Studies have shown that a relatively small number of words make up a large portion of children’s spelling errors and writing difficulties. Interestingly, children who struggle with spelling typically have poor handwriting; both of these acquired skills use the same motor processes.
Frequently Misspelled Words
Referencing two spelling demon lists, we carefully selected 120 words that young spellers are more likely to misspell. We also compared these two lists to Dolch’s sight word list, Fry’s instant list and primary students most used words. Interestingly, 50% of these spelling errors are sight words or high frequency words. That’s right half of these words are among the most common English words. The following 120 words are frequently misspelled by elementary students.
about | close | hear | off | something | very |
again | color | heard | often | sometime | view |
along | come | here | once | soon | wear |
already | coming | hour | only | special | were |
although | could | house | other | straight | when |
always | dear | knew | people | sure | where |
any | didn’t | know | piece | surprise | which |
aunt | does | learn | played | their | white |
awhile | easy | letter | plays | there | whole |
beautiful | either | little | please | they | woman |
because | enough | many | pretty | though | women |
been | every | maybe | read | thought | would |
before | favorite | minute | really | through | write |
birthday | fourth | mother | receive | together | writing |
blue | friend | name | remember | too | wrong |
bought | goes | neighbor | right | touch | wrote |
build | grade | neither | said | trouble | you |
busy | great | nice | says | two | you’re |
buy | guess | none | school | until | young |
children | haven’t | o’clock | some | used | your |
Mastering Misspelled Words
Learning how to spell words correctly can be difficult due to the complexities of our language. If your child is struggling with spelling, create a notebook containing those words that pose writing difficulties or he tends to misspell. Consider investing in index cards and writing the words that are causing the difficulties on each card. Use the above common misspelled words and let your child study the list. Post this list on your refrigerator or some visible area. Or better yet, play Erudition™, the board game that helps child learn to read, spell and understand the most common words in the English language.
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