Applying the common spelling rules: doubling consonants and dropping the silent e when adding -ing/-ed, changing y to i, i before e except after c, and common suffixes such as -tion, -ous, -ly and -ful.
Where your child meets this in real life: Spelling everyday words correctly in stories, letters and school work without having to memorise every word separately
SEAGReady breaks common spelling rules into 3 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.
Add -ing and -ed to verbs correctly: double the final consonant after a short vowel (swim → swimming, stop → stopped) and drop the silent e (hope → hoping, smile → smiled).
Change y to i when adding endings to words that end in consonant + y (cry → cried, happy → happiness), and apply "i before e except after c" (believe, field, receive, ceiling).
Spell words built with the common suffixes -tion, -ous, -ly and -ful, including the single l in -ful (beautiful) and what happens when -ly is added (beautifully, happily).
Three free sample questions from our common spelling rules course. Every question comes with a full explanation, and hints that guide without giving the answer away.
Choose the section that contains a spelling mistake, or 'No mistake'. [A] Nathan went swiming [B] in Lough Neagh [C] with his cousins [D] on Saturday.
Answer: A. Nathan went swiming
Section A contains the error: 'swiming' should be 'swimming'. Swim has a short vowel (i) and ends in one consonant (m), so the m doubles before adding -ing: swim → swimm → swimming. Sections B, C and D are all spelled correctly.
Stuck? Start here: Sound out the -ing word in section A: swim + ing.
Choose the section that contains a spelling mistake, or 'No mistake'. [A] The wee baby cryed [B] all the way [C] through the wedding [D] in Enniskillen.
Answer: A. The wee baby cryed
Section A contains the error: 'cryed' should be 'cried'. The root word cry ends in consonant + y (the r is a consonant), so the y changes to i before adding -ed: cry → cri → cried. Sections B, C and D are all spelled correctly.
Stuck? Start here: The root word in section A is cry. What letter comes just before the y?
Choose the section that contains a spelling mistake, or 'No mistake'. [A] The view across [B] Strangford Lough [C] at sunset [D] was beautifull.
Answer: D. was beautifull
Section D contains the error: 'beautifull' should be 'beautiful'. beauty → beauti + ful, and the suffix -ful always has one l, even though it comes from the word 'full'. Sections A, B and C are all spelled correctly.
Stuck? Start here: Break the word in section D into root + suffix: beauty + ful.
This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.
Conor is writing about his weekend for his P6 news book: "We went swiming in Lough Neagh with my cousins."
Is "swiming" spelled correctly? If not, how should it be spelled?
Step 1 of 6
Conor is writing about his weekend for his P6 news book: "We went swiming in Lough Neagh with my cousins."
Is "swiming" spelled correctly? If not, how should it be spelled?
"Swiming" is wrong, the correct spelling is "swimming", with a double m.
The key insight: Doubling the consonant protects the short vowel sound, one m would make it say "SWY-ming"!
Watch out: hopeing. When a word ends in a silent e, you drop the e before adding -ing: hope → hoping. The doubling rule is only for short vowels.
These are the misconceptions we see most often in common spelling rules, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.
SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.
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