Hard to Spell Words for Kids: Boosting Young Spellers

Table of Contents

1. Understanding the Challenges: Why English Spelling is So Tricky
2. Practical Strategies for Mastering Hard to Spell Words
3. Hard to Spell Words for Kids: Categorized by Challenge Type
4. How Speech Blubs Supports the Journey to Better Spelling
5. Conclusion
6. Frequently Asked Questions

Imagine the scene: your child is excitedly telling you about their day, drawing a picture, or perhaps even attempting to write a short story. Suddenly, a little furrow appears on their brow. They pause, pencil hovering over the paper, unsure how to write a seemingly simple word like “friend” or “beautiful.” Perhaps they articulate a word, and it sounds right, but the written form seems to defy logic. This moment of hesitation, frustration, or even confusion over a “hard to spell word” is incredibly common for children as they navigate the wonderful, yet often perplexing, world of English spelling.

English, with its rich tapestry of words borrowed from Latin, Greek, French, and Germanic languages, often presents unique spelling challenges. Unlike many languages where sounds and letters have a consistent one-to-one relationship, English delights in silent letters, unpredictable vowel combinations, and words that simply don’t sound the way they look. This can be a significant hurdle for young learners, affecting not only their written communication but also their confidence and overall language development.

At Speech Blubs, we understand that nurturing strong communication skills is a journey that encompasses listening, speaking, reading, and ultimately, writing. While our app primarily focuses on empowering children to “speak their minds and hearts” by building foundational speech and language skills, these very skills are critical precursors to spelling success. Our mission, born from the personal experiences of our founders who created the tool they wished they had, is to provide an immediate, effective, and joyful solution for the 1 in 4 children who need speech support. This post will delve into why some words are particularly hard to spell for kids, offer practical strategies for tackling these linguistic puzzles, and show how strengthening core speech and language abilities through tools like Speech Blubs can pave the way for confident young spellers.

Understanding the Challenges: Why English Spelling is So Tricky

Before we dive into solutions, it’s helpful to understand why certain words trip children up. English spelling isn’t arbitrary; it follows rules, but those rules often have numerous exceptions and historical influences.

The Melting Pot of English: A History of Headaches

English is a magnificent linguistic mosaic, constantly evolving and absorbing words from other languages. This rich heritage, however, is a double-edged sword when it comes to spelling. Words like “zucchini” (Italian), “charcuterie” (French), “rhythm” (Greek), and even place names like “Connecticut” (Mohegan-Pequot) carry their original spelling conventions into English, creating inconsistencies. A child might learn that ‘ch’ makes a /ch/ sound (like in ‘chair’), but then encounter ‘charcuterie’ where ‘ch’ makes a /sh/ sound. These variations require memorization and exposure, which can be overwhelming.

The Silent Treatment: Letters That Don’t Speak

One of the most common sources of frustration for young spellers is the silent letter. These are letters that appear in a word but are not pronounced, seemingly existing only to confuse. From the ‘k’ in ‘know’ to the ‘gh’ in ‘light,’ silent letters are abundant.

• Silent ‘k’: words like know, knight, knot. The child hears /no/, but must remember the ‘k’ at the beginning.
• Silent ‘g’: words like gnome, gnaw, foreign. The initial /n/ sound often hides the ‘g’.
• Silent ‘h’: words like ghost, honest, hour. Sometimes the ‘h’ is silent at the beginning, sometimes within a word.
• Silent ‘b’: words like thumb, doubt, debt. The /m/ sound often precedes a silent ‘b’.
• Silent ‘w’: words like write, wrong, answer. The ‘w’ often silently introduces the /r/ sound.
• Silent ‘l’: words like calm, half, talk. These are tricky because the ‘l’ might be pronounced in similar words.
• Silent ‘c’: words like indict, science, muscle. The ‘c’ might be silent or take on an ‘s’ sound.
• Silent ‘s’: words like island, isle, debris. The ‘s’ might blend in or be entirely absent in pronunciation.
• Silent ‘d’: words like Wednesday, handsome. The ‘d’ disappears in pronunciation.

