What logic should educators use in choosing words for students to learn to spell? Common sense provides the answer: students should learn to spell the words they use in writing. What these words are has been a subject of concern since the beginning of this century. Dozens of word frequency lists have been developed over the years, based primarily on material written for and by adults. A study done at Stanford University (California) in 1966 had a great effect on spelling programs. The study concluded the vowel and consonant sounds have regular, consistent spelling about 80% of the time. A study conducted at Indiana University in 1980 and 1981 was designed to find out the words that students of the 1980s want to write as well as their spelling errors. Results indicated almost no change in the highest frequency words but that students wanted to use and spell words they have not yet encountered in reading. Special attention should be given to helping students predict spellings of words that are in their speaking but not their reading or writing vocabularies. Basic sound-letter patterns should be taught in the primary grades. To take advantage of any possible transfer of learning, spelling words should be learned following their introduction in reading. The guiding principle for the overall spelling curriculum is that children should be helped to spell those words they are most likely to need and those words they want to use in their own writing. (RS)