Despite the traditional problems posed by word pronunciation and etymology, a system of spelling instruction which takes into account some of the following suggestions should prove helpful to teachers at both the elementary and secondary school levels: (1) make children word-conscious--anything which makes the pupil look at and think about a word is useful; (2) teach words which are needed and used by children--it's the basic words which are so often misspelled; (3) take individual differences among pupils into account--poor spellers may need individual help, good spellers can work more independently; (4) utilize written rather than oral drills--a good deal of the work done in oral spelling is a waste of time; (5) utilize phonics only as a guide--innumerable spelling errors arise as a result of trying to make English spelling conform to "phonics"; (6) deal with a reasonable number of words in a spelling lesson--even for good spellers it is a mistake to present 20 words or so at one time, especially is they are not closely related in structure. (MF)