English spelling origin (OT?)

[Kim & Rima McKinzey]

>...For the child, this seems like
>a good opportunity to reinforce the point that spelling is not just
>an arbitrary process; there are principles of sound-spelling
>correspondence that are pretty consistent.  The principle here is:
>When a word ends with a "k" sound after a "short" vowel, it is
>usually spelled "-ck".  This isn't something special about the word
>"quick"; it's a general rule you can use to spell lots and lots of
>words--even if you've never seen them before.  "Back" and "tack" and
>"neck" and "peck" and "lick" and "stick" and "lock" and "sock" and
>"luck" and "duck"--if you know the rule, you can write them all.

Good response, Jim.  And it reminds me of when my sister was just
learning to write/spell and ended up with pickqunickqu (for picnic)
because she didn't know which final consonant to use.

Rima