spelling question (from Megawords)

[Roadrunner]

So we learned in Megawords that when you have a closed syllable and one consonant sound between vowels, you double those consonants. Example - rubber

 

Does that rule not apply to R controlled syllables? My kids want to know why forest has only one R, but correct has two Rs.

[MerryAtHope]

Sometimes the difference has to do with language of origin. In this case, both "forest" and "correct" originally come from Latin, and it's because "correct" comes from two Latin words coming together.  Sometimes the original Latin word or a conjugation of a Latin word will have a double consonant that comes into our language. But explanations like that don't always mean a lot to 9 and 7 year olds!

 

I'm not sure how Megawords states this principle, but I would say instead that you "often" would have a double consonant in that situation--but not always. 

 

Doubling a consonant is consistent when you are looking at rules for adding syllables (hop becomes hopping), and it's typically true in words that include native English suffixes as part of the root (like the "er" in rubber and dinner, the "en" of happen, and so on). 

[Roadrunner]

Sometimes the difference has to do with language of origin. In this case, both "forest" and "correct" originally come from Latin, and it's because "correct" comes from two Latin words coming together. Sometimes the original Latin word or a conjugation of a Latin word will have a double consonant that comes into our language. But explanations like that don't always mean a lot to 9 and 7 year olds!

 

I'm not sure how Megawords states this principle, but I would say instead that you "often" would have a double consonant in that situation--but not always.

 

Doubling a consonant is consistent when you are looking at rules for adding syllables (hop becomes hopping), and it's typically true in words that include native English suffixes as part of the root (like the "er" in rubber and dinner, the "en" of happen, and so on).

They state that if you have one consonant sound between two vowels and a closed syllable, you double the consonant.

Thank you for explanation. They understand that there are exceptions, so this will be a satisfactory answer to them. :)

I must say though that we are loving the approach of Megawords. Both my kids got only this one word wrong out of 44 word assessment (chapters 1 through 4 review) we did today. They never managed to internalize LOE rules, but thinking in terms of syllables is helping them.

[Roadrunner]

Agggggg. Now we are looking at chapter on VC/V syllables and the entire rule on doubling consonants is out of the window.

My kids are so confused. I am starting to see more mistakes in spelling because of the rules. :( don't know what to do.

[Ellie]

Agggggg. Now we are looking at chapter on VC/V syllables and the entire rule on doubling consonants is out of the window.

My kids are so confused. I am starting to see more mistakes in spelling because of the rules. :( don't know what to do.

 

Spalding. :-)

[Roadrunner]

Spalding. :-)

What would Spalding say about this?

[MerryAtHope]

Agggggg. Now we are looking at chapter on VC/V syllables and the entire rule on doubling consonants is out of the window.

My kids are so confused. I am starting to see more mistakes in spelling because of the rules. :( don't know what to do.

 

 

Can you give examples of words they are working on?

[RootAnn]

I know Megawords is much beloved on here and I was really looking forward to it being a great "next step" with my kids. It was a bomb here for me & dd#1.

 

There are rules to help us spell words better, but in so many cases, we just have to memorize how it is spelled. (We use "think to spell" rather than a specific rule that might not work as often as we'd like. So, think to spell (by syllable) "rub" "ber" even though we only say "rub-er".)

[Roadrunner]

Can you give examples of words they are working on?

 

clever

credit

desert

lemon

metal

petal

sliver

 

 

there are more. It's on page 46 of volume 1. 

[MerryAtHope]

That's the type of word I figured you meant. (It's been a long time since we tried Megawords, but this may have been one of the reasons it ended up not working well for us). That's a lot of spelling patterns at once! It would be easier to learn those words as exceptions to the syllable rule a few at a time.

 

Some are just plain exceptions. But for clever and sliver, you could let them know that the letter V is typically not doubled after a short vowel (also river, never). Two v's in a row look too much like w and would be confusing. 

