How do children learn to spell?
Children gradually develop insights into how words are represented with letters in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. This process moves ahead much more quickly (and successfully) if instruction in sounds and letters is systematic, explicit, and structured. Spelling of whole words is facilitated when the child understands that words are made up of separate speech sounds and that letters represent those sounds. As knowledge of that principle increases, children also notice patterns in the way letters are used, and they notice recurring sequences of letters that form syllables, word endings, word roots, prefixes, and suffixes. Memories for whole words are formed much faster and recalled much more easily when children have a sense of language structure and receive ample practice writing the words. Inventive spelling or spelling words the way they sound is common in preschool and kindergarten children and is a desirable step in understanding how we use letters to spell. However, inv
