Hello! This blog is a bit different to what you might be expecting but designing for education has actually been a little dream of mine since I was a kid. I used to love playing schools with my younger brother and sister, designing worksheets and lesson plans for them. This year I went for it and designed my own small range of educational workbooks for children. I also opened another etsy store specifically for printable items as they didn’t quite fit in my stationery store.

Theses freebie sheets are from the first book I designed, My Spelling Workbook. It has 100 pages of look, cover, write, check split up into 10 sections of 3 – 12 letter words. I have decided to upload one sheet from each section for FREE!

WHY IS SPELLING SO IMPORTANT?

The sheets are simple to use, all you have to do is have your child study the word for a short while, cover it up, then have them write it down in the space from memory and give the box a tick if they get it write. There’s 10 sheets in total ranging from 3 letter words to 12 letter words so you can use them for various ages or move up a level as your child progresses.

Spelling is a skill that doesn’t just teach your child which letters make up words but also develops their vocabulary, these sheets will introduce them to new words and improve their reading and writing skills and increases their confidence. My children have enjoyed doing the odd sheet after school and during school holidays but I imagine home schoolers would get the most use out of them.

When children are introduced to phonics they are already encourage to break words down into letters in order to help them read the word as a whole. Learning to spell can help children to read new words and recognise how they sound.

WHY LOOK, COVER, WRITE, CHECK?

Now, I’m definitely not a teacher and the only reason I know anything about this method is from google and using it myself as a kid at school or with my own children. There are more fun ways to teach spelling, I recently board a magnet car game for my son and he loves playing with it and doesn’t even notice that it’s technically homework, just don’t tell him. So, why is look, cover, write, check helpful? Let’s have a look…

Active Engagement

Look: By first examining the word and its spelling, children engage visually and mentally with the word.

Cover: Covering the word forces children to recall and rely on their memory rather than just copying it. You can also add some creativity here and have them create their own “cover” to use.

Reinforcement of Memory

Write: Writing the word from memory helps reinforce the correct spelling through muscle memory and active recall.

Check: Comparing their written word with the correct spelling reinforces accuracy and helps them identify and correct mistakes.

Repetition and Practice

The cycle of look, cover, write, check provides repeated practice, which is crucial for memorising and internalising spelling patterns. They will also become better at recognising and reading other words that sound or are spelt similarly to the words they have practiced.

Immediate Feedback

The check step provides immediate feedback, allowing children to see their errors and correct them right away, which aids in faster learning. There’s also a reward factor here in being able to tick that box or even add a sticker instead.

So now you know the ins and outs of spelling and how the look, cover, write, check method works you are free to download the sheets below and I wish you the best of luck in your home schooling journey if that is what you have chosen to do.

10 Free Printable Spelling Worksheets

If you do download the 10 Free printable Spelling Worksheets and use them, please tag me @annaraedesign - I'd love to know what you think!

Have an amazing day!

Anna x