 

Some they'll just have to memorize. I'd learn petal and metal together, since just the first letter is different. If they have trouble remembering the "al" ending, have them think of the longer word, metallic, where you can hear that short a sound clearly. 

 

Sometimes my kids liked to pronounce exceptions for spelling--they'd say "dez-ert" to emphasize in their minds that there was only one consonant this time. We also used visual methods to study these (and in AAS, you can put rule-breakers in jail--we sometimes put words that caused trouble by not following syllable rules in jail too.)

 

With desert, I'd probably teach the homograph "desert" as in--they will desert him in the desert. That way they can learn that desert (meaning to abandon) and desert (dry sandy place) are spelled the same, and think of the former when remembering the spelling (it follows regular open-syllable rules). 

 

They're young to know the word credence, but showing them that word along with credit might help them remember the single d. (That's how I'd explain it to an older student.)

 

Is your 7 yo doing this too? Advanced words for 7! 

 

 

[Ellie]

What would Spalding say about this?

 

Spalding doesn't talk about open and closed syllables.

 

Page Five of the spelling notebook addresses when to double consonants, and it's wordy, but understandable in usage:

 

1. Words of one syllable, ending in one consonant, which have only one vowel before the last consonant, require that we add another consonant like the last one before adding an ending that begins with a vowel. (Whew!) Examples are hop, hopping, hopped; run, running; stop, stopped, stoppage; red, reddish.

 

2. Words of two syllables (like begin, where the second syllable, "-gin" is like "hop", having one consonant at the end and one vowel before it) also require another consonant before adding an ending which begins with a vowel, if the accent is on the last syllable. Examples are begin, beginning; admit, admitting; acquit, acquittal; occur, occurrence, excel, excelling. The accent in these words is on the second syllable. Other examples are enter, entering; profit, profitable; cancel, canceling. The accent on these words is on the second syllable.

 

The endings which begin with vowels are also given.

[RootAnn]

With desert, I'd probably teach the homograph "desert" as in--they will desert him in the desert. That way they can learn that desert (meaning to abandon) and desert (dry sandy place) are spelled the same, and think of the former when remembering the spelling (it follows regular open-syllable rules). 

 

And, of course, most people want seconds of dessert and dessert has two s's. No one wants to get stuck in the desert twice - thus only one 's'.

[Roadrunner]

That's the type of word I figured you meant. (It's been a long time since we tried Megawords, but this may have been one of the reasons it ended up not working well for us). That's a lot of spelling patterns at once! It would be easier to learn those words as exceptions to the syllable rule a few at a time.

 

Some are just plain exceptions. But for clever and sliver, you could let them know that the letter V is typically not doubled after a short vowel (also river, never). Two v's in a row look too much like w and would be confusing.

 

Some they'll just have to memorize. I'd learn petal and metal together, since just the first letter is different. If they have trouble remembering the "al" ending, have them think of the longer word, metallic, where you can hear that short a sound clearly.

 

Sometimes my kids liked to pronounce exceptions for spelling--they'd say "dez-ert" to emphasize in their minds that there was only one consonant this time. We also used visual methods to study these (and in AAS, you can put rule-breakers in jail--we sometimes put words that caused trouble by not following syllable rules in jail too.)

 

With desert, I'd probably teach the homograph "desert" as in--they will desert him in the desert. That way they can learn that desert (meaning to abandon) and desert (dry sandy place) are spelled the same, and think of the former when remembering the spelling (it follows regular open-syllable rules).

 

They're young to know the word credence, but showing them that word along with credit might help them remember the single d. (That's how I'd explain it to an older student.)

 

Is your 7 yo doing this too? Advanced words for 7!

I hope the upper levels are less confusing. We tried LOE and it was a bust in a sense that they didn't retain rules. I will use your explanations and see what happens. My 7 year old just turned eight. He is a natural speller and probably would do find with just copywork, but I can't stomach not having a spelling program. My older needs more help with spelling, but he isn't terrible either. I just need something solid that doesn't actually make their spelling worse, like doubling consonants when it's not necessary.

