Hi All,
I know I've been meaning to get out on the Web and use the DejaNews
search machine to look for some old message from the k12.chat.teacher
echo on this topic. I _really_ am going to do that soon.
In the meantime, I was reading that newsgroup today, and someone had
started up a thread on this topic _again_. One of the three or four
posts seemed pretty good, and I decided to cross-post it here.
So, this message was posted on 9-4-96 in k12.chat.teacher. It seems to
contain a lot of common sense.
----------------------(quoted message begins)---------------------
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From: cfc@perrystreet.com (Diane Unterspan)
Newsgroups: k12.chat.teacher
Subject: Re: Inventive Spelling
Date: Thu, 05 Sep 1996 03:48:43 GMT
Organization: MindSpring Enterprises
Lines: 33
Message-ID: 
References: 
NNTP-Posting-Host: user-168-121-115-53.dialup.mindspring.com
rer@interaccess.com (Richard E. Robbins) wrote:
>Today my secretary was very distressed about a teaching method she called 
>"inventive spelling."  She claimed that it would not foster the learning of 
>proper spelling.  When I asked my wife if she had heard of this method of 
>teaching and what it entailed she indicated that she had heard that it is 
used 
>in our local school system but did not know any of the details. 
it is part of the "whole language"approach to teaching reading (as
opposed to phonetics). some people are very cultish and get a bit
rabid about their approach. Both have merits. 
Invented spelling is very good for minds which intuit and infer rules
about grammar and it makes these children able to express themselves
freely without  the constraints of phonetic rules. later the students
seem able to relearn how to spell correctly.
but some learners need direct instruction in certain areas and don't
do alot of natural inferring of the rules. Invented spelling is  very
frustrating and difficult for them and  may get in the way of learning
to read.
My advice is to make sure that your child's teachers are cognizant of
the fact that there are many ways to learn to read  and one method can
not reach all learners. A flexible and eclectic approach is the most
helpful. Hope this helps.
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"It is always easier to fight for oneos principles than 
to live up to them." Alfred Adler
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