Learn

The Big Picture

A child is exposed to their phonics education from birth as they hear sounds and connect sounds to symbols. Phonics lays the foundation for the practice of spelling, or word solving, when writing. A child applies learned spelling principles to words and word parts to better express themselves in writing.

Reading and writing are intricately connected. The foundation of reading begins with phonemic awareness. The role and ultimate goal of phonics instruction is to support a child’s progress as they become fluent readers and writers. The more a child independently reads, the more words they are exposed to. This can help with spelling.

We write to communicate our thoughts on paper so that others can understand; for a child, this is incredibly empowering, especially for more introverted youngsters. Writing begins with random marks, progressing into ‘best-guess’ or inventive spelling, then conventional spelling, and ends with the integration of mechanics such as the rules of written language to express ideas (i.e. punctuation, capitalization, spelling, etc.).

In supporting your child to become a better speller, the ultimate goal is to help your child to be a better writer so that they can express themselves in written form (more so than teaching them to use the ‘the right’ letters).

‘Best-Guess’ Spelling and When It Shifts to Conventional Spelling

‘Best-guess’ or inventive spelling encourages children to continue writing their thoughts, apply spelling strategies learned thus far, and avoid getting hung up on ‘the right’ spelling, which can prevent some students from writing at all. It occurs when students are generating writing with words or word parts that do not sound familiar to them. Research shows that inventive spelling leads to stronger long-term reading skills and literacy outcomes.

For teachers, once a spelling pattern has been explicitly taught, students are expected to spell words with that pattern conventionally. In school, teachers have students reference sight word walls, word books, or posters of taught spelling patterns for conventional spelling.

General Roadmap for Reading and Spelling at Developmental Ages

In general, this is the roadmap at school for reading and spelling by developmental ages. This may help parents better gauge when various spelling patterns are taught and when the transition from best-guess spelling to conventional spelling is likely occurring.