[Roadrunner]

Spalding doesn't talk about open and closed syllables.

 

Page Five of the spelling notebook addresses when to double consonants, and it's wordy, but understandable in usage:

 

1. Words of one syllable, ending in one consonant, which have only one vowel before the last consonant, require that we add another consonant like the last one before adding an ending that begins with a vowel. (Whew!) Examples are hop, hopping, hopped; run, running; stop, stopped, stoppage; red, reddish.

 

2. Words of two syllables (like begin, where the second syllable, "-gin" is like "hop", having one consonant at the end and one vowel before it) also require another consonant before adding an ending which begins with a vowel, if the accent is on the last syllable. Examples are begin, beginning; admit, admitting; acquit, acquittal; occur, occurrence, excel, excelling. The accent in these words is on the second syllable. Other examples are enter, entering; profit, profitable; cancel, canceling. The accent on these words is on the second syllable.

 

The endings which begin with vowels are also given.

O.K. I am going to pull LOE off the shelf and see if I can understand it the second time around. :)

 

 

I am generally surprised that no Megawords users (I know you are out there! :) ) are finding this particular issue problematic.

[Kathie in VA]

Agggggg. Now we are looking at chapter on VC/V syllables and the entire rule on doubling consonants is out of the window.

My kids are so confused. I am starting to see more mistakes in spelling because of the rules. :( don't know what to do.

 

maybe you don't really have a VC/V with words like 'forest' and 'correct'

 

usually you are doubling the C to prevent the short vowel sound from going long ... <to change from hop to hopping you double the 'p' so the 'i' doesn't make the 'o' sound become a long sound> with 'forest' the 'e' can't make the 'o' long because it is teamed with the 'r' ...  Also it is pronounced /for est/, not /for rest/.

 

Now with 'correct' the 'o' is still teamed with the 'r' but it is pronounced /cor rect/ so you need two 'r's to spell what you hear/say.

[Roadrunner]

maybe you don't really have a VC/V with words like 'forest' and 'correct'

 

usually you are doubling the C to prevent the short vowel sound from going long ... <to change from hop to hopping you double the 'p' so the 'i' doesn't make the 'o' sound become a long sound> with 'forest' the 'e' can't make the 'o' long because it is teamed with the 'r' ... Also it is pronounced /for est/, not /for rest/.

 

Now with 'correct' the 'o' is still teamed with the 'r' but it is pronounced /cor rect/ so you need two 'r's to spell what you hear/say.

I am following you, but how do you explain mitten? Why can't it be mit-en. This is the sort of questions my kids are hauling at me.

[MerryAtHope]

I am following you, but how do you explain mitten? Why can't it be mit-en. This is the sort of questions my kids are hauling at me.

 

Have them approach the words the other way:

 

Look at the word first: mitten. Then analyze it--how would it divide into syllables? mit-ten. Note the double T.

 

River. riv-er. We know it divides this way because the first syllable is short. A dictionary will confirm this. Note the single v. 

 

And so on. 

 

Learning all of the exceptions in one chunk like this does make it harder for kids. Instead of having just one or two words stand out on a list as not following the pattern, they've now learned one list one way, one another, back to back--and it's easy to confuse them. I think it's easier when they can learn one exception or type at a time (ie, the words with V's that aren't doubled in one lesson, a few lessons later petal/metal, and so on). Showing it this way doesn't really help kids see that more often than not in these 2-syllable words, a single consonant between two vowels will go with the 2nd vowel, and the first sound will be long. It makes it appear more arbitrary than it is (though there's certainly a degree of arbitrariness!  going back to language of origin.)

 

But still, the way to learn them is to study the word, understand the pattern, and then commit it to memory. 

 

Have them think of the double consonant and the syllable types as helpers--a clue as to how to pronounce the vowel sound and how to spell the word. A "trend" rather than an absolute. 

