Clearly Speaking

Children learn language by continually hearing language being used in context all around them - hearing language spoken clearly and properly will help them talk correctly themselves and will also help them learn spelling when they are older. Phonetics is all about spelling out the sounds that you hear, but if children aren't speaking words correctly, then they will find it more difficult to spell them.

For example, children dropping 'g' in words ending in 'ing' will not hear the 'g' when they spell phonetically and will omit the final letter in words like walking/walkin', talking/talkin' and so on.  Children muddling 'th' and 'f' will be disadvantaged when learning to spell three/free, thanks/fanks.

If you hear your children mispronouncing words or sounds, then try to correct them early on so that they don't get entrenched with the wrong pronunciation which in turn could stifle their spelling and reading later on.  Speak clearly and properly with your children and as they grow up, they will find it easier to talk clearly themselves, and in turn to learn spelling when the time comes to it.