There, their, where, were.....

At six years old, I don't think he need start worrying yet. The fact that he's aware there are different kinds with different meanings is enough for now. If he reads plenty over the next year or two that will iron out any confusion. I defy any teacher to explain in a way your average six year old could understand the grammatical differences between those words. They won't know enough grammar yet. (Not that I'm saying your GS is average, nanapug! ).
If this is genuine homework for a six year old, it's ridiculous. Should be banned. See another thread.

OK ...this may or may not help ...but if it is a place then it has an 'h' in it!!

As in ..put it over there ...or where did I put it?

Unfortunately bagitha think they come in the 2nd hundred most common words that children are expected to learn???

Sigh. Parrot fashion for many of them, I'll bet! What nanapug's GS wants to know is better learned through usage, I think. But who am I to question dictates from on high?

I wondered about the 'h' being of use, but there and their both have an h. Then I thought about explaining possession as in their and that's when I decided, yet again, that parrot fashion learning is not a good idea and nor is expecting six year olds to learn words by the hundred — or any other number.

Sorry, that rant isn't much help, nanapug.

I would suggest making up simple but memorable sentences using the required words correctly.

e.g. The dog is over there by the fence. Oh look! Lucy and Katy are there too. It's their dog.

I found it quite useful to point out that t+here = there; w+here = where.
I think it was easier to distinguish between 'where' and 'were' when the aspirated 'w' (wh) was clearly pronounced, but this seems to be dying out even in Scottish speech. Billy Connolly, for example, pronounces 'where' as if it were 'wear'.

Bagitha your suggestion about sentences showing the distinction between each variation of spelling is the one that worked best for my children and grandchildren. It's so easy to have a quick discussion about the words and demonstrate how they are used in context, and children will remember the meaning more easily than chanting them by rote.

I always think that finding a memorable way of learning these sorts of spellings is best; taught GD2 re - em - ber; say it that way and the spelling will be right. Like your t - here Annobel.

My GD1 is slightly dyslexic and I taught her to divide words up into syllables. Of course, this works reasonably well with longer words, but it's the short ones that seem most frequently to be mis-spelt.

Yes ...sorry ...am tired from lots of motorway driving

if the word has is to do with place ...then it has 'here' in it

I'm tired ...think I need some sleep

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depending on local accent, where should not rhyme with were.

again depending on his accent, you could point out that where rhymes with hair and both have an H.

Were rhymes with Sir Have they got an H? No Sir !

You can tell him, these are mnemonics. Mnemonics are a way to remember stuff.

A very interesting word because its first letter is silent.

Kids love to learn old mnemonics and invent new ones for themselves. Lots of fun spelling mnemonics here

www.edubloxtutor.com/spelling-mnemonics/

butterandjam

depending on local accent, where should not rhyme with were.

again depending on his accent, you could point out that where rhymes with hair and both have an H.

Were rhymes with Sir Have they got an H? No Sir !

You can tell him, these are mnemonics. Mnemonics are a way to remember stuff.

A very interesting word because its first letter is silent.

Kids love to learn old mnemonics and invent new ones for themselves. Lots of fun spelling mnemonics here

www.edubloxtutor.com/spelling-mnemonics/

I think the 6 year old just might have picked up by now.
He will be about 21 years old by now

Very very old thread.