[Roadrunner]

I am starting to understand why public schools have given up on rules and focus on just repeated patterns. :)

 

I am hoping to revamp that lesson based on the advice I am getting. Thank you!

[Ellie]

I am starting to understand why public schools have given up on rules and focus on just repeated patterns. :)

 

I am hoping to revamp that lesson based on the advice I am getting. Thank you!

 

The rules are not all that hard to understand. Seems to me that Megawords is making it more difficult than it needs to be.

 

Public schools don't even focus on repeated patterns. :-p

[Lori D.]

clever

credit

desert

lemon

metal

petal

sliver

 

I'd probably go with an explanation like:

 

"Every syllable needs a vowel (or vowel team) to make it a syllable. Vowels are powerful, but they usually only have enough power to do ONE job in a word.

 

In all of these words, the second vowel is doing the job of making the second syllable of the word. It takes all of the vowel's power to do that, so the vowel has no more power to ALSO reach over the single consonant and make the first vowel say it's long sound.

 

And because each of these first syllables is "closed" (ends with a consonant), that means the first syllable vowel will say its short sound. So, for this list of words, we have a closed first syllable (so the vowel is short), and a second vowel doing the job of creating a second syllable (so it CAN'T also make a long sound out of the first syllable vowel):

 

clev • er

cred • it

des • ert

lem • on

met • al

pet • al

sliv • er

 

 

I am following you, but how do you explain mitten? Why can't it be mit-en. This is the sort of questions my kids are hauling at me.

 

Just how I would have explained it to my very VSL student who wants a big picture explanation:

 

"Why? Because only "r" is bossy and controls vowels, which overrides the need for 2 consonants. The "r" is like a magnet and attracts the vowel to it, so the vowel sticks to the "r" and works with the "r" as part of an "r" team, rather than doing its usual vowel job. Since the "n" at the end of mitten is not an "r", so it's not bossy and you need the two "t"s (two consonants) in the middle of mitten to keep the "e" from jumping over a single consonant and making the "i" say its long sound."

 

I would be drawing a picture on the whiteboard using different colors of markers to help illustrated this while describing. I'm also using phrases and story-like explanations that my VSL DS needed and was used to hearing as explanation, so it connected for him, but likely will do nothing for your students. ;)

 

 

I am generally surprised that no Megawords users (I know you are out there!  :) ) are finding this particular issue problematic.

 

I think what a struggling speller finds to be problematic varies with each individual student. :) A Megawords user here with a VSL learner with mild LDs in spelling and writing, but this particular series of lessons were not problematic for him; his troublesome areas were elsewhere.

 

Also, because Megawords is very syllable-based, shifting the thinking/explaining in that direction and incorporating some of the things MerryAtHope described (I used a whiteboard and broke it down / wrote it out) often help students see the steps of the process for figuring out through syllabication and vowel sound rules what is going on with a specific word that is causing trouble.

 

BEST of luck in your family's spelling adventures! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[hornblower]

I am following you, but how do you explain mitten? Why can't it be mit-en. This is the sort of questions my kids are hauling at me.

 

it really is just the thing about keeping vowels short. Miten would be pronounced might-en.

 

it's the difference between dinner and diner; Biden and bidden; hopping and hoping. Doubled consonant generally keeps vowel before it short.

 

 

 

[Roadrunner]

it really is just the thing about keeping vowels short. Miten would be pronounced might-en.

 

it's the difference between dinner and diner; Biden and bidden; hopping and hoping. Doubled consonant generally keeps vowel before it short.

 

 

 

True, but the entire lesson five of the book defies that rule. Thats the problematic part.

Honestly my kids didn't think twice before about spelling a lot of these words correctly, but after learning all the rules in Megawords, they are making mistakes.

I went through LOE again today, and I think I will just repeat the lesson they teach about doubling syllables and tell them to forget what they learned in lesson 2 of Megawords.

[Roadrunner]

The rules are not all that hard to understand. Seems to me that Megawords is making it more difficult than it needs to be.

