--- title: Why does my child spell a word right one day and wrong the next? description: Are you concerned your child is bad at spelling? Does your child spell a word right one day and wrong the next? Read about trouble with spelling in kids. slug: why-does-my-child-spell-a-word-right-one-day-and-wrong-the-next author: Elizabeth Harstad, MD, MPH published: '2019-08-05T15:39:50.007Z' thumbnail: https://cdn-images.understood.org/p0qf7j048i0q/5FPK3O7huQPvNO6o9kKaiS/745549c6fca56e10f86a629d7d7c53a2/G977702270.jpg source_url: https://www.understood.org/en/articles/why-does-my-child-spell-a-word-right-one-day-and-wrong-the-next lang: en --- # Why does my child spell a word right one day and wrong the next? **Q. My fourth grader is inconsistent when it comes to spelling. She’ll spell a word correctly in one paragraph but wrong in the next. Or she’ll get it right one day but not the next. Is that typical?** **A. **First, it’s great that you’ve been observing your child’s work so closely and have picked up on patterns. All kids make mistakes as they’re learning, whether it’s with spelling or any other skill. You asked whether the mistakes are “typical.” The better way to think of it is: Are they typical for your child’s grade? Your child’s teacher is a great source of information on this. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for time to talk. The teacher can tell you how your child is doing with spelling overall. You can also find out if what you’re seeing at home is happening in class. The more information you give, the more helpful the teacher can be. So you might want to do some more detective work before you talk. Here are two things to consider: - How many errors is your child making? Are most words spelled wrong or are most words spelled right? - What types of words does your child struggle with? Are they words that are spelled the way they sound or ones that aren’t? What about [common words that appear often](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/the-difference-between-decodable-and-non-decodable-words), like *was*, *and*, or *the*? Lots of kids have trouble with spelling. The English language can be pretty tricky. There are [many rules to follow](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/phonics-rules-for-reading-and-spelling), and exceptions to every rule. When kids are first learning how to spell, they often use an approach called invented spelling. They try to figure out all the sounds in the word and write down the letter that stands for each sound. They may make mistakes. But if they write out most of the sounds in the word, then it’s OK. For example, a child who’s trying to sound out *flowers* using invented spelling might write *flawrs*. When they’re using this approach, kids may spell the same word wrong in different ways. It’s usually not a problem, though. Especially if they’re fairly new spellers and their skills get better over time. But if skills don’t get better, there may be something else going on that’s causing the trouble with spelling. [Certain learning and thinking differences](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/learning-and-thinking-differences-that-cause-trouble-with-spelling) can make it hard to spell for different reasons. If you think your child is struggling with other skills besides spelling, share those concerns with the teacher, too. Together you can talk about ways to help. --- ## Explore related topics and articles - [Why some kids struggle with spelling](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/why-some-kids-struggle-with-spelling) - - Its common for young kids to make spelling mistakes. - If kids struggle with reading, writing, or focus, it can affect spelling. - There are ways to help your child get better at spelling. When you look at your childs writing, how many spelling mistakes do you see? How often does your child l - [Why is my child having trouble pronouncing words?](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/why-is-my-child-having-trouble-pronouncing-words) - Q. My grandson is 7 and still mispronounces words even short and simple ones. Why is he having trouble with this? A. When kids are first learning to talk, its common for them to makemistakes in their speech. They substitute sounds, like sayingtatwhen they meancat. They also leave out sounds, like as - [Spelling irregular words: An evidence-based literacy strategy](https://www.understood.org/en/articles/evidence-based-literacy-strategy-spelling-irregular-words) - English has plenty of rules but language doesnt always follow the rules. When it comes to spelling, about 16 percent of English words break the rules. These words are spelled in a way that the letters dont match the sounds. That can make spelling these words tricky. To spell irregular words, studen --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/why-does-my-child-spell-a-word-right-one-day-and-wrong-the-next#webpage","url":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/why-does-my-child-spell-a-word-right-one-day-and-wrong-the-next","description":"Are you concerned your child is bad at spelling? Does your child spell a word right one day and wrong the next? Read about trouble with spelling in kids."},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://www.understood.org/en/articles/why-does-my-child-spell-a-word-right-one-day-and-wrong-the-next","name":"Why does my child spell a word right one day and wrong the next?"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","datePublished":"2019-08-05T15:39:50.007Z","description":"Are you concerned your child is bad at spelling? 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