For a child learning to spell island, hearing /eye-lənd/ provides no clue for the silent ‘s’. This is where direct instruction and visual memory become paramount. Our approach at Speech Blubs, particularly through our video modeling, helps children see and hear words articulated correctly. This consistent exposure to correct pronunciation can indirectly help them associate the visual form of the word with its spoken form, even with silent letters.

Vowel Valley Ventures: Unpredictable Vowel Sounds

Vowels are notorious for their inconsistency in English. A single vowel can have multiple sounds (e.g., the ‘a’ in ‘cat,’ ‘car,’ ‘cake,’ ‘about’). Vowel teams (like ‘ea,’ ‘ou,’ ‘ie’) can also represent various sounds, making it hard to predict spelling based on sound alone.

• ‘ough’: This common sequence can be pronounced in many ways: though (/ō/), through (/oo/), tough (/ŭf/), cough (/ŏf/), plough (/ow/), bough (/ow/).
• ‘ie’: believe vs. friend vs. pie.
• ‘eau’: beautiful vs. bureau.

These inconsistencies demand a different kind of learning – one that builds strong visual memory and familiarity with common patterns, even irregular ones. Engaging activities in Speech Blubs that focus on vowel sounds and phonics, even if for pronunciation, inadvertently strengthen a child’s understanding of how these sounds translate to written form.

Doubling Up: Confusing Consonants

Many words feature double consonants (e.g., necessary, accommodate, embarrass, occasion), which can be tricky because they often don’t change the pronunciation of the sound. Children often wonder, “Is it one ‘c’ or two? One ‘m’ or two ‘m’s?”

• Necessary: One ‘c’, two ‘s’s.
• Accommodate: Two ‘c’s, two ‘m’s.
• Embarrass: Two ‘r’s, two ‘s’s.
• Occasion: Two ‘c’s, one ‘s’.

These words often require specific mnemonic devices or simply repeated exposure and practice to solidify the correct letter sequence.

Tricky Morphology: Prefixes, Suffixes, and Root Words

Understanding how words are built (morphology) can also pose a challenge. When adding suffixes like ‘-ing,’ ‘-ed,’ or ‘-y,’ sometimes a consonant needs to be doubled (e.g., run -> running), or a ‘y’ might change to an ‘i’ (e.g., happy -> happiness). The rules can seem complex and overwhelming for young spellers.

Practical Strategies for Mastering Hard to Spell Words

Teaching spelling isn’t about rote memorization alone; it’s about equipping children with a toolkit of strategies to decode and remember words. Here are some effective approaches:

1. Break It Down: Syllables and Sound Segmentation

Breaking long words into smaller, manageable syllables makes them less intimidating. Encourage your child to clap out the syllables or physically touch a finger for each syllable.

• Example: beautiful (beau-ti-ful), necessary (nec-es-sa-ry), accommodate (ac-com-mo-date).

Our Speech Blubs app helps children develop strong phonological awareness – the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) and syllables in spoken words. This foundational skill is incredibly helpful for spelling. When a child practices sounding out words in the app, they’re preparing their brain to segment words into their component sounds for spelling. For a child struggling with words like helicopter, using our “Vehicles” section can help them pronounce it clearly, making it easier to break into ‘hel-i-cop-ter’ when they write it.

2. Focus on Phonics and Phonemic Awareness

While English has many irregularities, phonics is still the cornerstone of spelling. Teach common letter-sound correspondences and blend sounds to form words. For irregular words, highlight the “tricky parts” that don’t follow the rules.

• For rhythm: Explain that ‘rh’ makes an /r/ sound, and the ‘y’ makes an /i/ sound here.
• For Wednesday: Point out the silent ‘d’.

Speech Blubs offers numerous activities that strengthen phonemic awareness. By watching and imitating peers in the app, children learn to isolate sounds, blend them into words, and articulate them clearly. This direct connection between spoken sounds and visual mouth movements (through our video modeling methodology) is crucial for understanding how letters represent sounds, even in irregular words. When a child practices words like spider or train in our “Animal Kingdom” or “Vehicles” sections, they are engaging in the very process of connecting sounds to their visual representation, which is a powerful pre-spelling skill.

3. Multi-Sensory Learning: See It, Say It, Write It, Feel It

Engage multiple senses to reinforce spelling.

