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Home Page Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
| How to choose spelling wordsIn the Forms list, we provide you with a number of words at various grade levels, as well as homonyms, lists of commonly misspelled words, etc. There are times when you will want to choose words from these lists, from your student's classroom spelling words, at random, or from a dictionary (more challenging words). The way you will be doing Sharper Minds spelling is different from and more challenging then other protocols, so it is important to keep the words easy in the beginning until the process of doing the spelling is honed, and becomes more automatic. In the following table, "Average Word Length" mean the average number of letters per word over the 20 spelling words you choose. Example 1: If you choose ten 2-letter words and ten 3-letters words, then the average word length would be 2.5 letters (20+30) / 20 = 2.5. Example 2: If you choose five 5-letter words, five 6-letter words, five 7-letter words and five 8-letter words, the total number of letters would be 25+30+35+40=130. 130 / 20 = 6.5. The following table just gives general guidelines. If you are working with a Sharper Minds Trainer or Provider, the Trainer will help you adjust the number of words and increasing difficulty based upon your student's progress.
*Choose any word that is appropriate, useful and challenging enough for your student. Classroom spelling words are fine at this point. If your student is just starting the spelling exercise, I recommend you postpone using his or her classroom spelling words until the average word length matches. Example: Your student's classroom spelling words average 5 letters per word. Begin incorporating those into his or her Sharper Minds spelling words when he or she gets to Unit 7 (for the Typical Student) which should average 5 letter per word. More Challenged Students. If your student has a real challenge learning all 20 words of Unit 1 within the first 2 weeks, then likely you'll need to reduce the memorization to just 10 words a week until their memory zones begin improving. In this case, you will focus on having them just learn Sets 1 and 2 the first week (including writing and quizzing on those) and Sets 3 and 4 the second week (including writing and quizzing on just those 10 words). It may also help him or her memorize words and their order if you choose words by topic for fun. Some examples:
More Proficient Students (usually adults and seniors). If you find the spelling process fairly straightforward and easy, then it is time to challenge yourself by improving your vocabulary and your breadth of knowledge. Go to the dictionary and choose words that you may not be familiar with, but you may have seen or been exposed to (i.e. in reading magazine articles). Choose college level and higher words. Practice the pronunciations, meanings and using those in a sentence. Push and time yourself as you write them down. You may wish to choose words around a given subject such as medicine, health, exercise or bodybuilding, automobile repair, engine parts, organic gardening, green energy, real estate, cooking, legal terms or contracts, finance, investments. Go to websites specializing in those and choose words that are used, but you may not be super familiar with. You can also do a search for "glossary of ____________ terms" where you fill in the blank appropriately. Choose subjects of interest to yourself or a loved one such as a spouse. In the latter case, it may facilitate understanding what they are saying when they share what they did during their work day.
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