 

Public schools don't even focus on repeated patterns. :-p

Possibly. I thought at first Megawords approach was easier, but I am reconsidering. :)

 

Beginning in grade 3 our PS certainly organizes spelling lists by pattern. Before that everything goes. :)

[Lori D.]

True, but the entire lesson five of the book defies that rule. Thats the problematic part.

Honestly my kids didn't think twice before about spelling a lot of these words correctly, but after learning all the rules in Megawords, they are making mistakes.

I went through LOE again today, and I think I will just repeat the lesson they teach about doubling syllables and tell them to forget what they learned in lesson 2 of Megawords.

 

Different students will definitely "click" with different approaches to teaching spelling. If LOE is what works, go with it! :)

 

For example, Ellie's explanation from Spaulding (further up-thread) would have been complete jibberish to my DS with the mild LDs -- and, frankly, it made *my* eyes glaze over!  :tongue_smilie:  So, Spaulding is clearly not a teaching match or learning match for our family.

 

Since your DC weren't having much trouble spelling prior to Megawords, what about an even simpler approach to spelling, for exposure to common words, such as Natural Speller? Inexpensive program with lists by "word family" that will take you up through grade 8… Just a thought! :)

 

Go with works for your family, and go forward with confidence and success! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Roadrunner]

Different students will definitely "click" with different approaches to teaching spelling. If LOE is what works, go with it! :)

 

For example, Ellie's explanation from Spaulding (further up-thread) would have been complete jibberish to my DS with the mild LDs -- and, frankly, it made *my* eyes glaze over! :tongue_smilie: So, Spaulding is clearly not a teaching match or learning match for our family.

 

Since your DC weren't having much trouble spelling prior to Megawords, what about an even simpler approach to spelling, for exposure to common words, such as Natural Speller? Inexpensive program with lists by "word family" that will take you up through grade 8… Just a thought! :)

 

Go with works for your family, and go forward with confidence and success! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

They hated LOE, so I wouldn't say it worked. :) I do think that in this particular situation LOE chapter could be helpful.

Looking ahead in Megawords, the text seems more straightforward. I would love them to run through it and learn common suffixes and prefixes. Would you agree that we will find upper levels (books 2 through 8) easier? I really hope so, because I just placed an order for three levels of it. :(

[Ellie]

Different students will definitely "click" with different approaches to teaching spelling. If LOE is what works, go with it! :)

 

For example, Ellie's explanation from Spaulding (further up-thread) would have been complete jibberish to my DS with the mild LDs -- and, frankly, it made *my* eyes glaze over!  :tongue_smilie:  So, Spaulding is clearly not a teaching match or learning match for our family.

 

Since your DC weren't having much trouble spelling prior to Megawords, what about an even simpler approach to spelling, for exposure to common words, such as Natural Speller? Inexpensive program with lists by "word family" that will take you up through grade 8… Just a thought! :)

 

Go with works for your family, and go forward with confidence and success! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

Spalding (notice the spelling, lol) does have lots of words in the explanation. :-) Happily, the children aren't just given a rule to memorize. We talk about it, and analyze words which represent the rule. We discuss it every time we read or have to spell a word that might or might not need to have the final consonant doubled, and because we've spent time analyzing it and whatnot, long repeated explanations are not necessary. Children get it. :-)

[Lori D.]

They hated LOE, so I wouldn't say it worked. :) I do think that in this particular situation LOE chapter could be helpful.

Looking ahead in Megawords, the text seems more straightforward. I would love them to run through it and learn common suffixes and prefixes. Would you agree that we will find upper levels (books 2 through 8) easier? I really hope so, because I just placed an order for three levels of it. :(

 

As I recall, I thought books 1, 2, and 4 covered the most straight-forward concepts. Book 3 was a step up in challenge and difficulty for our DS. Can't remember as clearly about books 5-8.

