Why My Child Reads Fine but Can't Spell

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-01

Can a child read well and still spell poorly?

Reading and spelling can come apart. A large German study found some children with trouble in spelling only (Moll and Landerl, 2009). Others had trouble in reading only. The good readers who spelled poorly had adequate skill at hearing sounds in words. They also named made-up spellings that sound like real words as fast as the real words. The authors read this as a sign of efficient sounding out in reading. We could read only the study's summary. The children were German-speaking. We do not know where the study drew the line for trouble.

In our experience, spelling is often harder than reading. A child whose reading is now fine may still be working very hard at it. Do not let good-enough reading end the conversation.

Two ways to spell a word

There are two ways to spell a word, and a skilled speller uses both. One is turning the sounds into letters. The other is recalling the stored spelling of that word.

Words that sound alike show why both are needed. You cannot spell their by sounding it out. It sounds just like there. The letters have to be stored. The same goes for to, too and two. It goes for every odd spelling English has kept. That is a fact about how English is written, not a finding about children.

Turning sounds into letters is the only way to spell a word you have never seen. Children learn stored spellings alongside sounding out, not instead of it.

In our view, both ways of spelling are in every speller. This is not two kinds of child.

Suppose your child writes sed for said. The sounds are all there. To us, that points at the stored spelling.

In our view, spelling asks more of memory than reading does. When your child reads, the letters are on the page. When they spell, the letters have to come from memory.

Is it dyslexia?

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) wrote a new definition in 2025. The definition describes trouble reading words or spelling, in accuracy, speed or both.

Reading words and spelling are two jobs. The definition says word reading "and/or" spelling. So a child can have trouble with one and not the other.

To us, the same spelling trouble may be called dyslexia by one person and dysgraphia by another. In our view, spelling trouble alone does not tell you which word fits. Look at the reading and the handwriting too.

No study we hold tests home signs for telling dysgraphia from dyslexia. Our rule is to describe patterns on these pages. We do not put a name on a child.

What helps

Spelling improves with spelling instruction.

In a 2014 review of 53 studies, Graham and Santangelo found that teaching spelling directly works. They also found gains in spelling while writing, not only on tests.

Teach both ways of spelling. To us, teaching the stored spelling directly is a separate job from teaching the sounds. None of this is a reason to teach less phonics.

Our own routine for a word that will not stick is short. Your child looks at the word and says the letters. Then they cover it, write it from memory, and check it. That routine is ours. Part of it has been tested. In three small studies, first and second graders heard a word, wrote it from memory, then checked it. That beat copying the words over and over (Jones and colleagues, 2016). Those children were not picked for spelling trouble. We hold no study that tests training in stored spellings for children with writing trouble.

In our view, start by finding which spelling job is hard. The exception is a skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Reading well below what school expects.
• A teacher who raises a concern about reading.
• Extreme upset about reading.
• Complete avoidance of reading.
• Hopelessness about learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

Start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.