ever need and they’re free! However Learning Huddle isn’t the only site with free cards you just need to type into Google and you’ll find lots of sites offering both free cards and paid ones.

One of the great things about flashcards is that they are effective. Children don’t think they are working too hard, an important part of learning. When used as an effective teaching programme they are invaluable.

There are lots of ways of using flashcards both with groups and individuals. Google will give lots of simple ideas. An easy method is just recognition. Get a small group together and lay the cards face down. Next get the children to turn them over one at a time and speak the word. If they don’t know it then ask for the others help. This not only builds vocabulary but also helps with group building.

One idea to help kids is to print each child out a set of cards or at least cards for the areas they have difficulty with. The kid can then take the cards away and practise with their parents. This involves the parents in the whole learning to read cycle which can help build a winning formula.

Remember that flashcards are not the only thing a child needs to do. They need to be convinced of the value of reading by watching their parents enjoying reading. They need to know just how important it is in life.

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This article was written by Learning Huddle an educational website providing great cross curriculum material for KS1 - KS2 - KS3 and Curriculum for Excellence including worksheets and flashcards. LearningHuddle material for KS1

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