I loved it when I started learning how to spell as a kid. Spelling expanded a world I only knew visually and verbally into layers. Each new word was a precious stone added to my life’s treasure chest. The C-A-T in the H-A-T S-A-T on the M-A-T. The rhyming was fun and it was great to point to a picture, know what it was, say the word, and then spell the word.  No longer was I satisfied being told that all the tall plants were “trees.” They turned into T-R-E-E-S, then M-A-P-L-E trees with L-E-A-V-E-S that turned spectacular C-O-L-O-R-S around back-to-school time. I started to devour books. I delved into other worlds and met so many wonderful characters. But to get to the ‘next level’ of bigger words, I had to learn some rules.  Mnemonics were exciting (as was learning to spell ‘mnemonics’). “I before E except after C” was fun to say, which made it easy to remember. I had no hesitation in writing ‘deceive,’ ‘conceive,’ ‘friend,’ ‘receipt’, ‘fierce’, or ‘believe’. Soon...