English Language Crazy Spellings

August 1, 2023
A woman is sitting on a bed reading a book.

Have you ever wondered about all those crazy spellings in the English language? I have. It makes me think of the year I had three fifth grade boys with the same name. Fortunately, they were each spelled differently: Erick, Eric, and Erik. They were all pronounced the same; however, each spelling was unique to each boy. We still see this in names. Some parents substitute the letter y for an i or e as in Alicia/Alysia and Linda/Lynda.


While names can be spelled and pronounced any way a parent chooses, many English words have curious spellings. For instance, why does one word end with a ck, another with just a k, and yet another with just a c as in my three Erick’s? There are actual spelling rules that apply most of the time that can help us know when to use each at the end of a word. Remember, they all sound the same.


Here is the key: When following a short vowel sound, the sound for /k/ is spelled with a ck because a k can not follow a short vowel. Examples of these words include: track, truck, trick, sick, and brick. If there is a consonant between the short vowel and the /k/ sound, then using just a k is appropriate. Examples of these words are: desk, milk, mask, risk, and bulk. Many times just the letter c will follow the short i when it comes at the end of a word that is usually more than one syllable. Examples of these words are: music, logic, attic, basic, and comic.


Another spelling rule deals with when to use the tch vs. the ch.


 Here is the key: It is similar to the last rule. The sound /ch/ cannot be spelled with a ch when it follows a short vowel. Therefore, in English the letter t is placed before the ch. The t is silent. Here are some examples of words with the tch: batch, match, catch, crutch, and fetch. Examples of words that end with just the ch are: itch, bench, lunch, inch, and bunch. Exceptions to this rule are: much, rich, such, and which.


How do we know when to use a C or a K for the /k/ sound at the beginning of a word?


Here is the key: It depends on if there is a vowel that follows the C or K, and which vowel is following. If the /k/ sound is followed by an a, o, or u it is appropriate to use the C. If the /k/ sound is followed by an e, i, or y, it is appropriate to use the K.


Many times during my tutoring years, parents would sit in on a session. The comments I would get about these simple rules would always be the same. “I wish I would have known these rules when I was in school. It would have made reading and spelling much easier.”


   To be honest, I never learned any spelling rules that I can remember when I was growing up. Reading and spelling were easy for me. It wasn’t until I learned about dyslexia that I really learned how the English language worked and how to teach just about anyone to read. During my 16 years of continuous tutoring, up to 18 sessions a week, the skills I learned were effective in teaching every one of my students to read. I look back on that time and realize how blessed I was to be able to make a difference in so many lives.


English can be a crazy language to learn to read and spell. But the methods that I’ve learned have been successful for those who spoke another language, had learning disabilities other than dyslexia, and those who just needed to get some extra help because they were behind in reading.


There is always hope.


Many students are labeled as discipline problems, but in reality they just need to learn to read so their class time is productive. Can you visualize an 8-year-old who is already behind in reading. This may cause them to fidget or to become a class clown because they can’t keep up with what’s going on in class. When a child can’t read, their world closes in on them and many times they resort to all types of inappropriate behavior. The older they get, the worse it becomes. If they are not reading well when they enter 4th grade, they will fall behind at a much greater rate because the number of new words that are introduced is huge compared to grades K-3, and there is no way they can fake their reading shortcoming any longer.


This is why I’m writing curriculum that can be downloaded and used by parents to help their children read or perhaps catch up to where they should be. I’ve kept it simple for parents and effective for students. Also, I have priced it at an affordable cost. This method will work for just about anyone who wants to read.


Currently, there are 2 levels, with the 3rd one on the way. Check them out in my store at Betty-Goodman.com.

How to Help Your Child Read with Word Games While Fixing Dinner

February 4, 2025
Many parents know that finding an adequate amount of time to help their children succeed in school is difficult at best. Having been a classroom teacher for more years than I care to admit, I know that as hard as the teacher tries to meet all of the needs of the students in her class, the students that seem to do the best are the ones whose parents are actively involved with their child’s education. So the big question is, “How do I find the time?” When I started teaching, I was not married and had no children. Life was not too complicated. As time went on life changed. With a husband and a child in the picture, I found myself dealing with the role of a teacher and a parent. My child needed extra help just like most other children. I started figuring out ways to help my child while we did other things. One of my favorites was word games. One doesn’t need to be a super multitasker to do these with their child while fixing dinner. Hence: Small Bites. This doesn’t take the place of sitting with your child one-on-one if they are really struggling, but it is a very useful way to keep your child thinking and learning while you are cooking. Game #1 “Rhyming Words” The beauty of this simple game is that it helps a child with reading sounds. If they can read one word with the end sound, it actually opens up a whole chain of words that they will be able to read by just changing out the beginning sound. Maybe your child’s job is to feed the cat, so let’s start by coming up with as many words as you can that rhyme with cat. Remember, they all must have the at sound at the end of the word. (Examples: bat, brat, chat, fat, flat, gnat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat, scat, slat, splat, that, vat) If your child feeds the dog, then you can rhyme words with dog. (Examples: bog, clog, fog, frog, grog, hog, jog, log, smog) Goats seem to have become popular again. See how many words you can come up with that rhyme with goat. Notice that all of the words do not end with the same letters: oat and ote . (Examples: bloat, boat, coat, dote, float, gloat, moat, note, oat, quote, smote, throat, tote, vote, wrote) Since I’m on a roll with animals, how about words that rhyme with pig. (Examples: big, brig, dig, fig, gig, jig, rig, sprig, twig, wig, zig) Game #2 “Sounds to Words” This game is intended for beginning readers who are working on putting sounds together to form words. Start by giving 3 or 4 sounds such as / d // o // g /. Have the child repeat back the 3 sounds and then put them together to make the word dog . Obviously, the words are endless, but I’m giving you a few so you can concentrate on fixing dinner. / f // u // n / fun / h // a // t / hat / r // a // t / rat / m // o // m / mom / d // i // g / dig / j // u // m // p / jump / s // w // i // m / swim / r // e // d / red This game can be played until you or the child are tired and want to stop. Sometimes when you are doing word games, it’s better to keep them short, especially at the beginning. The length of the game is totally up to you. Game #3 “Geography Chain” This game is better with children who are a little older, and was one of my family’s favorites. Acceptable answers include the names of: countries, states, provinces (Canada), cities, etc. Set the rules of what’s acceptable before you start. Start with the name of one of the above categories such as: Spain . Because Spain ends with the letter N , the next geographical place would need to start with the letter N , such as New Mexico . This ends with an O , so the next response might be Ontario . Another location that starts with O could be Oregon . We could use New York and so on. Take turns and when someone cannot think of a place to continue the chain, they can drop out if more than 2 are playing or you can start over. Another chain might look something like this: K entucky, Yemen, Nigeria, Alaska, Antarctica, Alpine (city), Escondido (city), Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc. As you can see, many places end with an A or an O . It is helpful if you try to think of places that don’t end with one of these letters. Word to the Wise These untimed interactive games work well for learning math facts also. Through my many years of experience, memorizing addition facts, subtraction facts, multiplication facts, and division facts are a major key in being successful in math. Memorization of multiplication facts are the most important. Without actually memorizing these, all other math becomes tedious and frustrating in elementary school, and we want are kids to love math without the frustration that it can bring. When I have had kids in my classes who are totally frustrated with math, the main cause is not learning multiplication facts by the end of 3 rd grade. If your child is past 3 rd grade and they have not memorized these facts yet, do not despair, it’s never too late to work on this skill.
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