Includes index

Introduction -- 1. The problem of English -- 2. The literacy crisis -- 3. Phonograms : the building blocks of words -- 4. Consonants, vowels, and syllables : what they are and why they matter -- 5. Foundational consonant rules -- 6. Foundational vowel rules -- 7. The mystery of the silent final E's solved! -- 8. Words ending in one vowel and one consonant -- 9. Adding suffixes to single vowel Y words -- 10. Adding suffixes to any word -- 11. The power of the Latin spellings of /sh/ -- 12. Decoding past tense verbs -- 13. Forming plural nouns and singular verbs -- 14. Clearing confusion about al- and -ful -- 15. The final spelling rules -- 16. Overcoming challenges : creating an auditory picture -- 17. Efficient spelling and vocabulary development -- 18. Putting it all together -- Appendix A. Spelling rules ; Appendix B. Basic phonograms ; Appendix C. More about the basic phonograms ; Appendix D. Sound to spelling reference ; Appendix E. Advanced phonograms ; Appendix F. Adding a suffix to any word ; Appendix G. Irregular verbs ; Appendix H. Irregular plurals ; Appendix I. Common prefixes and suffixes