Helpful Tips

Difficulty with spelling?

We want to share the common challenges some may face and ways to improve such difficulties. Many people struggle with their spelling. Some of the common challenges include:

>Words may be spelled based on their sounds rather than the established spelling rules, leading to misspellings

>Letters within words may be jumbled together

>Difficulty with remembering irregular or less common spellings

We have compiled some helpful tips to apply little and often, to improve spelling skills and combat the struggles faced:

>Break down the word into smaller parts to improve spelling accuracy and retention

>Memorise the silent letters and letter strings contained within irregular words

>Gain a better understanding of the spelling rules by exploring the patterns within words

>Decode a word by focusing on the connection between the letters and sounds

>Create phrases or visual prompts (mnemonics) by using the letters from a word to help remember the order of each letter

Facing challenges with writing?

Difficulties with spelling, along with structuring and planning work, can sometimes be problematic for some individuals who lack confidence in  their writing ability. Some of the common challenges include:

>Difficulty with organising and forming coherent sentences, to convey thoughts and ideas in a logical manner

>Grammatical errors, due to a lack of understanding of grammar rules and how they are applied in writing. Some people may find it challenging to understand the nuances of sentence structure, verb tenses and also punctuation

>Trouble with spelling can make a person’s writing appear less polished and they may rely on tools such as spellchecker to resolve their mistakes

Some helpful strategies to improve writing skills include the following:

>Identifying strengths and weaknesses in writing ability will help narrow down and focus on the areas that require improvement

>Introduce structured scaffolds such as sentence starters and visual cues to align learning intentions with writing

>Encourage discussion with others to help develop sentence structure and to formulate ideas into a written passage

>Implement the strategies recommended in relation to reading and spelling to enhance the coherence of your writing

Having trouble with reading?

Another area that people commonly  have difficulties with is their reading accuracy. Listed below are a few of those difficulties many face:

>Missing out words out in the text or substituting them for another

>Relying on the visual features of a word and attempting to guess it

>Mistaking word endings

>Reversal of visually similar letters (b and d : p and q)

Oultined below are some strategies that are beneficial to develop reading skills:

>Make a habit of reading regularly, start with short and simple texts and work up to more complex passages as progress is made

>A multisensory approach, such a combination of visual and auditory methods, can help strengthen memory connections. These may include tracing the letters in each word with a finger whilst reading out loud

>To combat overloading, it is helpful to break a passage into smaller, manageable parts and focus on one section at a time

>Strengthen the connection between letters and sounds using puzzles or word game

Improving Attention and Concentration

Learning involves listening, concentrating, understanding and remembering information. However, to listen and take in information effectively, an individual has to be able to concentrate.

Some individuals find it difficult to concentrate. This could be due to a number of factors such as, personal problems, a fear of failure or that the individual finds the task uninteresting. However, poor concentration could be the result of a short-term memory problem or a Specific Learning Difficulty.

Our Registered and Chartered Educational Psychologists can identify whether underlying difficulties with learning are the cause of such concentration deficits. On a case-by-case basis, they can recommend strategies to support one's difficulties in this area and aid in improving concentration.

Even if the individual does not have any underlying difficulties with learning, an assessment will be able to confirm this and thereby explore other approaches to help improve concentration. For example, the Educational Psychologists will be able to identify the individual's learning style and put forward specific strategies to help improve their concentration.

Please feel free to contact us regarding an educational assessment!

Difficulties with reading comprehension?

Another important area of learning that some may find challenging is their reading comprehension. Some common difficulties are outlined below:

>Difficulties with reading, as well as problems with processing information, impact one's understanding of text

>Focusing too much on decoding the words can limit one's understanding of the information being read. It can limit an individual's awareness of the content of the text they are reading

>Limitations in receptive vocabulary knowledge may impact an individual's ability to understand the text. Even if someone can decode the words in front of them, they may struggle to grasp its meaning

>Reading accuracy, i.e., adding additional words, misreading words or missing out words entirely, can limit an individual's understanding or the text

Below we have outlined strategies that are beneficial to developing reading comprehension skills:

>When reading a word you do not understand, try to keep on reading. The context can be helpful to decipher its meaning

>Try the Link System - a memorisation strategy beneficial for building up vocabularies through connecting things and remembering them. Take a list of words to remember and create a story/dialogue using all of the words on that list

>When reading text, try to visualise the details in your mind (people, clothes, smells, colours, temperature, the surrounding etc) to strengthen comprehension, to memorise more effectively and make reading more enjoyable

>Pause at the end of a paragraph to enable time to process the information that has been read

>Summarise the main ideas from the passage that has just been read, making an effort to try and understand the meaning of the passage as a whole