Why Is Spelling More Than Just Remembering Words?

Spelling is more than just remembering how words look — it’s about understanding how sounds and letters work together. At Launch Learning, we know that strong spelling skills develop when children are taught to listen to sounds, link them to letters and recognise patterns that help them record words accurately.

The Building Blocks of Spelling

Spelling begins with sounds — the smallest parts of spoken language, called phonemes. In English, there are about 44 phonemes and each one can be represented by one or more letters. When children first learn to spell, they start by recognising individual sounds and the letters (called graphemes) that represent them.

For example, when children learn the sounds /c/, /a/, /t/, /s/, /i/, and /n/, they can begin to combine and rearrange them to spell simple words such as cat, sat, and pin. This stage is all about understanding that words are made up of sounds, and that letters are the written symbols for those sounds.

From Sounds to Patterns

Once children are confident with single sounds, they move on to more complex letter combinations. These include:

• Digraphs – two letters that make one sound, such as sh, ch, or th.

• Trigraphs – three letters that make one sound, such as igh in light or tch in catch.

Learning these combinations helps children spell longer and more complex words with accuracy.

The Role of Orthographic Mapping

A key process in learning to spell (and read) is called orthographic mapping. This is how our brains store written words for quick and automatic recall. Through repeated practice, children link the sounds in a word with the letters that represent those sounds. Over time, they no longer need to sound out every word — they can recognise and spell it from memory.

For example, a child might first sound out ship as /sh/ /i/ /p/, but with practice, their brain stores the sequence of letters that represent those sounds. The next time they write ship, it comes naturally.

Building on the Basics

After mastering individual sounds and common letter combinations, children begin to explore prefixes (word beginnings) and suffixes (word endings). These small parts of words change their meaning — for example, adding un- to kind makes unkind, or adding -ing to play makes playing. Understanding how these parts work helps students spell and understand a wider range of words.

Supporting Spelling at Home

Parents can support spelling by helping children notice the sounds in words they say and read. Playing sound and letter games, breaking words into syllables and talking about patterns (like how rain, train and pain share the same ai sound) can make a big difference. Encouraging curiosity about words — where they come from, how they sound and how they’re built — helps children become confident and capable spellers.

When your child asks you how to spell a word, try turning it into a learning opportunity by prompting them to think about the sounds and letters for themselves. You might ask:

• “What sounds can you hear?”

• “How many sounds can you hear?”

• “What letters make that sound?”

• “What’s the first sound? The middle sound? The end sound?”

These kinds of questions encourage your child to use their growing understanding of sounds and spelling patterns, building the skills and confidence to become an independent speller.