What is the first stage of spelling development where children show no knowledge of letter-sound correspondences?

The first stage of spelling development where children demonstrate no knowledge of letter-sound correspondences is known as the precommunicative stage. During this stage, children may scribble or use random letters, but they do not connect these letters to the sounds they represent in spoken language. Their writing does not reflect awareness of phonetic spelling and lacks a coherent connection between letters and their corresponding sounds.

This stage is characterized by attempts to communicate through symbols, but those symbols do not yet represent the phonetic structure of words. As children progress in their understanding of language, they begin to develop phonetic awareness and move on to later stages of spelling development, where they start to apply more systematic and organized spelling patterns.

In contrast, the semiphonetic stage, transitional stage, and correct stage all indicate varying degrees of phonetic understanding where children start to recognize letter-sound correspondences and apply them more effectively in their spelling.