So strange there's been no mention of phonics yet on this thread. -And that mashabell hasn't swooped down to tell us what a mess English spelling is and give us a few lists...
Written words are constructed by analysing them into the smallest individual sounds they contain and writing a symbol for each of the sounds. This is commonly done in most written languages. In English we use the Roman alphabet for this so each sound is represented by letter or group of letters. So, logically, spelling should be taught by getting children to break words into their individual sounds and spell each one, in the order in which it comes in the word. Thus: 'spelling' contains the sounds /s/, /p/, /e/, /l/, /i/, /ng/ so to spell it we use the letters that represent each of those sounds - s, p, e, ll, i,ng. Pretty straightforward, really.
Where it becomes a bit more difficult is that in English, as it contains words from lots of different languages, often using the originating language's sounds spellings, there may be bits of a word which need some effort to recall which particular sound spelling goes in which word. The common confusion between the words 'there', 'their', and 'they're', illustrates this.
People think this is justification for treating spelling as though it were a visual recall skill, but as it is absolutely impossible to recall the 'look' and letter sequence of all the words in one's vocabulary(could be 30 - 60,000+ words) this belief is incorrect. so, Look, Say, Cover, Write & Check (LSCWC), the most commonly taught 'strategy' is useless because it it depends on an impossible feat of memory to be effective.
Good spelling is a mix of secure phonic knowledge, enough reading experience to know if a word 'looks' wrong once it has been written and kinaesthetic (muscle) memory of the unique 'feel' that every word has when it is handwritten.
I suggest that it is essential to ensure that the learner can break words into their component sounds (or syllables, once the words become longer) and that they understand the principle of writing a spelling for each sound. They can do this quite independently once they get the idea and it ensures that at the very least they can give a plausible spelling for a word. Of course, if the word is unfamiliar to them they will need to check their spelling with a dictionary or a knowledgeable person, but that's something we all have to do with unfamiliar words.
A good drill for learning spelling can be based on LSCWC but is different:
- Read the word aloud, carefully note any sound spelllings which might be unusual or tricky
2)Cover the word
- Count how many sounds the word has in it. If necessary, write a dash for each sound
- Spell each sound in the order in which it comes in the word, preferably saying each sound as its spelling is written.
- Check, by sounding out and blending exactly what has been written, that the word sounds correct
- Uncover the original word and check that sound spellings are all correct.
- Cover and rewrite the word several times from memory (saying each sound as before) to reinforce muscle memory.
I don't charge a penny for good advice on spelling...
Try looking for Spelfabet videos on youtube. (more free good advice)