I am pleased to say that I have arranged for [name] to have home access to Wordshark Online. Wordshark is a computer program with a long track record of helping students improve their reading and spelling skills, using games.
To access the program, I will give your child the login details – including a unique Wordshark website address (each school or tutor has their own address for their students’ login). You will need to bookmark this on your home device – or create a shortcut. Then once logged in, your child can show you the words they are working on under ‘My Play Words’ - and the games they play.
The program will first place them at a suitable point in the ‘Supershark’ course. From there they will then be moved on each time they master a list.
Importantly, I plan to set special work under the Set Work tab that your child should complete before going back to Supershark.
There is also a tab ‘Own lists’ in your child’s main menu. If you want to add any school spellings this is possible, but I will not be able to see these so it is important you make sure that the words are correctly spelt otherwise your child will be reinforcing wrong spellings!
The very best thing you can do to help, is talk to your child about the words they are learning each week, and what is special about the current list. Also it is useful to talk about their favourite games - and to remind them to sign in and play for about 15-20 minutes for as many days as possible each week. That way, if you can maintain a regular routine of practice, they will make real progress.