Your Child Can Read…
But Can't Spell?

Why English spelling feels chaotic — and the hidden logic underneath.

• Hear every sound in a word before trying to write it
• Know which letters usually make each sound
• Expect a word to follow a pattern instead of guessing at it

The essential patterns that unlock thousands of everyday words.

• Know when a word ends in ck and when a single k is right
• See why hop turns into hope when you add an e
• Pick between spellings that sound identical — rain, rein, reign
• Split a long word into syllables and spell one piece at a time

What happens when a word changes form — plurals, past tense, -ing and more.

• Know why it is running and not runing
• Know when the e disappears — hope becomes hoping
• Know when y turns into i — happy becomes happier
• Spell the plurals that do not simply add an s — babies, knives

Words that sound alike, letters that hide in plain sight, and endings with their own logic.

• Choose between their, there and they’re by what the sentence means
• Spell words with letters you cannot hear — knee, wrist, lamb
• Know when an ending is -tion and when it is -sion
• Spot a shorter word inside a long one and build outwards from it

The last quirks of English spelling, plus a capstone that ties every rule together.

• Tell British spellings from American ones, and stay with one of them
• Use everything in the course on a word they have never seen before

Every long word is a shorter word with pieces added. This unit is the skill the rest depends on.

• Count the syllables in a long word and hear which one is said loudest
• Break an unfamiliar word into pieces before trying to spell it

Only four things can happen when you add an ending to a word. This unit is about knowing which — on words long enough to matter.

• Know why it is referred but offered
• Know when the e has to stay — noticeable, not noticable
• Spell the plurals and past tenses that break the simple rule
• Add beginnings like un-, mis- and dis- without dropping a letter — misspell, unnecessary

The places even strong spellers still slip — including the one vowel nobody can hear.

• Choose between practice and practise, stationary and stationery
• Spell the vowel nobody says clearly — the a in separate
• Get -tion, -sion and -cian right instead of guessing
• Keep the smaller word visible when an ending changes its shape

Where a word came from is what decides how it is spelled. Learn one word part and a dozen words come with it.

• Spell a whole family from one word part — photo, photograph, photography
• Handle the words English took from Greek, Latin and French — chemistry, audible, bouquet
• Say why a word is spelled the way it is, not just that it is
• Know why in- becomes im- in impossible
• Tell British spellings from American ones and choose on purpose

How sounds get written down, proved on words worth the effort — and then all of them together.

• Know which spelling a sound takes from where it sits in the word
• Work through a long unfamiliar word one syllable at a time
• Use everything from both levels on a word they have never seen before