ABSTRACT
Spelling was historically regarded as a mainly visual activity. Towards the middle of the nineteenth century the phonics method, which involved sounding out the individual letter sounds and then blending them, was used to learn to read and began to be adopted by many American and later British educators. This chapter presents an overview of popular resources for teaching spelling in mainstream classrooms. Explanations for why traditional weekly spelling tests often result in poor progress for those with dyslexia. Open warfare erupted from time to time about the best way to teach reading and spelling. There is a growing body of knowledge about variations in learning styles, as well as a growing volume of scientific literature about those who learn differently, often because of a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia. The significance of appropriate teaching methods and their influence on learning styles has become even more important.
