CHARLES BEAMS spoke of Spelling... to ERICA LONG on 09-05-96
CB>Responding to a message by Erica, to Dan on ...
CB> 
CB>EL>that there is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour BUT if a child
CB>EL>is not  permitted to practice spelling as a golfer is permitted to
CB>EL>practice strokes how will they learn?
CB> 
CB>If a golfer practices the wrong swing over-and-over again, or even 
CB>swings differently every time he hits the ball, he will have some 
CB>terrible habits to break when it is time for him to learn to do it 
CB>correctly.  Some theory should come first - left arm straight, bend
CB>at  the knees, shift your weight, etc.  Without that, he might well
CB>miss the  ball altogether.
PMFBIB....(pardon me for butting in but....)
I suppose then if you carry your reasoning further here Charles then we 
shouldn't allow children to draw because when young children draw they 
are drawing incorrectly.  Many of my kids draw just a head and arms and 
legs protruding out from the head.  
And since many of them hold a pencil incorrectly, we shouldn't encourage 
young children in pre-school and kindergarten to hold a pencil because 
they may develop incorrect habits. 
And babies who babble and young children who speak incorrectly should be 
silenced too.
I have watched 5,6 and 7 year olds children playing soccer.  I don't 
think they should be allowed to play soccer at such a young age because 
they have no concept of team work, a concept essential to a good soccer 
team.  Their ball handling skills are awful and yet these kids are 
allowed to play in organized games!  Unthinkable!
Charles, many skills are progressive and develop on a continuum.  
Spelling is this way.  I witnessed a 1st grader reading aloud today.  He 
emphasized each word in staccato like fashion.  His reading was not 
fluid.  Are you saying then that we shouldn't allow this child to read?
Your view that children will learn spelling habits that cannot be broken 
or will be difficult to correct is not supported by the experience of 
most early childhood teachers (K-2).  Children eventually become aware 
of more complex spelling patterns (Usually beginning with initial 
sounds, then ending sounds, and then the stuff in the middle.)  We can 
see a _consistent_ developing pattern of spelling skills when children 
are allowed to write.  When you allow young children to write freely you 
will always find words misspelled. These misspellings _do_ go away.
I don't think the traditional method of teaching spelling has the best 
track record either.  In fact, the method I grew up with (and the one 
you learned in school) is not supported by research data.  Yet the 
practice continues.  I am left to wonder why.
Dan
CMPQwk 1.42 445p
(A)bort, (R)etry, (I)gnore, (S)orry I Asked
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