• Visual: Look at the word carefully. Use flashcards. Highlight tricky parts in different colors.
• Auditory: Say the word aloud, exaggerating each syllable or sound. Hear how it sounds.
• Kinesthetic: Write the word multiple times. Trace it in sand or shaving cream. Build it with magnetic letters. Type it on a keyboard.

For a child who benefits from seeing and hearing words, the Speech Blubs app is a fantastic tool. Our unique video modeling feature allows children to watch real children pronounce words, encouraging imitation and active participation. This isn’t passive screen time; it’s “smart screen time” that encourages interaction and builds essential speech skills. This active engagement with spoken words and their visual forms can significantly improve a child’s memory for how words look and sound, which is highly beneficial for spelling.

4. Mnemonics and Memory Aids

Create memorable phrases, acronyms, or visual cues for tricky spellings.

• Necessary: Never eat crisps, eat salad sandwiches, and remain young. (This helps remember 1 ‘c’ and 2 ‘s’s.)
• Because: Big elephants can always understand small elephants.
• Friend: A friend until the end.
• Visualizing: For island, imagine the ‘s’ as a little boat sailing on the island, a hidden part of the word.

5. Etymology: The Story of Words

For older children, understanding the origin of words (etymology) can provide clues to their spelling. Knowing a word comes from Greek might explain an ‘ph’ for an /f/ sound (phone, dolphin) or a ‘ch’ for a /k/ sound (chorus, chemistry).

• Rhythm: From Greek rhythmos. Knowing this might help remember the ‘y’ and ‘h’.
• Pneumonia: From Greek pneumon (lung). The Greek origin explains the silent ‘p’.

While Speech Blubs doesn’t delve into etymology, our broad vocabulary categories expose children to a diverse range of words. This early exposure helps them build a rich mental lexicon, which is a prerequisite for noticing and understanding linguistic patterns and origins later on.

6. Consistent Practice and Exposure

Spelling is a skill that improves with consistent, short, and engaging practice.

• Read Aloud Regularly: Reading exposes children to correctly spelled words in context, building visual memory.
• Encourage Writing: The more children write, the more opportunities they have to practice spelling and receive feedback.
• Interactive Games: Spelling bees, word puzzles, crosswords, and online quizzes can make learning fun.

For a parent whose 3-year-old ‘late talker’ loves animals, the “Animal Kingdom” section of Speech Blubs offers a fun, motivating way to practice words like ‘elephant’ or ‘squirrel’. By joyfully repeating these words with their peers on screen, they not only improve their speech but also begin to form a mental picture of these words, making later spelling attempts more successful.

7. The Power of Family Connection

Remember, learning is a collaborative journey. Your patience, encouragement, and positive reinforcement are invaluable. Turn spelling into a game, celebrate small victories, and model good spelling habits yourself. Speech Blubs is designed not just as an app for kids, but as a powerful tool for family connection, creating joyful learning moments through shared “smart screen time.”

Hard to Spell Words for Kids: Categorized by Challenge Type

Instead of just listing words by grade level, let’s look at some examples categorized by the type of spelling challenge they present, along with quick tips.

1. Words with Silent Letters

These words often sound simpler than they look due to unpronounced letters.

• Knob (silent ‘k’): “The ‘k’ just likes to hang out in front of ‘n’ words sometimes!”
• Wrist (silent ‘w’): “When you write, your ‘w’ is silent.”
• Island (silent ‘s’): “Imagine the ‘s’ is a silent wave around the island.”
• Wednesday (silent ‘d’): “Remember Wod-en’s day!”
• Pneumonia (silent ‘p’): “The ‘p’ is quiet because it’s tired from making you sick!” (a silly mnemonic).
• Rhythm (silent ‘h’, tricky ‘y’): “Rhy-thm – think of the two H’s like people dancing in rhythm.”
• Doubt (silent ‘b’): “When you have a doubt, the ‘b’ is silent.”
• Though (silent ‘gh’): “It’s tough to remember the ‘gh’ is silent here.”
• Indict (silent ‘c’): “The ‘c’ is hiding in this law word.”
• Fascinate (silent ‘c’): “The ‘c’ is silent because it’s so fascinated!”

2. Words with Tricky Vowel/Consonant Combinations & Double Letters

These words challenge due to unexpected letter patterns or redundant-sounding consonants.

