In reply to:

I would love to hear comments from others on how they learned to read and spell correctly

I learned initially "at my mother's knee",
Writing was also taught to me intially (how else? ) by my Mother.

"how else" you ask? In my case, by my doting Dad, and my maternal grandparents, who helped their ex-son-in-law teach his children how to love reading before they went to school.

Salaam from Max (who learned nothing at all "at his mother's knee" )