 

But… I'm noticing from your signature that your DC are ages 9 and 7… Is that current? That seems extremely young to be using Megawords, which is geared, rule-wise AND vocabulary-wise to START at grade 4 and go up for middle/high school students… While I know a few WTMers with advanced students have used Megawords have used Megawords as young as grade 3, and one I recall as young as grade 2, most people start Megawords at the recommended age level of grade 4 or older. Just a thought!

[Lori D.]

Spalding (notice the spelling, lol) does have lots of words in the explanation. :-) Happily, the children aren't just given a rule to memorize. We talk about it, and analyze words which represent the rule. We discuss it every time we read or have to spell a word that might or might not need to have the final consonant doubled, and because we've spent time analyzing it and whatnot, long repeated explanations are not necessary. Children get it. :-)

 

Yes, but only if the adult teaching it gets it.  :laugh:

 

That's what I was explaining above. *I* do not click with Spalding, so it would be very difficult for ME to teach it to children -- especially a child with LDs.

 

Glad Spalding (notice the new spelling in this post, ;)) worked great for you and the families you work with, Ellie. BUT I'm also glad there are other very different approaches out there for those of us who do not "click" with Spalding's particular method and explanations. :)

[Roadrunner]

As I recall, I thought books 1, 2, and 4 covered the most straight-forward concepts. Book 3 was a step up in challenge and difficulty for our DS. Can't remember as clearly about books 5-8.

 

But… I'm noticing from your signature that your DC are ages 9 and 7… Is that current? That seems extremely young to be using Megawords, which is geared, rule-wise AND vocabulary-wise to START at grade 4 and go up for middle/high school students… While I know a few WTMers with advanced students have used Megawords have used Megawords as young as grade 3, and one I recall as young as grade 2, most people start Megawords at the recommended age level of grade 4 or older. Just a thought!

My older kid is in grade four and I have a fall baby (just turned 8) in grade 3. My younger actually spells better than my older kid. We did LOE with advanced words last year without any difficulties (plan was to use ways words for younger, but he surprised us). In fact Megawords is easy for them. They make 2 or 3 mistakes out of sometimes 100 words per chapter. I could probably get away without using any spelling program, but I don't want to. I want to run them through it all despite their ability to spell somewhat well for their age. I just don't want to make their spelling worse by teaching them "rules" that don't hold most of the time. Now they are overthinking words that they could spell flawlessly a month ago.

[Embassy]

I think Megawords recommends skipping all or parts of a chapter if your child is already spelling the words correctly.  We have been hanging around one chapter in book 1 for several months and my son has almost mastered it now.  I do love how it incorporates vocabulary and reading with the spelling instruction.  It has been great for my VSL.

 

If they are spelling the words from the chapter well, I would skip to the next chapter.  Some kids are natural spellers and don't need the breakdown that Megawords gives.  

[Ellie]

Yes, but only if the adult teaching it gets it.  :laugh:

 

That's what I was explaining above. *I* do not click with Spalding, so it would be very difficult for ME to teach it to children -- especially a child with LDs.

 

Glad Spalding (notice the new spelling in this post, ;)) worked great for you and the families you work with, Ellie. BUT I'm also glad there are other very different approaches out there for those of us who do not "click" with Spalding's particular method and explanations. :)

 

I have often said that millions of children learn to read and spell with methods other than Spalding. :-)

[Kathie in VA]

I am following you, but how do you explain mitten? Why can't it be mit-en. This is the sort of questions my kids are hauling at me.

Because the 'e' would make the 'I' sound long.

 

As said earlier we don't double a 'v' so clever has one v. Also take note that we don't say /clev ver/ but /clev er/. Typically something to work on as we tend to say words differently in different locations.

 

Other words like 'metal' are similar. Watch how to pronounce them. /met al/ not /met tal/. Have you dc check the dictionary for the pronunciation.

 

Megawords will work more on these as you go thru the program. List 6 has words like "clever, credit, lemon..."

