My child spells words the way they sound

« Oto », « fame », « bocou », « sinéma »: your child writes words exactly as they hear them, and spelling just doesn’t seem to click. This is very common at the start of learning to write, but when it lasts, it can point to a difficulty. Here is how to understand this phenomenon, know when it becomes worrying, and help your child move beyond writing by sound. No need to panic: it is often a normal stage.

Writing by sound, a normal stage

When a child starts learning to write, they begin by transcribing the sounds they hear into letters. This is what they are taught in CP (Year 1): each sound corresponds to a letter or a group of letters. Writing « oto » for « auto » therefore shows that they have understood this basic principle. There is no reason to worry at this stage.

This stage is normal and even positive. It shows that the child hears the sounds of words well and knows how to transcribe them in the right order. It is the foundation on which correct spelling will be built. This is precisely what is checked when dysorthographia is being considered.

Gradually, through reading and writing, the child memorises the exact spelling of words. They discover that « auto » is spelt with « au », that « femme » has two « m »s and is pronounced oddly. Writing by sound then gradually decreases, generally between CE1 and CM1 (Years 2 and 4). Each child, however, progresses at their own pace.

When it becomes a warning sign

Writing by sound becomes worrying when it persists beyond the expected age. If at the end of CE2 or in CM1 (Year 3 or Year 4), your child still writes many common words phonetically despite revision, this is a signal to take seriously. It is important to speak to the teacher without delay.

Another sign: words learnt by heart don’t stick. Your child passes their word dictation on Friday, but rewrites the same words phonetically in a composition the following Monday. Their memory for words does not consolidate. This instability exhausts the child, who feels they never make progress.

Finally, inconsistency is typical: the same word may be written in several ways within a single text, as if the child has no fixed image of it in mind. Together, these signs warrant a professional opinion. See my child cannot remember words.

Why some children remain stuck

To move beyond writing by sound, a precise memory of how words are spelt must be built. In some children, this memory forms poorly or fades quickly. They need many more encounters with a word to remember it. This is not a lack of effort or attention.

This difficulty is characteristic of lexical dysorthographia, also called surface dysorthographia. The child has a good grasp of the link between sounds and letters, but not of the conventional spelling of words. It is often associated with surface dyslexia.

It may be accompanied by slow reading, where the child decodes every word without recognising it at a glance. The less they recognise words when reading, the less they memorise them for writing. The speech and language therapy assessment makes it possible to understand precisely where the difficulty comes from. See lexical dysorthographia.

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What is reassuring

A child who writes by sound has understood the principle of writing and hears sounds well. This is a strength to build on. Their texts, even if poorly spelt, are generally readable aloud. It is also a good foundation for rehabilitation.

This profile often responds well to digital tools. As their errors are phonetically accurate, the spell checker generally recognises the intended word and suggests the correct spelling. They can thus write more accurate texts without exhausting themselves.

With suitable rehabilitation and effective memorisation methods, these children make progress. It simply takes patience and consistency. Every word memorised is a small victory to celebrate. See the spell checker.

Taking stock with a professional

If writing by sound persists in CE2 or beyond, speak to the teacher and your GP. A speech and language therapy assessment will establish whether this is a simple delay or dysorthographia. Do not hesitate to ask for an appointment to discuss it.

During the assessment, the speech and language therapist asks the child to write regular words, irregular words and invented words. A child who succeeds with invented words but fails with irregular words presents the typical profile of a difficulty with orthographic memory. This profile directly guides rehabilitation towards memory for words.

The assessment also evaluates reading and visual memory, to give a complete picture. It also identifies your child’s strengths. See the speech and language therapy assessment.

Helping to memorise words

To move beyond writing by sound, the child needs help memorising the image of words. Ask them to look at the word, spot the tricky letter, colour it red, then write the word from memory with the model hidden. These steps strengthen the memory trace. Repeat these steps over a few days to firmly embed the word.

Give meaning to spelling. Explain that « grand » takes a « d » because of « grande », and that « temps » belongs to the same family as « temporaire ». A word that is understood is retained better than one learnt by heart. Little stories around words also help a great deal.

Linking a drawing to the difficult part of a word also works very well, particularly for visual learners. Let your child invent their own images: they will remember them better. See illustrated spelling and learning words with colours.

Good everyday habits

Favour short, spaced-out revision sessions: a few words reviewed three times during the week, rather than a long list the night before the dictation. Memory works much better in small, regular doses. Remember to regularly revisit earlier words.

Encourage reading in all its forms and without pressure. Each time your child reads a word, they strengthen its image in memory a little, without conscious effort. Comics and magazines about their interests are ideal for this.

Create together a small personal word list of common words they write phonetically, to consult when writing. This is not cheating; it is a help that allows them to write correctly while the words become established. They can add to it over the weeks with newly learnt words. See learning a list of words.

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Questions that keep coming up

Up to what age is writing by sound normal ?

Writing by sound is normal in CP (Year 1) and still common in CE1 (Year 2). It generally decreases between CE1 and CM1 (Years 2 and 4). If it persists to a significant degree in CE2 (Year 3) or beyond, despite practice, an assessment is recommended. Before that, it is a normal stage of learning.

Is writing by sound a sign of dyslexia ?

Not necessarily. It is mainly a sign of difficulty memorising the spelling of words, typical of lexical dysorthographia. It may or may not be associated with dyslexia, which only an assessment can establish. The assessment always evaluates reading and spelling together.

Should all mistakes be corrected ?

No. Correcting every mistake discourages the child. It is better to target a few common words at a time, and to praise the fact that they transcribe sounds well. Focus on the errors that come up most often.