There are several strategies I use.

SPELL SPEAK

Say it as it sounds in your head. Some sounds are made whilst other letters are simply said……

yacht – sound it as “y”..”a”.. “ch”.. “t”       with the ch sounding.
people – “peeee”..”o”… “ple”
because –  say  ….. “be”..”c”..”A U” “s”  “e”

SAYINGS THAT GO WITH WORDS

Really helpful for words that are difficult to remember particularly if there are several options to spell the sound.

friends – “fri your ends and you have no friends”
forty – “there is no U in forty”
There is an ear in your heart.
said – you just gotta get into your head and has no”e”
ocean – there’s a crustacean in the ocean
they There is no a in they
once – one with a c
eight – eight indians go hungry tonight
see – I see with double ee
beach and sea both have ea.

SING IT/RAP IT/PLAY IT/ACT IT/DANCE IT

Nearly all children love music and rhythm.  Make up a song for the saying or rap it.  Bang on a pot or something else that can give a beat while you say it.  Make up movements to go with it………………..visual cues are fantastic to add to the auditory process.

TO REMEMBER SPECIFIC WORD PATTERNS

ur or ir

yoU aRe in ThURsday
i is in Girl or I am a Girl

could, would and should – “oranges up lemons down”
any ough words (as these can sound several different ways)
“oranges up ghost hunter” word.   

I try to use the same terminology for particular letter patterns such as :
“hey you”  for a u
“oranges up” for o u
ghost hunter for gh

or

I make up sounds for some patterns such as ar – “aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr” like a pirate.
This way, I can prompt a child without giving them the answer outright. eg:   “It is a ghost hunter word”
This helps to make them think for themselves to work it out.

USE COLOURS

height – h. and  eight makes height

height  – high with an e and t

weight –  what eight

exquisite – ex…qu “is” “it” with an e

conscience –  con….. science

together – to get her

neighbour –  neigh (in a neighing voice) “b”….”our”

DRAW PICTURES

I also find it very beneficial for the children to “draw” the word.  Particularly, visual learners.   For example, they might draw two people together with the i and e letters for friends. I use my “letter people” as an example as these are quick and easy for children to do.   (Refer to the handwriting – letter people part of the website

THERE, THEIR AND THEY’RE
YOUR AND YOU’RE
WHOSE AND WHO’S
COULD HAVE, WOULD HAVE, SHOULD HAVE NOT COULD OF

Contractions, or when two words smash together as I term it, can cause a lot of confusion when spelling.   This can take a lot of repetition for children to finally grasp.

I make up cards for each, place them on the floor or table.

We go over each word, why and when we use it and then I make up a sentence and the child puts their hand on to the one they think is correct.

We keep a mental score of how many if that adds to the challenge for the child.

Once they become proficient at that, I have them write down the word they think is correct with the cards still facing up to give them a visual cue..

Finally, I turn the cards over and get them to write the word without looking at them.

This is about giving children strategies to use to learn words that they find are problematic, not about teaching them every single word.   Starting with some words they find challenging helps them to discover which idea works best for them.

BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL……..IT MUST BE FUN!

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