Education: Extra curriculum: The easy way to learn to spell

ENGLISH spelling is not as difficult or as illogical as it seems, once you understand it. Try telling that to a seven- year-old who finds spelling as difficult as tying shoe laces when late for school.

Spelling for Parents, to be published on 27 October by Piccadilly Press, offers refreshingly easy strategies for parents to use with children encountering difficulties with spelling.

Written by Jo Phenix, a reading specialist, and Doreen Scott-Dunne, a teacher, the book rubbishes the mythology of spelling typified by remarks like 'some people can spell and some people can't, and that's the way it is'. Not true they say, some have more difficulties spelling but that does not mean we give up on them.

An optimistic book which would also be useful to adults with spelling problems.