Orthographic Vigilance: Doubt to Spell Right

Teaching literacy is actually about training kids to stop trusting their own ears.

In Russian methodology, we focus on something called orthographic vigilance because what a child hears

is almost never what they should write. It is all about strong and weak

positions. If a vowel isn't stressed, it is a trap. The wildest technique

we use is called writing with holes. We literally tell first-graders that if they hear a sound

but aren't sure, they should leave a blank space instead of guessing. It turns out the

secret to perfect spelling is simply knowing when to doubt yourself.