• Necessary: “One ‘c’, two ‘s’s. Never eat crisps, eat salad sandwiches, and remain young.”
• Occasion: “Double ‘c’ makes a /k/ sound, but only one ‘s’.”
• Accommodate: “Two ‘c’s and two ‘m’s – plenty of room to accommodate them all!”
• Vacuum: “It’s one of the few words with a double ‘u’!”
• Broccoli: “An Italian word, so the ‘ee’ sound at the end is an ‘i’.”
• Embarrass: “Double ‘r’, double ‘s’. Don’t be embarrassed to remember it!”
• Definitely: “It’s de-finite-ly, not def-in-ate-ly.” (Focus on the ‘i’ not an ‘a’ in the middle).
• Separate: “There’s a rat in separate!” (Visual mnemonic).
• Surprise: “The ‘r’ is in there twice, like a hidden surprise!”
• License: “It’s licen**se** for the noun, licen**ce** for the verb in some contexts, but usually se in American English.”

3. Words from Other Languages (Loanwords)

These words often retain their original spellings, which can be inconsistent with English phonics.

• Zucchini (Italian): “Like broccoli, an Italian word ending in ‘i’ for the ‘ee’ sound.”
• Spaghetti (Italian): “The ‘gh’ is silent, but remember the ‘i’ for the ‘ee’ sound.”
• Liaison (French): “Two ‘i’s for the ‘ee’ sound, and the ‘s’ can sound like a ‘z’.”
• Charcuterie (French): “Think ‘sh’ sound for ‘ch’ and ‘oo’ sound for ‘ou’.”
• Entrepreneur (French): “Starts with ‘e’, sounds like ‘ahn’, ends with ‘eur’.”
• Bourbon (French): “Remember the two ‘o’s, even though it sounds like one.”
• Cologne (French): “The ‘g’ is soft, like ‘j’, and the ‘e’ is silent.”
• Cafeteria (Spanish): “Focus on the vowel sounds and the ‘t’ in the middle.”
• Mosquito (Spanish): “Remember the ‘qu’ and the ‘o’ at the end.”
• Ballet (French): “The ‘t’ is silent, like many French words.”

For children who are visual learners, our app provides a fantastic resource for these words. For example, if your child is encountering a word like zucchini in our “Food” section, they’re not just hearing it; they’re seeing the articulation, which reinforces correct pronunciation. This can strengthen their connection to the word’s form, even with its unique spelling.

4. Everyday Words Often Misspelled

Even common words can be surprisingly tricky due to common phonetic misinterpretations or common errors.

• Friend: “I before E, except after C, or when sounding like ‘a’ as in neighbor and weigh… but not always! This is an exception: friend.”
• Business: “Is it busi-ness? No, it’s bus-i-ness.”
• Across: “Only one ‘c’ and one ‘s’.”
• Until: “Only one ‘l’ at the end.”
• Tomorrow: “One ‘m’, two ‘r’s.”
• Environment: “Many forget the ‘n’ in the middle: environment.”
• Calendar: “It’s ‘ar’ at the end, not ‘er’.”
• Library: “Many say ‘liberry’, but it’s library.”
• Athlete: “Many say ‘ath-a-lete’, but it’s athlete.”
• Jewellery (UK) / Jewelry (US): “Different spellings depending on where you are!”

How Speech Blubs Supports the Journey to Better Spelling

While Speech Blubs is not a spelling app, its core functionality directly builds the foundational skills necessary for strong spelling. Our unique approach of teaching complex communication skills through “video modeling,” where children learn by watching and imitating their peers, is scientifically backed and highly effective.

