Last Updated on May 24, 2025 by alli
When my daughter started school and I became a first-time school mum, homework suddenly became part of both our lives.
In those early years, my daughter’s biggest challenge was learning her weekly spelling words. Mine was figuring out how to teach them in a way she’d actually remember – not just for the test, but for life.
If a word could be broken into syllables and sounded out, she was fine. But, as we all know, English isn’t always logical or straightforward. She struggled to remember tricky words.
Over time, we’ve experimented with lots of different strategies to help those spelling words sink in and stay put.
For a while, I tried writing each spelling word on palm-sized pieces of paper and sticking them around the house—on the bathroom mirror, her bedroom wall, anywhere she might see them. I hoped that constant exposure would help them sink in. But she barely noticed them, let alone remembered the words.
Next, I tried the classic approach: testing her on her words. When she got one wrong, I’d explain the mistake and correct spelling. But judging by the yawns and boredom, I knew that wasn’t working either.
Those first couple of years were a real struggle. She needed a full week of daily practice just to feel somewhat ready for her spelling test.
Then I tried something new – and she loved it. We’ve been using it ever since, and it’s been a total game-changer.
It’s called mnemonics.
The meaning of Mnemonics
Simply put, mnemonics is a technique that helps a person remember information. It can often be in the form of a rhyme or a sentence.
For example, my daughter couldn’t remember how to spell words like bought, sought, taught, and caught. She couldn’t get the correct order of the “ght”, so we came up with a little phrase to help her remember it. We came up with – Good Happy Times.
Now we refer to words that end in “ght” as the “Good Happy Times” words.
Mnemonic Examples
Some other mnemonics examples that we’ve used in the past are:
Because – Big elephants can always understand small elephants
Their: The Horse Eats In Rome
Together: to – get – her (spells together)
Church: CH on the right, CH on the left, and UR (you’re) in the middle
Service: Serv (with) ice
The mnemonics method is a fun and fantastic way to help kids learn their words in the beginning. After a while, they’ll get to know the tricky words without any effort and no longer depend on the catchy little phrase they were using. My daughter depended on a mnemonic phrase to help her remember how to spell “because”. Now she doesn’t need to use that strategy because she knows how to spell it all on her own.
I always remember something a teacher said to me, – “Once you know a word, you know it without thinking about it. You spell it correctly 100% of the time, not just sometimes”. This is very true!
To sum up
If you notice your daughter getting stuck on the same word, try the mnemonics method with her.
Create your own fun little phrase together. You can use phrases that include her name or even your pet’s name. The more personal and fun you make it, the more she is likely to remember it.
You’ll be surprised just how much of a difference mnemonics can make!
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