[RootAnn]

For example, Ellie's explanation from Spalding (further up-thread) would have been complete jibberish to my DS with the mild LDs -- and, frankly, it made *my* eyes glaze over!  :tongue_smilie:  So, Spaulding is clearly not a teaching match or learning match for our family.

 

The Spalding spin-offs reword them into different forms. SWR split them into to & calls them either the 1-1-1 rule or the 2-1-1 accent rule. (1-1-1 rule from memory without checking:  When a one syllable word ends in one vowel sound and one consonant sound, double the final consonant before adding a vowel suffix.) 

 

As an engineer, I prefer LOE's chart from the Uncovering the Logic of English book. If you "look inside" the book - click on Table of Contents & then Chapter 10 "Adding a Suffix to Any Word." Page 92 is the chart I like. I condenses several "adding suffix" rules. However, it doesn't really address doubling consonants or not double consonants inside words.

 

Spalding spin-off SWR, while very big on breaking words into syllables, isn't that great at rules-about-syllabification. I was hoping MegaWords would be helpful along those lines. It just wasn't a fit for us.

 

I'm glad there are so many options out there for spelling because kids learn so many different ways!

[Roadrunner]

Because the 'e' would make the 'I' sound long.

 

As said earlier we don't double a 'v' so clever has one v. Also take note that we don't say /clev ver/ but /clev er/. Typically something to work on as we tend to say words differently in different locations.

 

Other words like 'metal' are similar. Watch how to pronounce them. /met al/ not /met tal/. Have you dc check the dictionary for the pronunciation.

 

Megawords will work more on these as you go thru the program. List 6 has words like "clever, credit, lemon..."

List 6 and it's reconciliation with list 2 is what's giving me trouble. :)

[Kathie in VA]

List 6 and it's reconciliation with list 2 is what's giving me trouble. :)

Yep. Looks like Megawords doesn't clarify why and when to double the consonant. I also have How to Teach Spelling here. They teach the Doubling Rule as stated earlier (1 1 1 rule). By hey also say to never double w,x, or y. (Although I think v should be included here)

 

But later for grades 6 and up they add to that with Doubling Rule part 2. Here they have 3 conditions to double the final consonant of the base word for words of two or more syllables:

-accent is on the last syllable

-last syllable ends w C & 1 V before it

-suffix to add starts with a vowel.

 

This targets words like admit admittance, gallop galloping (no doubling of the p because the accent is on the first syllable 'gal'. )

Seems to also work for sliver since the accent is on the first syllable. Same with lemon. ??

[Roadrunner]

Yep. Looks like Megawords doesn't clarify why and when to double the consonant. I also have How to Teach Spelling here. They teach the Doubling Rule as stated earlier (1 1 1 rule). By hey also say to never double w,x, or y. (Although I think v should be included here)

 

But later for grades 6 and up they add to that with Doubling Rule part 2. Here they have 3 conditions to double the final consonant of the base word for words of two or more syllables:

-accent is on the last syllable

-last syllable ends w C & 1 V before it

-suffix to add starts with a vowel.

 

This targets words like admit admittance, gallop galloping (no doubling of the p because the accent is on the first syllable 'gal'. )

Seems to also work for sliver since the accent is on the first syllable. Same with lemon. ??

Thank you!

[MerryAtHope]

Saw this in ABC's and All Their Tricks:

 

One syllable words follow the syllable rules regardless of their origin.

 

Two and three syllable words follow the syllable rules if they have a native English suffix, or if they are not of Latin origin.  Words of Latin origin will follow the Latin style. 

 

Words of four or more syllables are almost all of Latin origin, and will follow the Latin style instead.

[Roadrunner]

 

Saw this in ABC's and All Their Tricks:

 

One syllable words follow the syllable rules regardless of their origin.

 

Two and three syllable words follow the syllable rules if they have a native English suffix, or if they are not of Latin origin. Words of Latin origin will follow the Latin style.

 

Words of four or more syllables are almost all of Latin origin, and will follow the Latin style instead.

I am not smart enough to understand this. :)