English · Stage 6
Tricky Spellings
Writing — master silent letters (doubt · knee · island · muscle) and the rule for doubling a consonant (beginning · committee · embarrass).
✦ English📘 Stage 6 · S6⏱ ~15 min🧒 Ages 10–12★ Free to start
I can spell advanced words with silent letters and double consonants.
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The Letters That Hide
"Some letters are sneaky," whispered Kavi. "In doubt a b hides where you cannot hear it, and in island a silent s slips in. Other letters love company — committee keeps a double m AND a double t! Learn their tricks, and no spelling can trap you."
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What your child will learn
1Letters you can't hear, and letters that come in pairsAdvanced words hide two traps. SILENT LETTERS are written but not spoken — the b in doubt, the k in knee, the s in island, the t in listen. DOUBLE CONSONANTS come in pairs — embarrass, committee, address. When you add -ing or -ed to a short word that ends in one vowel + one consonant, you DOUBLE that last letter: run → running, stop → stopped.
2Say it, then spell itTap each line to hear it read aloud. Listen for the letters you cannot hear — yet you still must write them.
3Silent letter or double consonant?
4Short word → double · longer word → don'tBoth cards add -ing. Tap each one to see when the last letter doubles and when it does not.
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A peek inside
You want to write the word for a piece of land surrounded by sea. You say it 'I-land' — but which letter is silently hiding inside?
the word is 'island' — spelled i-s-l-a-n-d. You never hear the s, but it must be written.
Try this at home: Which letter is silent in the word 'doubt'?
Ready to play and learn?
Start the free interactive lesson, or print the handout for screen-free play.
Part of English · Stage 6 · S6 on KAVI Academy — a secular, whole-child learning platform for ages 5–12.