According to research, somewhere between 50% (Hanna, 1966) and only 3-4% of English words are spelled irregularly. (Joshi et al., 2008)

Unfortunately, even if it is only 3-4%, those few words with the trickiest spelling include some of the most common words in our language.

So, when you teach students phonics rules, hands shoot up with exceptions. The most common, most commonly misspelled, and most confusingly spelled words in English are that 3-4% of words that we call The Worst.

These are the words that makes us think, “English spelling is nonsense,” “Phonics doesn’t really work,” and “I’d rather do math.” Students start to tune out, and teachers get confused and frustrated.

The Worst Words are not naturally bad. They actually follow English spelling conventions very well. Instead, they become problematic because we try to explain spelling through phonics, or letter-sound correspondence. These “rules” have so many “exceptions” because English isn’t really a phonetic language.

Instead, English letters have three jobs. They make sound, show meaning, and preserve history, and more often than not, meaning and history trump sound. That means that any phonics-based system you teach will fail students sometimes, and telling students they can sound words out isn’t really true.

So, what do we do about it?

Research shows that when you tell students about the meaning and history of a word, they remember the spelling of it better. When you learn the stories of the Worst Words, you get a much clearer picture of how English really works, and what part phonics plays in the larger picture. You’ll find that there are not rules and exceptions, but rather common, uncommon, and rare patterns, governed by spelling rules and histories that will make you laugh, sigh, shake your head, and bang it against the wall.

While we spread the word on the truth about English spelling patterns, we are building is a source for all of those stories, along with research-based approaches to orthographically map these words for children.

Let’s make the worst part of your spelling instruction into the best part by diving headlong into the wild world of English Spelling. Welcome to The Worst Words!