1. Phonological Awareness: The app helps children recognize and produce individual sounds and syllables within words. This is a critical pre-reading and pre-spelling skill. If a child can clearly hear the sounds in cat, they are better equipped to spell it. Our “Sounds” section is specifically designed for this.
2. Clear Articulation and Pronunciation: Correct pronunciation minimizes confusion between similar-sounding words and helps children internalize the correct sound-to-letter mapping. When children use Speech Blubs to clearly articulate words like squirrel or umbrella, they reinforce the precise sounds that will later guide their spelling.
3. Vocabulary Expansion: Broad exposure to a wide range of words, heard and spoken correctly, builds a strong mental dictionary. The more familiar a child is with a word’s sound and meaning, the easier it is to learn its spelling. Our app boasts hundreds of engaging activities across diverse themes like “Animal Kingdom,” “Outer Space,” and “Yummy Time.”
4. Confident Communication: At Speech Blubs, we believe in empowering children to “speak their minds and hearts.” When children feel confident in their verbal communication, they are more likely to express themselves through writing, reducing the fear of spelling mistakes. This fosters a love for language and learning.
5. Engaging, Play-Based Learning: We blend scientific principles with play, creating one-of-a-kind “smart screen time” experiences. This screen-free alternative to passive viewing (like cartoons) makes learning fun and effective, ensuring children are actively engaged, not just passively consuming content.

Unsure if your child could benefit from speech and language support that indirectly boosts spelling readiness? Take our quick 3-minute preliminary screener. It involves 9 simple questions and provides an assessment and a next-steps plan. Our method is backed by science, placing us in the top tier of speech apps worldwide. You can explore our research page for more details. For a child who loves stories, practicing words from our “Early Learning” sections can build a robust vocabulary and clearer speech, making their future narrative writing and spelling attempts smoother.

Conclusion

Teaching children to navigate the complexities of English spelling is a rewarding journey that builds confidence, improves communication, and unlocks a world of literacy. By understanding why certain words are hard, employing multi-faceted strategies like breaking down words, focusing on phonics, using memory aids, and ensuring consistent practice, you can empower your child to become a more capable speller.

Remember, every misspelled word is a learning opportunity, not a failure. Celebrate effort, provide patient guidance, and create a supportive learning environment. Our mission at Speech Blubs is to empower children to communicate effectively and joyfully, laying crucial foundations for all aspects of language development, including the intricate dance of spelling. We are committed to providing an immediate, effective, and joyful solution for children, blending scientific principles with play into one-of-a-kind “smart screen time” experiences.

Ready to give your child the tools to strengthen their speech and language skills, which are fundamental for spelling success? Download Speech Blubs today on the App Store or Google Play. We highly recommend choosing the Yearly plan for the best value. For just $59.99 per year (breaking down to only $4.99/month), you save 66% compared to the Monthly plan at $14.99. The Yearly plan also includes a 7-day free trial, the exclusive Reading Blubs app, early access to new updates, and 24-hour support response time. The Monthly plan does not include these incredible benefits.

Don’t let tricky words hold your child back. Create your account and begin your 7-day free trial today, and select the Yearly plan to unlock the full suite of features and embark on a joyful learning adventure! See what other parents are saying about their child’s success with Speech Blubs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Speech Blubs help with spelling, since it’s a speech app?

While Speech Blubs doesn’t directly teach spelling, it builds crucial foundational skills. The app focuses on developing strong phonological awareness (hearing individual sounds in words), clear articulation, and expanding vocabulary. When a child can correctly hear, pronounce, and understand a wide range of words, they develop a better understanding of sound-letter relationships, which is a vital precursor to successful spelling. Our video modeling feature helps children see and hear correct pronunciation, forming a strong auditory and visual memory for words.

Is screen time beneficial for learning spelling?

Not all screen time is created equal. Passive viewing, like watching cartoons, offers limited educational benefit. However, interactive and engaging “smart screen time,” such as that provided by Speech Blubs, can be highly beneficial. Our app encourages active participation, imitation, and engagement, transforming screen time into a powerful learning tool that supports speech and language development, indirectly boosting skills essential for spelling.

When should I be concerned about my child’s spelling abilities?

It’s natural for children to make spelling mistakes as they learn. However, if your child consistently struggles with basic phonetic words, has significant difficulty remembering common sight words, or if their spelling challenges significantly impact their ability to communicate in writing beyond typical developmental stages, it may be beneficial to consult with a professional. Our preliminary screener can offer some initial insights.

What age is Speech Blubs best for to help with these foundational skills?

Speech Blubs is designed for children typically aged 2-8 years old, though it can be beneficial for children slightly outside this range depending on their individual needs. It is particularly effective for late talkers, children with articulation challenges, or those needing to expand their vocabulary and improve overall language development. The earlier foundational speech and language skills are strengthened, the better prepared a child will be for complex tasks like reading and spelling.