Learning to Spell - A Manual for Teachers Using the Aldine Speller

Ever since the school of early days spelling has accompanied “reading, ’riting, and ’rithmetic” as a part of the curriculum. The day when reading was taught by the “spelling method,” so called, is not far back in the past. “How can one learn to read if one does not know his letters, that he may be able to spell out the words that he meets in his reading?” Not until recently has the question been asked, “Why do we study spelling at all?” Do we need it in our reading? Modern methods have shown us that we do not. We need to know how to spell only when we wish to write. How often does the average person write “phthisicky,” “magisterial,” “ichthyology,” “convalesce,” and other equally uncommon words? Not often, perhaps never. Then why spend the time of our overcrowded school day in having children try to learn these words, when numerous recent investigations show positively that children are constantly misspelling “which,” “there,” “their,” and many other common, everyday words?