Each homeschooling family handles spelling differently. Initially, I assigned spelling words from the Language Arts portion of Sonlight’s Core curriculum, but eventually switched to Sequential Spelling, which we used up until the end of this past school year.
In addition, I added in words I noticed the kids kept misspelling in their narrations, dictations, reports or essays.
In the process of helping the kids recognize their misspellings, I noticed words that I consistently struggled to spell correctly, and began recording them in my bullet journal or daily calendar.
While I realize that my spellchecker catches many an error, I still enjoy handwriting notes and letters and learning to spell challenging words properly, without having to look them up each time, is a worthwhile feat. Plus, I believe we should continue to press ourselves and stretch our minds–even beyond “school.”
Here are a few of my commonly misspelled words in alphabetical order.
See if you can sound them out phonetically and then select the correct (or in some cases, preferred) spelling. Answers are at the bottom of the post.
Two spellings are recognized, but one is preferred in the U.S. and Canadian English, while the other is more readily used in British or Australian publications.
So.Stinking.Confusing.
a. acknowledgement
b. acknowlegment
c. acknowledgment
d. acknowlegement
a. dependant
b. dependent
c. dependunt
d. depindant
This word is seriously the one that gives me the most trouble. No matter how many times I practice it, when I’m faced with it again, I write it incorrectly or question myself when I’ve written it correctly.
a. embarras
b. embarrass
c. embaras
d. embarass
a. existense
b. existance
c. existence
d. existanse
a. indispensabel
b. indispensable
c. indispensible
d. indespinsable
Often considered a [juhj-muh nt] call, this word does have a preferred spelling with the other considered the “variant” spelling.
a. judgement
b. judgment
c. judgemant
d. judgmant
Same as above. It basically has two acceptable spellings, but one I see more frequently than the other, and the one I see most frequently does not align with the preferences stated in the word above it.
a. judgemental
b. judgmentel
c. judgemantle
d. judgmental
e. judgmentel
I really, REALLY dislike spelling this word. It is the bane of my existence.
a. occurrence
b. ocurrance
c. occurrance
d. occurance
The only way I can remember how to spell this word is to think of the word “severe”. *That’s a hint.*
a. persaverence
b. perseverance
c. perserverance
d. perserverence
I spell this one right about 50% of the time. I will look at it when I’ve written it correctly and think, “That looks wrong.” No, I don’t know what’s wrong with me–this one should be easy.
a. privelege
b. privelige
c. privilege
d. privlege
One more word I forgot, but it frequently trips me up is “prerogative” – primarily because of how it is pronounced. I think it should be “perogative.” This is an interesting way I will use in the future to remember how to spell it correctly.
So here are the correct (or variant) spellings in order:
1. acknowledgment/acknowledgement
2. dependent
3. embarrass
4. existence
5. indispensable
6. judgement/judgment – The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) prefers “judgement”.
7. judgmental/judgemental – I can’t find a spellcheck that likes the second spelling of this word.
8. occurrence
9. perseverance
10. privilege
I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few, but these are on my current list. Now, I’m curious, what are the words you struggle to spell correctly?
Heather Sanders is a leading homeschooling journalist who inspires homeschooling families to live, love and learn. Married to Jeff, Heather lives in the East Texas Piney Woods and homeschools her three children, Emelie, Meredith and Kenny.