Uncovering The Logic of English: A Common-Sense Approach to Reading, Spelling, and Literacy

Rule 9 AY usually spells the sound /ā/ at the end of a base word.

Do you know why picnic is spelled with a C at the end, but a K is added to picnicking? Or how about mimic and mimicking? I have asked the same questions to hundreds of teachers in the past few years. In my experience, less than 1% have answered it correctly, and fewer than 5% even knew we needed to add a K. We can clearly see how deeply broken our

The problem is neither English nor individuals. The problem is that we cannot know what we were never taught.

Learning these tools also develops logic and higher-order thinking skills. When students learn to think systematically about English, a complex language, not only do they enhance their English language skills, but they also gain strategies by which to master foreign languages.

Many schools do teach what they believe to be phonics. They teach most of the sounds for A–Z and sometimes even a few multi-letter phonograms

It is vital to understand that English is a code. Codes by nature are reversible. It is learning the keys to the code that enables all students to learn how to read and spell fluently.

Despite its complex phonetic system, many aspects of English are much simpler than other modern languages.

Phono means “sound” and gram means “picture.” A phonogram, therefore, is a picture that represents a sound.

Reading is the process of decoding the “sound pictures” and reforming them into auditory words.